Re: help wanted page

[David Kastrup]

Graham Percival <address@hidden> writes:

> I've made a first draft of the "help us" page:
> http://kainhofer.com/~lilypond/Documentation/web/help-us.html
>
> I'm not very happy with the result, but I can't put my finger on
> precisely why.  Maybe it's that I've forgotten some ways that
> people can help, without source code, or without compiling
> stuff...?  Maybe it's just too wordy?  Maybe the OS-icons don't
> really help, and only clutter up the page?
>
> Opinions sought.

The OS icons don't help.  "No source, no programming" is a heading
declaring the required prerequisites, but that is absolutely
unrecognizable unless you read other headings and think hard.  Leave out
all the "categories", they are only confusing.

You may start with "Many tasks do not even involve installing the source
code of Lilypond:".  Then continue "You can participate with more tasks
once you got hold of the source code, even if you are not a programmer:"
and then finally: "Ultimately, you may progress to helping with the
code:"

I wince everytime I read "mailist".  Please write "mailing list"
instead.

"Mailist support: we have many users asking for him" is utterly
incomprehensible.  Probably you mean something like

"Mailing list support: the mailing lists are the first place where new
users ask questions.  Just reading here and replying when you recognize
a problem and have already seen or worked out a solution will help a
lot.  If you find problems reoccuring and/or you not being happy with
the solutions suggested so far, you might want to suggest documentation
or code changes on the developer list."

-- 
David Kastrup