looking to help (editing user manual)

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finagle
Posts: 3
Joined: 23 Mar 2015, 06:40

looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by finagle »

Hi, I was reading through the openCS user manual linked on the download page and I noticed there's a lot of awkward phrasing and kind of odd sentence formatting. While I don't have knowledge of openCS I'd be willing to go through the document and make it read more naturally.
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Zini
Posts: 5538
Joined: 06 Aug 2011, 15:16

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Zini »

For manual discussions see this thread. Unfortunately there has been no progress on the manual for quite some time and it is quite outdated now (not to mention that it had a couple of errors to begin with). I am not sure what the best approach is, but I assume it would require a substancial effort (including some volunteers) to resurrect, fix and update it.

Of course if you want you can give the language corrections a try anyway. I just can't guarantee that all (or even most) of the material will be features in future versions. If that does not discourage you, go ahead. Contributions to the manual are handled like any other code contribution via github and pull requests.
Redsofa
Posts: 3
Joined: 12 Oct 2016, 04:39

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Redsofa »

This thread is pretty old now (as is the thread that it links to), but I'd like to help out with the user manual. I'm a technical writer and editor, and a huge fan of Morrowind.

If someone can point me to any recent discussions, I'd be grateful!
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Atahualpa
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Joined: 09 Feb 2016, 20:03

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Atahualpa »

First of all, welcome to our forums, Redsofa.

Then, let me point you to the most recent discussion about documentation:
--> Start of the thread
--> Most relevant post for you, I guess

And here's the link to our OpenMW documentation repository:
--> http://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/master/

I don't know who -- or if anyone at all -- is actively working on the OpenMW-CS manual right now. Some progress in this regard would be very welcome.
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Ravenwing
Posts: 335
Joined: 02 Jan 2016, 02:51

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Ravenwing »

Yay! We have plenty of need for more user manual authors! I've been meaning to put together a quickstart guide for people who want to help with documentation so you can get everything set up quickly and have all the appropriate reference material. But for now hopefully my noob questions on that thread are helpful. If you look at the source code on GitHub I have a short document as a basic style guide, but I'm open to suggestions for changes. Ask any questions on the thread Atahualpa linked to since that seems to be where we're directing all this sort of discussion.
Redsofa
Posts: 3
Joined: 12 Oct 2016, 04:39

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Redsofa »

Cool, thanks, Atahualpa and Ravenwing! I will look at the existing documentation and read the other posts here.

I don't have OpenMW up and running yet, and it may be a little bit before that happens. I'd be happy to look at the current documentation with an editor's eye, though, if that would be welcome.

Ravenwing, what do you see as the next steps?
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Ravenwing
Posts: 335
Joined: 02 Jan 2016, 02:51

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Ravenwing »

Well we still have pretty much everything lol. I know that we need source code documentation the most, but if you don't know C++ then there's plenty to do regarding user docs. If you haven't installed OpenMW yet, then take some notes on what parts of the process were confusing or might be confusing to others. What OS are you using btw? I highly recommend playing around with OpenMW a bit just to get a feel for how awesome it is :) . Then I guess you can start on an installation guide. If you don't have a GitHub account, go ahead and make one and branch the source and make a local repository on your computer. The installation guide should be pretty easy in terms of content and that will help you get used to using ReST. If all of that sounds overwhelming let me know, and I'll start working on a guide for documentation writers this weekend.
Redsofa
Posts: 3
Joined: 12 Oct 2016, 04:39

Re: looking to help (editing user manual)

Post by Redsofa »

I do not know C++, so I'd be of most help doing the user manual. I'm Mac-only at the moment, but will be getting another machine soon. I would love to write up something on the installation process when I go through it.

I have a Git account, and will make a local repository. Thanks!
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