Lauren
Here is a video that shows you the edits that I want to make for the Support / Help Documents.
What we need to do first are the following
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Create a master tracking spreadsheet with multiple tabs, one for each Rockpile Menu
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In each tab, list the commands that are present on the menu
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FOr each command we need a set of checks that we need to go through as follows
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Help Document Exists Y/N
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Help Links in the command (? in Header, F1, Help in Com,mand Tips all work)
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Documentation is in new structure with hidden sections, sections of the same headings and heading styles (capitalized) , same text where appropriate, different as needed, video near the top of the document (Copy and Past the video and then delete the one at the bottom of the help document.
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If video is missing - let me know and I will record one.
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Review current document for Typos or errors and correct them
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Review the screen grabs in the document - are they correct or do they need updating
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If the document is missing elements we need to create them, you can take a first pass at that for me, I can write if you are stuck.
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Where existing documents link out to other docs, we need t make sure that we capture the fact that the Help is a multi post help.
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I want to stop[ having to document the same things over and over, we need to creayte posts for things that will be repeated and then just provide a link to the doc that covers it in order to keep the documents lighter. We may need a master document that covers the common elements that we can refer to in all help documents and just put a comment and link to the master document
For example the Select Layer function is the same in all commands, you can pick a layer, Create a Layer using the Add Layer and you can filter the layer list using the filter function. Find a doc where that is detailed, and move that into a master doc that covers RPS Command User Interface standards, and then we just need to update it once and have all of the command docs point to that help. There are many elements of our help that could be covered like that, including Header Bar Commands, Switch Command, Command Tips, Selecting / Creayting Layers, in RPS Settings, Adding, Deleting, Renaming, saving, deleting settings templates / styles are nearly always the same so again could be moved into a central post for RPS Settings that covers the high level use of RPS Settings and its controls, and then have a list of each settings and a link to each commands settings for the details.
As you start going through this - create a new Post in Pre Release section of commiunity, and add those sections to that document and then provide links to it, we may need to put that up centrrally and make it released once you have some basic content there.
As we do each command, we turn the spreadsheet cells green
We need to add developer notes for anything that they need to address, eg in the Smart Copy command doc that I edited in the video, I identified some Header Bar changes that need to be implemented, those being
Remove the TBC Change Elevation command - covered by Smart Elevate
Remove the Offset Line command and replace with Multioffset Line as that will cover it
Remove the Clip lines command, we likely need to create a Clip Lines function as an RPS Command or add it to Smart Edit.
If in smart Copy there are any command issues - one I have is that you have to select a Copy From and Copy To location, but often I just want to copy in place to a different layer and I hate having to selkect a From and To location to achieve that - there should be a Copy in Place Checkbox that sets 0,0 and 0,0 automatically for the From / To locations.
If you take a look at the latest Multi Offset Lines or Smart Label commands, you will see hpow we are moving to rework the dialogs of all commands going forwards. We are restructuring the commands dialog into clear groups lkike SETUP / CONFIGURATION or EXECUTE etc. so that it is clearer to the user. FOr controls on a command we are trying to split controls into System Settings (that are then moved into RPS Settings) and Execute / Run Time Settings that stay in the dialog of the command. There may also be some COMMAND OVERRIDES and that is an additional section of the dialog.
When a command has multiple modes like Smart Label - the first thing you do is select the Mode from a pull down list and the dialog changes to reflect the mode selected.
When a command has an intended 12345 type workflow, we use Tabs to provide the sequence, we will be numbering the tabs to show / reflect that sequence to help guide the user. If there are eg 2 options for step 2 there will be 2A and 2B option, again trying to make it clear you can use one or the other option before heading to Step 3 etc. (Smart Model and CAD Cleanup and SMart Takeoff are good examples of these types of command.
Our master doc should describe these high level processes and concepts so the user can read it once, and then we dont need to provide that level of detail in every command help document.
Hope that this all makes sense and that you can start slowly and pick up the methods from the video. Call me any time you need to talk through a command or the current documentation.
I want to make the documentation as useful as it is now, but a lot lighter to read and use and make it better structured so that it is easier to maintain.
This sould give you the opportunity to try out all the commands, work out what they all do and how / where to use them
If you struggle with a command or how to use it, write up why that was and what you think we could do to make it easier to use / understand. I want the commands to be more usable for the end user.,
Video Demonstration