Manual

[PhilBurton]

Phil,

I agree with your desire to see PSU continue to succeed, and also that - particularly for new users (or at least those that like to turn to a manual) improved documentation would help. I'm sure that even the reassurance that a 'manual' exists would help to sell the product to some, even if it's rarely or never used.

If your idea was to go forward, then a wiki would be an obvious candidate, and wikifying the existing 'quick manuals' would be a good launch point. However I do rather doubt that there would be enough people to make it happen on a volunteer basis - and to manage / police it. I doubt, for example, that I'd have spare time to contribute anything useful.

On a positive note, though, we do have an exceptionally good forum here, offering helpful and rapid advice, which is surely a big plus for anyone moving to PSU.

Mike,

I think you concerns about "management" are very important. We can't kick off such a project unless we are all satisfied as users that we can make it work. And we will need Hert's support, if only to host the wiki. And we might need him to do a "quality check" on wiki contents, which could be a time commitment.

While a forum is definitely a resource, it could scare away potential users who see "all the dirty laundry being aired." Better is a manual that can be downloaded as part of the 30-day trial. However, the forum, including past posts that provide answers, could be a great source of first-draft content for a wiki that could be converted periodically into a manual.

I am just getting started with Photo Supreme and right now I'm working out all the details of how to integrate Photo Supreme with Lightoom for my existing images. Eventually all new images will enter my workflow through Photo Supreme and then Lightroom would ingest the images+XMPs. FYI, most of my images are Nikon NEF, but some, including iPhone pictures, are JPG-only. I could imagine that once I have all that down (and I have a multi-page test plan), I could document that in a section called, "Working with Lightoom."

I suspect that as I work through this Lightroom integration process, I will have some questions for the forum. Or I may discover some "hidden" capabilities in PSU that solve my problem. Real-life example: All my images in Lightroom have their original file names as generated by the camera. I want to organize them into folders based on date: yyyy\mm\dd and rename each file to yyyymmdd-nnnn-SUBJECT nnnn is a sequence number within that date.

The issue is that the XMP sidecar file contains the name of the NEF main file. So if I use PSU to rename the NEFs, are the XMPs also renamed? This is just an example. I do know that PSU has some amazing features that good, or even adequate documentation would unlock.

Make sense?

Phil

[Mike Buckley]

if I use PSU to rename the NEFs, are the XMPs also renamed?

Yes. If you move, copy, delete or rename a raw file, the same will be automatically done to the corresponding XMP file.

[LifeIsLong]

Is PSU being updated too fast for a manual? With IDImager I might have agreed... but given the current release cycle?

Forums, while helpful (though note the drastic slowdown in posting since Hert has cut back on his posts), are no substitute for good documentation. There are posts from years ago that are relevant and there are posts from last month that are not: how does a new person find and determine which information is relevant? Wikis seem a little better... but have their own problems. Some of the issues being brought up in the forum scream for a manual; for example, associated metadata with labels. When major features have as much confusion and discussion I find the lack of a manual disappointing.

[PhilBurton]

Is PSU being updated too fast for a manual? With IDImager I might have agreed... but given the current release cycle?

Forums, while helpful (though note the drastic slowdown in posting since Hert has cut back on his posts), are no substitute for good documentation. There are posts from years ago that are relevant and there are posts from last month that are not: how does a new person find and determine which information is relevant? Wikis seem a little better... but have their own problems. Some of the issues being brought up in the forum scream for a manual; for example, associated metadata with labels. When major features have as much confusion and discussion I find the lack of a manual disappointing.

My impression is that the release cycle for major updates is about 15-18 months. That's plenty of time for a good manual. Or, a good set of online help files. Either one would do.

Going through old posts, I agree with your points about old posts. In some cases, the links in old posts are broken for whatever reason.

Any approach is going to have drawbacks, if only for the resources required. But I would like to make some points:

• Any reasonable approach is better than what we have now.
  As a product manager, years ago I realized that I could answer the same question from many different salespeople, OR, I could write an FAQ. My email volume went down after that. I think the same principle applies here.
  In theory, the user manual can be written in parallel with development of the software. Software is written based on a plan of mandatory additions and optional additions. (If time runs out, you don't do the optional items.) The user interface has to be mocked out as part of the design planning. Given these items, the tech writer can start writing the user manual even before the software is ready for testing. And, the beta testers can receive a copy of the draft manual as part of the test.

Would it be productive to have a new thread on the topic of how we could do a community-based manual? I would be willing to volunteer to do some of the editing.
Phil

[Stephen]

Regular contributors here surely have a vested interest in PSu and its growth!

A resource like this would be most useful to newcomers, but also serve as a reminder for others.

Whilst a forum is useful, time and space would be saved by consolidating knowledge.

[PhilBurton]

Regular contributors here surely have a vested interest in PSu and its growth!

A resource like this would be most useful to newcomers, but also serve as a reminder for others.

Whilst a forum is useful, time and space would be saved by consolidating knowledge.

Hert,

If people in this forum could agree on a specific approach, such as a wiki, would you agree to host it and grant specific users access?

Everyone,

Are there any suggestions for a good approach, or a bad approach to avoid?

Phil