"FAQ"-forum?

Kram1032 · Post by **Kram1032** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:43 am

kram1032 wrote:thanks, though, everyone could have found that one, as I already wrote that, like, hundred times or so? - And I'm not the only one, who repeatedly said that in the past.
There should be a "general hints" forum, where you *only* have hints. NO questions. And the subforums should contain:
Indigo
Violet
and all the Converters.

So, what do you think about that? It would get rid of repeating the same answer over and over again.

An other way to handle it, could be a subforum for each Exporter and one in "Indigo renderer General Stuff", so that there would be no need to open a new forum. - Though if it had an own forum, one could find far simpler

One thing, that might be good (though a bit hard to control and implement), would be a counter in a "full forum poll" with dynamically added answers, so to say:
Each of the topics has it's own tick. - important is, that no topic exists twice and you tick, how often you have seen a question, related to this.
That way, it could be ordered after problem count, which would make it simpler for others to find the own problem. (Sure, this feature could be realized in far future, as it's not toooo important)

Ok, please vote and add your thoughts. Thanks in advance

SmartDen · Post by **SmartDen** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:15 am

i mean we need moderators above all

dougal2 · Post by **dougal2** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:53 am

Why don't we start collecting FAQs in the Wiki and simply point people there when you can't be bothered to explain anything?

oh, hang on, there already is a FAQ section in the wiki, why not put it to better use?

perhaps a big banner at the top of the forum "RTFM AND WIKI FIRST" would help.

dougal2 · Post by **dougal2** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:59 am

OK, so the existing FAQs are not editable and are very very out of date.

I started a new wiki page for FAQs

http://www.indigorenderer.com/joomla/in ... d=wikifaqs

alexmeyer · Post by **alexmeyer** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:45 pm

I like the idea of the wiki-FAQ (I even added one already). One thing that needs to happen IMHO, is some organization of at least the downloads/docs sections, as they're somewhat mixed together in spots (for instance, Downloads>Docs & Tutorials), and just plain confusing anyway.

The wiki isn't prominent enough, it gets lost in the "Documentation" menu at the top of the site, and even I forget how much stuff is actually there already.

I'm not trying to be mean/angry/anything, just trying to help in identifying problem areas of the site. (I could even help with things if needed...

)

Big Fan · Post by **Big Fan** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:01 pm

yeah I would like someone with admin rights to actually do something useful

I have asked for assistance before and got no reply... presumeably there actually arent any mods visiting here any more or any who can be bothered doing any thing

so my first request would actually be to remove existing moderators who are not interested in participating and find some who are.

continuing my whinge yes I agree some site reorganisation and updating is required including the home page news, easier to find docs and the FAQ

of course getting people to follow instructions and read the docs is another issue - already I find myself answering the same basic problems at blender artists repeatedly

to my mind this is a little self inflicted cos when news of indigo is posted elsewhere either the full set of useful links arent given or there is no consultation with people beforehand

for instance I see blendernation has an article just today about indigo 1.0 - why couldnt we actually wait until the docs really were finished and smartden had the bugs worked out?

while we are on the topic I am nearly finished the blendigo docs and will be moving on soon afterward..

given the unwillingness of people to help out with this ( and lets face it there must be several hundred passive blendigoists out there..) I think this might be the last docs done unless someone agrees to take on the small role of doc updater - it cant be all that tough now that there is a lot more detail already.. I would hope someone from the blender community could step up to that in true blender spirit

so a volunteer is sought for that as well

Kram1032 · Post by **Kram1032** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:22 am

The Wiki somehow has the issue, that very few people (maybe, you're actually the only one BigFan

) really take some time to modify it.
I think, if the info was written in a special forum section, more people would really actively write answers, especially when they get annoyed of replying to one and the same question, hundreds and thousands of times...

dougal2 · Post by **dougal2** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:24 am

Kram1032
Instead of saying the wiki isn't used much, perhaps it'd help if you actually start using it, and encourage other to do so as well.

What's the difference between writing in the wiki and another forum section? none. If you're willing to write some helpful words, why not just put them in the existing wiki ?

In fact, the wiki is more flexiable because anyone can contribute to any of the entries - with a forum obviously you cannot edit what other people have written, leading to duplication, length discussions and confusion when errors crop up.

Kram1032 · Post by **Kram1032** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:26 am

I dunno what's the difference, but there is... I already used the Wiki, but I prefer a lot, posting in the forums...

alexmeyer · Post by **alexmeyer** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:31 am

@mark:
I know why you prefer the forum instead of the wiki... it's because, I can't edit out, all of your, commas.

Sukrim · Post by **Sukrim** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:46 am

Well, if people want to find some info they don't find in the documentation they often take alook in the forums first before trying to dig something up in a Wiki...

Maybe it is possible to link the Wiki as a kind of seperate forum section? Like "General" "Exporters" - "Please also visit our FAQ section in the Wiki"

alexmeyer · Post by **alexmeyer** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:51 am

Again, I still think it just needs to be more prominent. It's at the bottom of the "Documentation" menu, and it blends in with the rest of the stuff in there.

As I said before, for a while I forgot there WAS a wiki, and I also didn't think anyone did anything with it. It's actually got a LOT of stuff in there that's extremely useful. People just need to be told/reminded about that.

Kram1032 · Post by **Kram1032** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:38 am

Sure, as, it's , , , great,, fun, that you, always , tell m,e a,bo,ut m,y comm,as,!

Sure... Reorganizing the site layout could also help a lot

Big Fan · Post by **Big Fan** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:09 pm

I suppose the real issue is we dont have anyone to do that

suvakas · Post by **suvakas** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:55 pm

Nah guys.. lets just make a thread to somewhere and let everyone to post what they think should be in the faq. Then a random moderator could make a sticky by doing copy /paste from that thread, or using the same thread, or paste those to wiki.
What's there to discuss so long?

The ones that sure should be in the faq:
1) Reinhard off for region rendering
2) How to export texture map from Blender
3) This re-calc normals thing you guys always use in Blender
4) DOF and scene scale
5) ISO, Exposure, Shutter speed
6) Unbiased = takes a lot of time
7) How to make a mirror material

[edit]
I mean there is no point in rebuilding the whole forum for a simple FAQ thread.

"FAQ"-forum?

Would you like such a forum section?

"FAQ"-forum?

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