TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2001-01 > 0979671638


From: Richard Brogger <>
Subject: [TMG] TMG Library was TMG Manual
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 13:00:38 -0600
References: <NCBBJKOAPKCOAKFHNCELEEKJDNAA.kevanbarton@earthlink.net><4.1.20010115212734.016487b8@pop.mis.net>


Lee Hoffman wrote:
>
> I have repeatedly volunteered to post article, tutorials, tips, hints, and
> other TMG user aids on the TMG Tips website. When I do I post such items
> on the site giving credit to the author and giving their e-mail address.
> If/when I get enough more items of this nature, I plan on re-organizing the
> website. But I have not gotten anything new since last April.

I know you do and if others would make use of your website,
that would help. I am sorry to hear that it has been since
April that someone has. If someone has something on their
web site that would help other TMG users, they should also
add it to yours or at least provide a link from your
website. As I said before, there are reams of information
but one can spend many hours tracking it down. If it were
in or accessed from one location, that would be a big step
forward.

> I would be happy to post almost anything related to TMG on the website.
> If it is an article or tutorial, I will be glad to help someone put it in
> the format needed and to point out areas that might not be understood by a
> new user. If someone has a report that they think others may be able to
> use, let me know and we can even post that (George W. King did this with
> some reports last January and they have been helpful to a number of users).
>
> >Maybe a better first step would be a list of web sites that
> >already provide help.
>
> See the TMG Tips website (URL below).

Been there, done that. If that list is all inclusive there
is not as much information available as I think. On the
other hand, maybe if it were integrated it is more than it
seems.
>
> >Some may not feel that they have skills to offer. Having
> >volunteers to read a document and say whether it can be
> >followed or not is helpful and I am sure we can all do
> >that. As bad as I am at spelling, I can often spot the
> >spelling errors of others and I suspect others can spell
> >check and/or proof read even without a Ph.D. in English. If
> >someone has a Ph.D. in English, they can be the final
> >authority but the rest of us can weed out errors so that
> >person has an easier time doing the final correction. I am
> >sure we can spread the work around if we have too many
> >volunteers.
>
> And as I said above, I'll be happy to post it.
>
> ----------
> Lee Hoffman/KY
> E-mail:
> TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com>;
> My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman>;
> --------------
> A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)

If or when you reorganize your web site, can it be done in
such a manner that it can be downloaded to a users hard
drive? I like my product information accessible without
going on line. My ISP is not that great and sometimes drops
out for an hour or more. When I have a problem I like to
get it solved so I can continue. It would help considerably
if your web site information were linked with existing help
files, manuals and all via common indexs.

In other words I am seeking a one stop shop for TMG
information, A TMG LIBRARY. If your web site can handle all
that, I am sure that TMG users would appreciate it. Since
Bob said he would add it to the Wholly Genes site, a web
site does not seem to be the problem. Since nobody has
posted new items to your site since last April, that seems
to be a problem. The other problem is integrating all the
sources of information. I have no objection to reading the
same information stated two or more ways. Sometimes reading
it in a different wording is just what is needed for
understanding. Unless the sources are integrated, a user
may not find that other wording and hence not gain
understanding.

I have modified my copy of refman.pdf by adding links from
the Table of Contents to the right page. I have also added
a "TOC" button to each page to return me to the Table of
Contents. Where the margin says "for more information see"
I have added links to the right page. Adding links to an
existing PDF document is not as easy as adding them before
it is converted to PDF so I have not added links from the
Index. The changes I made are minor improvements but very
helpful. I can only imagine the results but I would like to
have the Getting Started manual, Help, and Reference Manual
linked so that I could jump from a topic in one to the same
topic in another using an integrated index. If nothing
else, it would let the user know that he or she will not
find the answer and need to look elsewhere. From that point
the next step is to provide a link to "elsewhere".

For me, the preferred location of "elsewhere" is my hard
drive. For others "elsewhere" may be a CD-ROM and for still
more "elsewhere" would be a web site or a combination of
these places. The final source of answers should be this
list or Tech Support. If we, list readers, were really on
our toes, when the same question is asked n times, the
answer would get added to "elsewhere". When a revision is
made to TMG that does not warrant a new manual, the changes
can be integrated into "elsewhere" so that a user who does
not find an answer in Help or ??? is linked from the index
to a place that provides an answer.

If a number of people use available resources and still ask
the same question it indicates that documentation is
lacking. If, instead of answering the same question to the
list many times, an individual spends a little extra time
with a detailed explanation and it is added to "elsewhere",
possibly with examples, the knowledge base grows and
list/Tech Support traffic becomes less repetitive. At least
in theory it should. It may require 'training' to get them
to go to the indexes first.

I hope with this long message, readers have a better
understanding of what I have in mind. I do not want a new
"book", I want a gathering of knowledge even though I have
not stated it right before and maybe not this time. Most of
that knowledge already exists and when it is lacking, it can
be strengthened with examples or step by step instructions.
It does not need to be done by one author any more then all
answers to this list are from one author or all the books in
a library are from one author. I know Lee answers the lions
share but many others seem able to write an understandable
answer using a style different than Lee's. We can use the
existing sources and make a how-to manual without a total
rewrite. The word index or task oriented index can get the
user to the existing answer.

I will say it again. Most of the questions have been
answered already. What is needed, IMO, is a way to easily
find the answer. It is not beyond ours skills to point to
the right place to find an answer, just as "See the TMG Tips
website" is often used now. What is needed is to get all
the answers integrated so that a phrase like "See the TMG
Tips website" is the answer most of the time. That leaves
TMG Tech Support and TMG-L as sources for the really tough
questions. If both of those sources post the answer to
often repeated questions to "elsewhere", everybody gains.

Lee will provide the "elsewhere". I will convert documents
with links to PDF so they can be used at or downloaded from
Lee's site to a hard drive, CD-ROM, or printed. Most, if
not all, of the information is available in text form if we
go back to the owner. If the text is 800 pages, no one
person should have to pick keywords and build indexes. If
80 people will do 10 pages each, the task is can be done
without putting the burden on just a few. It will then
require that more people volunteer to meld the indexes from
the first 80. In other words, the whole task is too much
for one or a few people but with many hands we can make the
work light.

Richard Brogger

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