Help with ImageViewer DOpus

[quote="michaelkenward"]I guess that is why I persevere with my suggestion that a better manual and/or on-line KnowledgeBase would be a good way of dealing with the wilfully perverse of us who refuse to look in the right places for settings.

A quick search through the PDF file is not, I'm afraid, very helpful, even when I knew what I was looking for.

I still believe a good wiki could do a lot for users who do not want to sit exams in DOpus.[/quote]

If you want it- do it. Apparently there is not enough demand from users to make GPS consider such documentation. No matter how much you believe it is necessary and useful.

True, but the right technology lowers the time barriers.

Having to use Word to file is one reason why I do not contribute as much as I should to various things that even try to pay me for my words.

Maybe someone should just start to add a DOPus wiki to the entry on wikipedia.

First, though, the DOpus fans have to accept that there is an issue with the complexity of the product and the steep learning curve that doubtless deters some buyers. I sometimes feel that some of the acolytes, present company excluded, rather like being in an exclusive club.

Very true. On the first point.

But the second does not hold water.

You are not likely to see any sign of demand here. The converts know what they are doing.

There was no demand for "texting", Wikipedia, Myspace, Facebook, Google, iTunes or just about anything else you can name in the computer world.

Their value became clear only when there was something for people to use.

To quote the not so old cliche, build it and they will come.

Not by a great deal though. If I want to put some info into the FAQ section it's as easy as writing this reply, plus the inherent overhead of writing the information and making screenshots. Since the Wiki won't be the manual, and vice versa, I see very little advantage to a Wiki versus what we already have in the forums. There would be some small advantages to using a Wiki instead of the forums for FAQs, but there are also disadvantages. (Having to look in two places. Not being able to promote threads to FAQs.) Doesn't seem worth the effort to me.

We can't do much about having to use Word unless someone comes up with a better way to generate the PDF, HTML-Help and HTML versions of the manual.

I don't think Wikipedia is an appropriate place for in-depth help and how-to articles on software. I'm fairly sure the Wikipedia admins would object to us using it for that.

Who is someone anyway? I'm against the idea to be honest (because I think the forums already serve the purpose and I think it is bad to increase the number of places people have to look to find information) so I'm not going to do it. I'm guessing Steve feels the same. GPSoftware themselves have enough work as it is keeping the main manual up-to-date. Not many of the other people who know Opus well enough to feel confident writing guides are in the habit of regularly writing FAQs or tutorials. The problem isn't that we don't have a place to write them, it's that writing them competes for our time with lots of other things (many of them other Opus-related things).

Since when has that not been accepted? I would say that simply using Opus does not have a steep learning curve, because the basic actions behave much like Explorer does. I, and I think everyone else, would agree that configuring and tweaking Opus does have a steep learning curve compared to most apps because Opus has a lot of options and most other apps have barely any at all.

Maybe people using Opus have to accept that it has a lot of options and they will not remember or understand all of them the moment they start using the program but will, like any other complex piece of software (e.g. Word or Photoshop) get better at using the program, and discover more aspects of the program, as a natural part of using it over time.

I still don't know where you get that impression from. I also don't know of anyone who could be called an Opus acolyte who isn't also present company in this thread or, at least, this forum. This forum which exists purely for the purpose of helping other people get more out of Opus.

The bottom line is that nobody is going to pick up a program like Opus and understand every aspect of it over night, no matter how good the documentation and acolytes are. To get the most out of it takes some time/effort on the user's part. Better tutorials may reduce that time but they will never reduce it to zero (and a lot of people don't even find the tutorials).

I have a bunch of ideas for further tutorials, when I get time, but they're not going to appear out of thin air. Someone has to write them. Feel free to make a list of things that could do with FAQs or tutorials, or which need improving in the manual, and me or someone else may incorporate that list into our plans.

Feel free to write some guides yourself, as well! But note that the only people who have written any tutorials/FAQs so far are complaining about lack of time, not lack of a Wiki.

[quote="michaelkenward"]
First, though, the DOpus fans have to accept that there is an issue with the complexity of the product and the steep learning curve that doubtless deters some buyers. [/quote]

Steep if you want to "swallow" all at once and know all and everything in no time. It's not a proper use I'd say, and everyone making so should be prepared for fast and comprehensive learning.

Very true. On the first point.[/quote]

So go on and start a wiki, documentation project, anything.

Then go create DO version of one of these services or create a new one and get all the glory and money.