[chirp_users] Beginner;s Guide and missing links
Just looking at the documentation that's already on the website, it appears that there's no mention of the miklor website anywhere. Yet there are several places there that have information on Windows installs and other data that the wiki should have but doesn't. Clearly some links to this website are going to be needed. I wouldn't have even known about this site until I was told about it - and neither would any newcomer trying to read the Chirp wiki. That's a pretty serious omission.
Along those same lines, it also seems apparent that given the miklor site has a few Windows tips that the wiki doesn't, it does make one wonder what other Windows tips are not documented on the wiki. I think there should be a 'Running under Windows' page much like there is for MacOS and Linux. All of those tips - including the Windows stuff that's found in the OEM cable discussion - should probably be in one place. The OEM cable discussion could then just link to the Windows, Mac and Linux page as needed.
Related to the cables, it's mentioned in the wiki that some OEM cables work with other radios (for example, the FT7800 cable works with other radios - be specific - which ones?). Again this is something the newcomer would not know, and needs to be clearly spelled out. In addition, all the data that's specific to a given radio can be moved to that radio's article.
Next is the question as to which radios are 'clone-mode' radios and which aren't. That topic is mentioned in the FAQ, there doesn't seem to be anywhere that defines which model is or isn't. That's something that the article for each radio would need to have. Unless I missed it, I didn't see it in the features list page either. Even if it is there, it sure seems difficult to find. It looks like that the basic functionality of CHIRP varies somewhat between non-clone and clone mode radios (is this right?). One way to address this is to create a pool of common pages that defines all of CHIRP's functions. They would be broken down into 4 categories;
- Functions that are common between all radios - Functions that are common to the clone mode radios - Functions that are common to the non-clone mode radios
No I didn't miscount. There is a fourth function - importing and exporting data. There's already something on the wiki for CSV stuff, and there's even a YouTube video on this. And that's part of it, but not all. There's also the matter of importing data from external sites, such as Repeaterbook or RadioReference. Each of these would need to be defined, one function at a time.
Once all that is done, then each model of radio can point to the page(s) that apply to it, and ignore those that don't. When a new radio comes along, it's then just a matter of building the correct links
There's lots of work to be done here - writing good documentation often is. No one person should even think to do all of this. But if we can get people just to define one function, eventually it would all get done.
Mike
--- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com
On 11/23/2013 2:30 PM, Mike Agner wrote:
Once all that is done, then each model of radio can point to the page(s) that apply to it, and ignore those that don't.
I'm not sure if you are just talking about the organization of the wiki pages, or links from the radio specific (driver) code to launch the correct page on the wiki. However, the later is something I've thought about a little, but never suggested because I didn't think there would be enough critical mass in documentation.
It could be helpful if from Chirp there was the possibility to launch a radio specific web page on the wiki for help:
- before starting the download from radio - before starting the upload to the radio - after a download or upload has failed for troubleshooting advice
The help menu should also have an entry to launch the radio specific wiki help page.
This means there should be a little planning in how the wiki pages are named. There should be (some) correlation to the radio driver since it will have to generate the URL. The radio specific pages on the wiki should be in their own name space. I don't know what redmine's capabilities are, the "name space" could be as simple as prepending a prefix like "Radio-" for all of the radio specific help template pages.
The rationale for this that I believe many people will attempt to use the software before looking for or reading any documentation.
--Rob
participants (2)
-
Mike Agner
-
Robert Terzi