Writing Documentation that Satisfies Your Users

[graphitefriction]

@tlberglund

Despite having had that yummy drink, I do remember I promised you this. :grinning: This talk can stretch anywhere from 1 hr to 1.5 hrs, as needed. Also, you can let the group know that 1-2 volunteers (1st come, 1st served) can send me a tutorial/chapter/quickstart and I'll analyze it during the talk.

Abstract:

Documentation is paramount to increasing an open source project’s adoption and growth. Planning and writing documentation for a variety of users and taking into consideration their needs, backgrounds, and environments can quickly become complex and feel overwhelming. Using examples from new and mature open source projects, we’ll explore strategies and steps you can use to plan, organize, write and improve your documentation.

• Determine your project’s audiences
• Select and prioritize the types of documentation each audience needs
• Outline and write the text
• Brainstorm and create useful and interesting examples
• Gather feedback and incorporate it into the documentation
• Use the documentation to improve your project

[tlberglund]

Site finally updated! Thank you, @graphitefriction, and see you tomorrow night!

Note that I've pushed up the meeting time to 6pm, since we're just doing one talk. We've talked about that a bit, and I'm trying it out here. I'll still be there at 5:30, but pizza, etc., won't arrive till then, and you won't have to get started until 6:30. You can take 1 or 1.5 hours as desired.

[graphitefriction]

Awesome! Thanks @tlberglund. I'll be there around 5:30 as well so that the projector and I can come to an understanding.

[tlberglund]

Yes, it is good to establish healthy lines of communication up front. :grinning: