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Dadeo

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  • November 26, 2006
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    It seems to me that MP development has been amazing, but the documentation has not kept up. Thank god for the forums as they are the main source of help for most users regarding plugins and skins.

    Cheers to whoever provided the Guide for New Users with MP1.0 Install. But where do you access it after you finish the installation? Is there a readme somewhere?

    I think the main parts of MP are pretty well documented. One glaring omission I have noticed is there is nothing on Screen Calibration that I can find in the Wiki. There is on Display Calibration, but not UI Calibration and Screen Calibration. I think many users have to use overscan and personally I find it a nightmare trying to sort out display card configuration, input signal resolution, screen resolution, and then calibration. If you do it wrong, you may not get graphics displaying, TV ouptut, video output, etc. so it is rather iimportant! And how do you reset or restore Screen Calibration settings? (Not a question for here, just an example)

    On the other hand, plugins and skins are not as well documented. I have proposed in the MP Installer (MPI) forum that now that we have MP 1.0, that MPI become a standard for all plugin and skin installation. And that it should include a reference to the relevant, up-to-date page(s) in the Wiki.

    In checking the Wiki Recent Changes for the last 90 days I could not find a single change related to a skin or plugin (maybe some were there but not labeled clearly?) Really, were there no new skins or plugins released in the last three months?

    I would suggest that plugins and skins remain in the beta stage until an MPI file is created and the Wiki is updated. Of course experienced users can download from the forum and test them, but the plugins and skins should not go in the main repository, or be listed on the Home Page until there is an MPI file and the Wiki is updated.

    Perhaps new development could take place in teams with a plugin developer, a skin developer and a Wiki expert. It's too difficult and time consuming for one person to manage all three, but they need to be better coordinated.

    Maybe there should even be some standards (shudder!) about how many skins a plugin must support before it is released (at least one!), or that developers must provide the files for the native Blue3 skin to support the plugin as part of the install package. Maybe Skins should have to support at least the major plugins before they are fully 'released'. (Does anyone even know how many people are using which Plugins?).

    It is also confusing to have so many versions of a plugin or skin listed in the repository. Perhaps one section could be for current/latest, and another for archived versions. Or they could be grouped by which versions of MP they support. At the very least the default sort could be by date submitted so users see the latest ones first. It is also very confusing to have some install files in MPI and some not, for the same plugin!

    Some plugin developers seem to be moving toward using Google Code pages, which is fine for development data, but I think all User Documentation needs to be in the Wiki! Otherwise it can never be a complete manual of MP.

    Just to be clear, I am not complaining. MP is amazing, the plugins are ingenious, the skins are gorgeous, the variety is breathtaking! I just think with the advent of MP 1.0 there needs to be a bit of work done making it a lot easier for new users, because there are going to be lots of them, and they won't all be as expert as most of the current MP users!

    OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. Please feel free to move this to whatever the appropriate forum might be. :)
     

    Dadeo

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  • November 26, 2006
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    Duh, I just saw the General Forums - Website/Forum/Wiki forum where this post really should be. How do I move it or can you do that for me Chris?
     

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