Well, if it isn't that buggy boy

[codenaught]

Hi all! I figure it is about time to write another blog entry. I often write an entry every monthish, so here I am. I sure haven't been here as much as I'd like. My real life has been kind of hectic. I more or less haven't been able to sit down and well, just relax for awhile now, and I hope to be able to do just that during my Thanksgiving break. I have so many things I need to do with the Online Manual, secret projects for it that I need to create along with ones that need to be polished up before they're made public. I have in the works an entirely new section of the OM being developed. Right now it is in early development stages, but when it is done I am confident it will basically revolutionize the manner that the OM is both helpful to you and how you get your information from it.

Version control is another thing I need to finish coding up. Basically what version control is this, by the time SMF 2.0 Final is released, we are going to have documentation specific to the 2.0 version of SMF and documentation specific to the 1.1 version, available. How do we maintain and present documentation for both versions? With a method of having the user pick what version of documentation they want to read about. If 2.0 is selected, certain documents that only pertain to the 2.0 version will be shown, as well as content specific to 2.0.

Of course not all of the 2.0 documentation has even be written yet. There is still much to write, which is why it is unfortunately not available to even Charter Members yet. I would certainly like to see it ready before SMF 2.0 Final is released, but I won't make any promises, as we are quite short staffed in the Doc department as of late.

I am still very excited about meeting the team members here in person, come the end of December in Tuscon. What we got here, in my humble opinion, is really a bunch of great guys. The majority of us do not make a penny of money from helping out with this software, we do it because of our love to give back to people and help support the expanding communications that forum scripts can provide for people. I believe forums will become more and more popular through the upcoming years. It is exciting to say the least of where we will be in 10 years, 5 years, even just 1 year from now in terms of where online forum capabilities are heading, and even every technology for that matter. The internet in my opinion is all about communication and convenience. We can express ourselves on it, and get involved in discussing whatever we want with people from all over the world. I'll stop going on and on and leave you with a final note:

I would like to wish everyone here a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy it! I personally am thankful for my family and friends. I look forward to the future and the opportunities that are to come along with it.

-akabugeyes

Previous Blog Entries
Where in the world is aka.bug.eyes? (October 7, 2007)
Fun's over, back to serious stuff (September 6, 2007)
Yeah! Got a new laptop (May 27, 2007)
Where has aka been? (May 17, 2007)
Just checking in (April 23, 2007)
Living on SMF Island (March 31, 2007)
Online Manual 411 (November 19, 2006)

[shadow82x]

Very cool, the OM (I have a feeling) will be awsome once released. It's also a smart idea that you can use both the 1.1 version and 2.0 version although it may be a lot of work maintaining both.

Nice update

[Herman's Mixen]

hmm that's really, really good too hear about the OM i'm thinking of making some set of pdf available
one in general english and one for the dutch community here... but it's a lot of work too do that... and have some time over to do it 

[codenaught]

PDFs is something I have dodged for awhile but the desire for an offline manual has been increasingly requested by the day. I'd be interested in what you have in mind, but at some point in the future, I think some form of an offline version of the OM should be available. I know I have rejected this request before, but things change. This however, will take time.

Translating the OM is another can of worms that I need to look into. This too has been requested oh so many times. Right now I am allowing translators to copy translations to their own sites provided that they give credit back to us. But obviously, I would like to provide an interface for translators to provide a means to translate the documents directly on the OM. Again, this also will take time.

Maintaining both...yes it is certainly more work for us, but I have picked a route of keeping all of the content together on the same manual. It would be a nightmare if we made a copy of the entire manual and on another URL added the manual for 2.0, as we would have to edit documents of both of the manuals often with the same changes done to each one.

I have heard recent concerns about the limitations of using SMF to power the OM. We started with a wiki, and I sure would be reluctant to go all the way back to one. I have no doubt in my mind that many of the functionalities that a wiki software can provide can also be implemented into SMF feasibly enough. Granted, it won't be easy, but I will nag the developers here for help when I need it. I would love to release mods of some of the work I do to the OM when new features get added.

[Herman's Mixen]

well i have in mind to create it with Adobe InDesign and Adobe InCopy with the power of those two especially with InCopy  a side here a little quote for it

Accelerate production by enabling a designer and multiple writers and editors to simultaneously edit the content of a single Adobe InDesign® document. Exchange articles with ease and flexibility using assignments that contain only the InDesign CS3 elements you need, from a specific area of a page to an entire document.

Multiple text format support
Easily open and import content in a wide variety of formats, including Microsoft Word, Excel, RTF, ASCII, and XML.

[Herman's Mixen]

well akabugeyes...
i have created some little pdf file just for a test .... i have used the text from the about pages and put that into the pdf design.... the first page is almost empty coz maybe i will make on there some kind of a cover don't know that yet ... also it can be removed ..... so you can take a peek at ...... contact me for that please ...... i just called the offline version for now but all can be changed whenever needed .... .... well that's it for now...

[SleePy]

FYI,
The Simple Machines logo and name is copyright protected as well as content on this site. You should only share that with buggy and not in a public place

[Herman's Mixen]

alright i just made a little test and edit the post above ...