[ZDP] Zbook Style Guide

[Ute Methner]

Hi all,
the following are my draft suggestions for the main structure of the
text.
Any input is welcome; for example, you may wish to see other components
in the chapter structure.
More to come later.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Front matter

1. Title page contains:
	Name of book
	Names of authors
	Version/edition number
	Publisher's information

Note  Some of the title page content may be decided by the publisher.

2. Copyright page: refer to publisher

3. Table of Contents: have 2 tables: 
Contents in Brief: list chapters and main sections; this should all 
fit on one page 
Contents in Detail: list chapters and ALL section headings.

4. Preface: 
How Zbook got started 
About ZDP and Zope: what is ZDP, other people/companies involved
Acknowledgements

Text

The text might have the following structure:

1.	Introduction:
	Purpose of Zope: Briefly what does Zope do
	Prerequisites: what does user need to know; 
	About Zbook: what is the scope of Zbook, its purpose, who is audience
	Minimum system requirements: for UNIX and for Win95/NT
	How to get started: download Zope etc.

2.	Chapters

The exact content structure of your chapter is determined by the 
chapter's content. Because the type of content and length is not 
consistent among chapters, it may be neither possible nor desirable 
to have each chapter follow the exact same structure. However, it is 
HIGHLY recommended that as much as possible all chapters have the
same macro-structure. I suggest

a.	Chapter title
b.	Chapter overview: list main chapter sections with a short explanation
c.	Main chapter text
d.	Chapter summary: end-of-chapter review; main points, short and
concise
e.	Notes: these are seminal references for the chapter (or suggested
readings?)
f.	Application examples, if the nature of the content permits


-- 
Ute Methner
Grimsby ON Canada
ute@idirect.com