I’m discovering more of the functinality by way of trial and error, however a well written manual would be a good addition because there are functionality features that are as yet undoumented, which means for the time being I am cataloguing the discoveries as i learn. so maybe a “missing manual” might emerge over time, who knows.
I don’t know how to start a WIKI, but I think it is a great idea. I know we can help each other out. I am a beginning beginner, so at the moment I don’t have much to offer. I am using Vital with an analog breath controller; someday I will be able to add to conversations/articles about that - give me a couple hundred hours of Vital time!
I have the beginnings of an unofficial guide in the works. Any suggestions for a collaborative platform would be great as I am literally learning this synth by the seat of the pants.if interested I am happy te post the ( very short) draft and people are welcome to make edits and add content. @Tytel, I am not trying to compete with you on this one😀
1 Like
So February 2021 now - still no manual.
@waveshaper any progress on yours ? I would put it into google docs - then people who want to contribute can do easily.
Christoph
i like the idea. would put some work in that if im not the only one writing there.
@SerErris can you edit it like a “pro” manual/wiki in google docs? (and can you turn it into pdf, so you can use it offline, too?)
would prefer a free/ open source site, but i have no knowledge on that so google will do.
if you link it here i put something in. maybe add a picture with numbers on all the knobs and stuff, so you can use the numbers in the description.
Google Docs is like a word document, where multiple people can edit at the same time. However it is not a wiki, but more like a document with classic structure.
Advantages:
- It can be very easily exported to any other format (e.g. PDF, WORD, plain text and a lot of others)
- It is free of cost
- It can be copied easily to someone else
- WebBrowser is the only thing you need.
- No Website Hosting required.
- Absolutely the simplest Version to setup.
- Usermanagement very easy.
Cons:
- Not a WIKI, potentially more difficult to maintain (e.g. links). Crosslinking is possible to sections and paragraphs, but is more difficult than a simple WIKI.
- Not a website, you need to have the link to access it. however you also need the website link to access it. Still a website is easier to find with google search.
- You need a google account to work on it (edit).
I looked up in the internet if there are any free opensource sides available to have that hosted. But there is actually not a free Wiki useable for dokumentation. I can host a Dokuwiki on my webserver not a problem.
DokuWiki should be good enough for us to enable proper user dokumentation.
Let me know what you think.
Those are for if you have a special keyboard.
google documents
pro: convert to pdf/text (so you can edit /use it offline)
easy setup/managment.
easy export would probably good if we have to move it later for some reason.
con: need google account (but you could update it if someone works on it with pdf an put it here for example?)
dokuwiki
pro: better acessability, less google
con: don´t know if offline use/edit and/or converting to pdf is possible.
you need to do all the setup, and if your server goes down the project is gone?
that would be the most important points for decision, i think.
offline work/use would be important for me.
I tend to start with google docs.
- it is already there, we can immediately start.
- it is a document. It is meant to get PDFfed and read online.
- creating a structured document out of a Wiki is a nightmare. That needs additional programming.
So I start a google document, and later on that could still get transported into a wiki if required.
1 Like
i´ll start as soon as the link is up.
Thank you for the initiative.
While the writing starts on a Google Doc… is there an interest in investigating a git based approach for the long run? Using e.g. GitLab or GitHub has the advantage of better revision control and permissions. The use of git-based tools to write manuals and documentation is increasing.
People (including total strangers) could contribute improvements (from a typo to a chapter) without having to learn about git itself, just editing text online. The project could include the possibility to submit issues or request to expand chapters or cover new areas.
GitHuB/lab sounds better to me than google.
can you set it up on github/lab?
is easy export to text/pdf possible?
is 500 mb from free version enough for everything?
1 Like
If you want, I can setup something in GitLab right away, to experiment. Just like a Google Doc is a good start for text, GitLab can be a good start for project. Thanks to git and an open license, we could move flexibly somewhere else if needed.
would be nice, i´m bored right now.
made a sketch for a list of content allready…
and i will make some pictures.
It’s taking me a bit longer only because I’m looking whether we can get something fancy… but still easy to use without coding skills.
For instance, I’m looking at Gitbook but I still haven’t figured out whether we can have all that functionality for free. See the list of possible engines (on top of GitLab’s own wiki, which is too basic but maybe good enough to get you busy and not bored). 
@vcvr Do you have a GitLab account? Send me a private message and I’ll invite you to a project.
ok, probably better not to rush this decision to much. take your time to find something suitable. moving later is more work.
just thought it would be good to make a quick start somewhere. so maybe others join in, at least 5-10 people would be nice.
i edit pictures now, need some practice with gimp anyway.
Agreed. To start quickly the simplest is the idea of the Google Doc.
I’ll keep investigating, and maybe others here have ideas too.
After some sleep…
Yesterday I got carried away by the excitement. While nowadays open-source git-based collaboration is basically ready for non-technical writers when it comes to text with basic formatting, embedding media, styling and export to PDF complicate things. Can be done, but not in a rush.
I stick to my initial suggestion: if there is interest to define a longer term plan while the writing starts, I’m happy to help.
I still recommend to start with Google Docs.
Reasoning:
I am familar with Git-Hub/Git-Lab. I already have an account and could start right away. However Git-Hub and Git-Lab are both source code management systems. So they work with checkin/checkout and such mechanisms. As soon as we are working on a single document (where the export works), we will get into issues of differences on the same document, which allways requires manual merging of someone before that thing becomes active.
Also the procedure to add anything to the document is much more complicated.
- Checkout the current version
- Change
- Checkin
- Create a Pull Request
- Somone need to merge it, so that others can see the change.
From my point of view it is not really great for larger pieces of work (e.g. a single large document). It would need multiple different documents and kind of a wrapper, so that people can work on individual parts.
Google Docs is not the greatest solution available- do not get me wrong, but it is still the fastest to get started and very easy to manage, e.g. a lot of individual people can work on the exact same document at the same point in time. You can even see, when someone else is working in your section and what he is doing in near real time.
If we get to kind of a stable release I am happy to put that over (maybe cut it in pieces) to git-hub, or anything else.
1 Like
I created a base document here:
If you like to collaborate please send me a PM with your google account (email).
Also if you collaborate, please add your name in the last section of the Document:
Community and Thanks
7 Likes