This is the second time I've attempted to get a site set up with xoops. Exactly the same thing is happening. Most of my questions here in the forums don't get resolved (altho ususally someone takes a stab at it) and there is precious little by way of documentation for xoops. I know everyone here is a volunteer, and I do thank everyone for at least taking a shot at answering my questions. And I know some idiot trashed the XOOPS docs a couple of months ago. But the end result is the same. It's just incredibly hard to figure out the basics of what seems to be a very cool cms. Believe me I spend a great deal of time scouring this site for previous discussios and faq entries. But I often don't come away with an answer.

Xoops is not easy to configure for beginners because of this. I can't help it if this is not what people want to hear, but from my experience, it's true. I'm going to stick with it because probably eventually I'll get it where I need it to be.

If the XOOPS experts would take the time to write up user docs or reassemble the ones that used to exist, there'd probably be less redundant traffic and basic questions here in the forums.

Anyways, just needed to say that. I will figure out what I need to, with whatever help you all are able to offer. And thanks for all of you that have put in the massive amount of energy that XOOPS is obviously a product of.

Here is a site that has XOOPS Docs Listed, while the docs site is unavailable.

HTH.

Temporary documentation is also found on my site HERE including tutorials not listed elsewhere.

Quote:

The installation guide which comes with every package of XOOPS is, I believe, extremely clear and comprehensive. If you have any compliants about it, please let me know. We need feedback that is specific, rather than a general rant.

If you have any other questions post them here. It's a good idea to check out 'Who's online' to see if there are any experienced hands online when you post. Your question can sometimes get lost in the list after a while.

We hear your comments and are working on a replacement for the docs site, in fact I'm cutting this post short, so that I can get on with just that!

Richard

Quote:

I doubt that. I don’t know anything about programming but still I am able to run the site successfully. And that’s only because of this great helping community.

It happens that sometime you get a late response for your question but that’s how it works.

I will like to raise an issue here. (If my words could make any difference)

Most of the modules don’t come with any instructions so to use them is really a hard job. You need hours or sometimes days to actually know how to get what you want. So it should be made necessary for every module developer to write a proper “Read Me” from a Beginner's point of view. I think that it will solve most of the problems that I see in forum everyday.

I few days back, News module's documentation was made available. It will be great if all other modules get the same treatment. Like Download, Forum, Section etc.

I hope devs will consider this request.
Lets hope for the best.

Well, I am a programmer, but am clueless about php etc, so while can think things through and am certainly capable of researching issues, here I often come up with nothing after blowing the limited time I have available for learning xoops.

I absolutely do appreciate the fact that there are many here that spend a lot of time answering questions. But somehow it's just a fact that lots of times there is no resolve. It's no body's fault; this is not a rant; it's more like "hello, this is what it's like for a new user" or at least some of us. A thread I started a while ago "How to set up XOOPS 2.2.3 front page?" on Nov 4 is a good example. So basic, how to get a front page, why bb-code is showing up in the block, alternative approaches, etc...none of it led anywhere that allowed me to get on with things (someone has just posted there today, I've not tried that yet). And that's after several other were kind enough to respond to my request. Just can't get it finished off, resolved.

Probably it's hard not to hear my original posting as a rant. But I really do mean it more as: I sure as heck know that a lot of people have done a massive amount of work that I'm getting the benefit of, and have even walked me through some of the issues I've run into. But there are a lot of unfinished requests for help. I'm not particularly experienced with community ventures like this, but obviously many of you are; if there is anything that can be done about it? Maybe not without a more formalized system, which is probably impractical.

I'm sorry for beefing...it's not aimed at anyone. But it's just killer to have hung around for a week, hoping my dumb but essential question would be resolved. Last time I tried XOOPS and this happened I gave up on it. This time I won't, but did post this note.

kalpax,

We know you mean no harm, and yes it can get a little frustrating for new users. I do know we are working on improving the XOOPS documentation. We have also added official moderators to help field questions. Can we improve? You bet!

don (el paso)

I think that is probably some pretty good feedback kalpax, and I hope the docs that the others pointed out to you help you out. Having been here for quite a while now I can see that forum based support for the beginner does not seem to be as accessable as when I first joined. In saying that though there are a LOT more tutorials available thanks to people like jdseymour, and carnuke & co have done a great job with the FAQ's. As an old timer I find that I just get really bored with answering the same old questions over and over, so in the ned I just don't do it. This would be helped with your suggestion of more comprehensive documentation, but creating that is dependant on available man power. Over the last few years it seems that there aren't as many people coming up through the ranks who then stick around to help others out either which is probably compounding the issue. Perhaps if it is a point of concern for you could make it your pet project and create some documentation from a beginner for a beginner as you go along. One thing that is hard for more experienced users when creating documentation is being able to view XOOPS through a beginners eyes.


@Fastian

You can't require someone to create documentation, you can only encourage it. This was what was the driving force behind the QA team was...

If you are looking for an easy to follow how-to check out Xoops For Dummies

kalpax,

Thank you for your comments. It's always good to get constructive feedback from the community that helps us gauge where we need to improve.

We realize that there is a lot to be desired when it comes to support and we are doing everything we can to improve this. As it has already been pointed out, a lot is due to the fact that there is a lack of willing man power. A lot of users want to use XOOPS, but don't want to volunteer their time back into XOOPS. I'm not making excuses, just pointing out the facts.

Before I make the following statement, I must reiterate that I see your point, and I agree with it. Now watch carefully as I talk out of both sides of my mouth.

Brash lightly touched on a point that has been one of the biggest frustrations for me as of late, people can be really lazy. A lot of us get frustrated with answering the same questions over, and over, and over, and over. I'm actually getting to a point where I keep a text file called "canned_xoops.txt" that has answers to a lot of frequently asked questions with cross reference links.

Yes, there are numerous areas where we desperately need to improve, and we are working on it as fast as we can given the resources we have at our disposal. However, end users (not pointing any fingers here) should really try harder to figure problems out for themselves instead of posting a new thread every time the hit a pothole in the road to admining a XOOPS site.

I'm not a programmer, I only know HTML and CSS (and I need references for those), and I'm not particularlly smart. Yet, I was able to figure out the basics of XOOPS in a very short time. Within a couple months, I was doing more advanced things. Then I registered here and started giving back. I've asked my fair share of questions here, but I've tried to give back more than what I've taken.

The primary difference between me and some XOOPSers who are contanstly posting questions... Before I ask, I generally try every conceivable thing I can think of, or I put Google through its paces with site:xoops.org appended to my query. With just a little bit of effort, most of my questions get answered with content that's already here.

This is a model that I wish more people would follow. You don't have to be smart or technically inclinded to use XOOPS. You just have to put a little time and effort into it.

Nevertheless, you are right kalpax, there is still a lot that we can do here to help the newcommer. But, in all fairness, there is a lot that the newcomer can do as well to help themeselves.

Thank you for your feedback.

Best Regards,

James

I understand kalpax's point, which was expressed well and politely, and tend to agree.

I happen to have many years of programming experience, and several years experience with PHP and MySQL specifically. If it weren't for that, which makes it possible to deal with XOOPS problems on my own if I can't find an answer here, I would probably find using XOOPS very frustrating.

But then, I haven't read any of the published XOOPS documentation, so I can't judge its completeness or quality.

On the other hand, I think that the state of things has improved by leaps and bounds since I first started using XOOPS (about two years ago), and indications are that it will continue to improve.