New Members FAQ board

[mighty_joe_young]

IT would be a good thing to have a new members FAQ board , with things like how to change the file  permissions , how to ftp,etc,etc and so on .

[Oya]

http://docs.simplemachines.org/

[flapjack]

http://wiki.simplemachines.org

[Oya]

yuck even that first page of the wiki looks disorganised, would hate to read any further

[Kindred]

   personally, I like the wiki page and think it is much more well organized than the doc landing page.

[Oya]

how can everything being on a single page be more organized that categorizing stuff?

[flapjack]

same for me, Oya, I find wiki way more organized than docs, what is columns and rows if not a way to organize stuff?

[Oya]

but it's all on one page and it looks so cluttered, as opposed to having it split up the way it was before, much easier to navigate

[Kindred]

I don't find it cluttered....   I find it useful, like an INDEX.   Instead of having to cruise through 4 levels of section, sub-section, sub-subsection, and object, now, you look at the index and go right to the sub-subsection/object that you want.

It's the difference between a chapter-level ToC and and Index...

[mighty_joe_young]

I still think it would make life easer far new members , you could put that link also on the board

http://wiki.simplemachines.org

just maybe give new members a helping hand .

new members need to have acess to these kind of links , instead of searching for them hours on end

it`s terrible as a new member you dont no were to begin , and all new members do is just post the same questions over and over again .

i have been coming on this forum for a few months so i am still quite new ,and the first i knew about http://wiki.simplemachines.org,was on this board ,now if i had have seen that on a faq board ,it would have made life so much easyer .

you could just have one single page of faqs on ,but split up into cats

[Oya]

well mostly right now it's the same as what's in the online manual as linked at the top of the page...

[Kindred]

well... see...  the docs link has been there for years and has the same info as the wiki (plus the wiki is still being finalized)... and yet we still have people asking the same questions... including questions which have been answered 2 threads before.  people are lazy. they want to be spoonfed. Most never bother to check the docs or the faq or to us search

[mighty_joe_young]

Iam not lazzy , i just get so sick of searching .You find posts ,one persons says this and someone else says something different which does not help . its like you walk into an store ,even though everything is listed ,it is better to have some sort of guide to point out were everything is . Anyway this is just my point of view .Why don`t the staff of this forum put a book together ,so people could purchase it , that would make life dam easyer . SMF tips and trick , Lol .Maybe its about time that this forum had an online store were you could purchase pro templates ,books about smf,and maybe some coool T.Shirts,maybe be even offer support were members could pay a small fee . You well still get lot`s of people coming on the forum ,but for people that or running a busness it would make life so much easyer .If i had a choice ,i would have sooner purches something like Smf pro forum ,which came with pre installed mods and chat room and a few more templates ,if this was around .

[Kindred]

SMF is free.

SMF will always be free

SMF will never offer a "premodded" version, because then we would have to SUPPORT said version.

such a FAQ IS, and always HAS BEEN, available, in the docs link right in the topnav.

Do you really think that people would buy and read a book any more than they do the FREE DOCUMENTATION?

No offense to you, Joe, but we have alreayd done exactly what you are talking about for free, with the docs link (and soon even better with the wiki link)

[mighty_joe_young]

Yes i understand your point of view . but times change and as more and more people join this forum ,you need to pay cost`s for bandwidth,etc , in say the next 5 years ,you over heads or going to be sky high. Having google adds on wont cover all the cost . Its a good free forum , and it can still be free far so many people . Members go off and buy pro templates all over the web ,so why not sell them on here ? . With some profit you could make this free SMF even better . Some off your staff maybe could be payed ,which would benefit all members .through support . Why not have a proper book ? i think that would be great .Why not offer people a pro SMF if people or willing to buy it ,and want it .

This is just my point of view ,

[Kindred]

because that would violate our charter.

Individuals may offer paid templates or mods; SMF, as an organization will never do so.

If people want to contribute, they can donate $50 and get a charter membership (and with that membership, they get access to the helpdesk)

[mighty_joe_young]

I suppose there is not much more that i can say on this matter ,it does not make any sence to me when most of the profit would benefit so many people useing this free forum . Any members that write abook about SMF please put me down for a copy Lol

[Kindred]

I think you are missing the point of SMF.

Simple Machines is an Open Source Project sponsored by a Non-profit Organization.

[WillyP]

Joe, why don't you write the book and donate the proceeds to SMF?

[flapjack]

Simple Machines is an Open Source Project sponsored by a Non-profit Organization.

huh? did I miss anything?

just to elaborate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software

Introduction

    Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code.

    The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution

    The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

in other words, AFAIR, SMF cannot be redistributed, therefore your statement is not in accordance with the definition, and that implies that SMF is NOT Open-Source Software