[ZDP] Documentation & Zbook

[Dody Gunawinata]

[snip] 

> I am really interested in participating to a Zbook project that will be the
> definite guide to Zope. If people within the community want to work on this
> kind of book it will be really valuable for Zope's market penetration and
> as a basis for beginners to catch up with the technology and to be ready
> for things coming next.
> 
The 'problem' with Zope is the power that comes with it. You do get
people excited with
this current features (and up coming), but then, there is no single
entry point to learning Zope.
This ZDP project is equally important as the development of Zope itself,
because without *this* Zope would
be just another niche, obscured product.

> But the task is huge.

It's doable with a good framework for content writers. We write piece by
piece of the whole puzzle. 
There will be people who's taking care of the delivery infrastructure
(software codes ,etc.) and then the writers.
I guess anyone working for ZDP should choose one over another. Writing
takes up a lot of time, and if combine with writing
the support software, it would slows everything down. Speed is important
because as of now, Zope itself is being actively developed,
we have a lot of 'backlog' to do.

In the end the rough structure probably would look like this (if we want
this done fast):

- Core content writers.
  This would be the writers. Divided by chapters or group of chapters.
  
- Coordinators/Managers/Editors.
  This is also important. We will need one or two person doing the bulk
of managing the project, promoting it, helping a newcomer
  to the project to get up to speed, helping with spell check and
grammatical errors, managing the book 'CVS'. Without this, forget it.
There   ain't gonna be a Zbook anytime soon.
  
  I suggest for a write fast and 'patch often' writing style..This kind
of process helps a lot in making the Zbook to reality, and allows
  more time for 'debug mode' :)

- Delivery infrastructure/.
  FAQs tools, XML formats, book format, etc..

- Technical GOD.
  The technical advisors that make sure that the writer writes a correct
examples in their chapters, or suggest a better way
  of explaining a difficult feature. 
  
> One could say that you have: Zope as a framework for new generation web
> sites - Zope as an server platform.
> Should we write two books or one ?
> For example, if I take the 2nd area which concerns IT's, Information
> Architects and ISP, I imagine the book could have the following content:
> 

The decision would be to early at this stage. The most important part of
this project
would be the chapters. They should be pluggable and sufficiently modular
on their own respect.

Like below chapter (I like the structure :).

Setting up Zope server chapter should be extensive, detailed and
accurate. Why ? Because each person
should probably work on one chapter at a time, and finish them before
moving to another chapter. 
This way, we can ensure that the quality of each chapter is high, and
allow simultaneous development of the book. 

> <begin>
> Understanding Zope terms
> 
> Setting up a Zope server
>      System requirements
>      Installation steps
>      Zope installation directory structure
>           Important config files
>      Zope with another Web server (Apache, IIS, ...): PCGI
>      Virtual servers with Zope
> 
> Zope security
>      Authentication with Zope
>      SSL with Zope
> 
> Zope system administration
>      Activity logging
>      Backup and restoration
>      Versioning
>      Performance tuning
> ...
> <end>


> 
> I know Zbook is already in a first "release" status. So we should plug in
> by extending it to contain more chapters and topics ?
> 

Yes. But currently, I must admit I don't have a clue how far this
project has gone. In the near future,
this must be clear on who's working on what, the progress of the 'mini
projects', etc. Visibility is very important.

At this point, the rough table of contents for the Zbook would help a
lot. I don't know if this has been done yet.

> All my best.
> 
> Kamon
> kamon.ayeva@bureauveritas.com
> Transiciel ISR
> 

Dody
Italy

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