LibreOffice's documentation (pdf and online)

users
#21

Some added thoughts with a fresh brain this morning:

1. I like the embedded help because it's quicker to use. Also, in good traditional fashion, I pretty much expect it to be updated more frequently than a printed manual, even if that manual is in electronic format.

2. Once upon a time (remember I've been around since the days of Hollerith cards and paper tapes), there were two types of manuals: User Manuals and Reference Manuals. The user manuals were more conceptual and tutorial, helping people learn how to use a program (yes, I still call them programs rather than apps -- apps are for mobile devices, which I don't use for computing; I still talk about directories instead of folders, too). The reference manuals were just that -- details about the various commands, functions, subroutines, etc. The reference manual aspect is what I really look for in the embedded help. The user manual is what I tend to go to the PDF version to find.

Dave

#22

Just one vote ...

I always download the pdf files, which are really excellent user manuals in
a print ready form. They are easy to navigate, have good indexes, can be
side-loaded onto a tablet, opened in another window if needed, always
available off-line, and so forth. Based on a few comments in this thread,
some people don't even seem to know they exist, so perhaps these should be
featured on the download pages as well. I just took a look at
https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-fresh/ and the only mention
of the Guides is buried in the "Get Help" tab. Featuring them a bit more can
only add to a "professional" image.

The content in the on-line help files ranges from not very helpful to simply
incorrect (obsolete?). Even were this addressed, some obvious method of
identifying version-specific might still be tricky. With the pdf books, you
can limit your downloads to something suitable for the version of LO you're
using.

Generally, when someone is preparing files for "print" they tend to take
greater care with accuracy, have better editing, and so forth. This is
certainly true for the excellent LO "Guides." The lack of consistency (all
senses of that word) in the on-line help, however, clearly indicates the
lack of any overall guiding hand.

Even though attempting to use something like 5.x with 4.2 pdf manuals raises
a few issues, a little trolling will show that your chances of getting an
answer are better with the 4.2 manuals than with the 5.x help files
(although some new methods are only explained there).

#23

Re: Sophi's comment:

"Online help is what you find on the wiki help but also off line, maintained
by developers and l10n team."

I'm not disagreeing with the comment, but hoping to clarify something: In
thirty plus years, I encountered VERY FEW developers who could produce
useful "documentation." The mind-set is just different. What developers
produce (and should be required to if they don't) should be analogous to
"source code" that can be "compiled" by actual "technical writers" - i.e.
those with the appropriate mind-set. (Silly analogy, but hopefully useful)

Getting an explanation of relativity from Einstein himself might seem like a
good idea, but a "user" (however one cares to define such a creature) would
be better served by an explanation offered by an actual Writer who may not
be in the same league as AE technically, but understands the gist and has
the skills to present it. Good math teachers aren't necessarily good
mathematicians at all.