[ZDP] Beginners Guides

[Maik Roeder]

Hi Chris !

Chris Withers wrote:
> Just throwing some more small change into the pot...

;-)
 
> It strikes me that one of Zope's problems is that there's no obvious
> course of action for a beginner, so lets create one. How about adding a
> new portal: 'New Zope Users'

Yes, or what about Zope Newbies ?
 
> I'll coem back to this in a minute but, also being picky ;-)

We need quality so we need to be picky !

> how about re-arranging the portals into the following order:
> 
> Prospective Zope Users & Developers   New Zope Users & Developers
> Zope Users                            Zope Developers
> Zope Administrators                   Zope Hackers
> Web Designers                         Special Interest Groups
>                                       [PTK, ZDP, ZEO ...]
>
> If you see what I mean: SIG's is a 'portal' with each of the interests
> being 'sub-portals' like 'Project, Members, Projects' are now) It means
> only the 'core issues' are actually portals and there's less stuff to
> distract and confuse people...
> 
> I also think it focusses things better :-)

I think we have a small problem with the SIGs. We need to list
them on the front page, but they must be separate from the
rest so we don't confuse people. 
 
> One other little suggestion: how about having a very brief description
> below each title (by title I mean ZDP Portals, Zope Quick Reference,
> Zope Book and the like) as I can imagine it would still be very
> confusing for a newbie to come to zdp.zope.org and try and figure out
> what all these things are...

On the front page I would like to have just the Portals. Is it
unrealistic to assume that people will select their Portal 
without a short introduction ?
 
> Anyway, back to the New Zope Users & Developers portal.
> I see this being made up basically of Beginners Guides, which should all
> be based heavily around examples (like the original ZCMG and ZDG
> were...) including the following topics:
> 
> 1. How to Install Zope (Unix, NT, etc...)
> 2. Building Your First Zope Application (DTML Methods, etc, but NO
> security)
> 3. Zope Security
> 4. Using Relational Databases
> 5. Developing Your Own Product (ZClasses, Python Methods, etc)
> ...and maybe some more? (suggestions please ;-)

I guess part of that is already done:

http://www.zope.org/Documentation/Projects/Tutorial

We should work together with Amos to make this a great resource.

> These are not supposed to be comprehensive, just a give a 'possible
> root' to doing something in simple, clear, reliable & up-to-date terms.
> I can see each one being made up of a Step-By-Step guide (literally:
> step 1: do this, step 2: do that...) 

That's exactly what the Tutorial is about.

See his Tutorial Notes:

http://www.zope.org/Documentation/Projects/Tutorial/TutorialNotes

> with a section of (filtered for newbies) FAQ at the bottom and
> possibly a collection of jump-off links related to that topic.

We need to link to the Tutorial once we have installed it on
ZDP. 
 
> The idea is very much to keep it simple but make sure it works. I see
> this as being a new Zope users first port of call. No assumptions should
> be made and nothing complicated should be introduced unless it has to.
> Lots of screenshots/etc would also be useful and they should be
> available as PDFs/PS files for download. Some people (me included... ;-)
> find it a lot easier to work from a printed guide when you're already
> using the screen for something else...
> 
> If people think this is a good idea and someone can show me how (and I
> can find some time...), I'd be happy to give the implementation of the
> above a go...

Well, get in touch with Amos :-)

Greetings,

Maik Röder

-- 
Open Source is "about being able to work together with people you've
never  met, on projects that  are in  a constant state  of flux,  on 
a time schedule  that would  cause a  hummingbird's  head to  spin."
Paul Ferris, http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/opinions/1593/1/