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iTunesFLOSSmanuals.net: A New Wiki Help Authoring/Publishing Tool Hybrid
September 5th, 2008 | Posted in Wikis 5 Comments »
Flossmanuals.net is a new wiki help authoring/publishing tool hybrid that, as far as I know, is completely unique. The site is more than a wiki. It allows groups of authors to create specific chapters independently. You can then remix the chapters into any arrangement and selection you want through a drag-and-drop interface. Finally, you can export the selection as a PDF file. Alternatively, you can embed the manual on a separate site using an API.
Flossmanuals -- a site that combines a wiki with a publishing engine
FLOSS stands for Free/Libre Open Source Software, and this site announces itself as a host for open source software documentation (”free manuals about free software”).
Why not use traditional help authoring tools? Often times open source software projects can’t afford the expensive authoring tools more commonly used to document commercial software. Additionally, developers — who often write the documentation — don’t want to learn complicated authoring tools. The wiki interface is simple yet flexible. Publishing multiple versions of guides is easy. Read more about FLOSSmanuals.net here.
In exploring the site, I think the concept is impressive. It’s the next generation in wiki authoring. However, right now the site is very young. Additionally, by limiting the scope to open source, the authors limit their potential for adoption. The same software could have market appeal for commercial group authoring situations.
Anne Gentle is one of the go-to people for information on Flossmanuals. You can read the results of their “booksprint” (a long documentation writing party) on Anne’s blog.
Keith Soltys wrote about Floss and linked to numerous other writers, including Charles Jeter and Janet Swisher. We also talked about FLOSSmanuals.net briefly on the last podcast.
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Update: I just published this post and Jane looks over my shoulder and says “Floss manuals? They teach you how to floss?”
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Tags: Anne Gentle, booksprint, flossmanuals.net
Adam Hyde, the founder and manager of Floss Manuals is speaking at the DocTrain East Conference this fall.
Hollys last blog post..Atlanta STC On-Site events
What an exciting analysis!
For those of you who missed the podcast, I tend to think of FLOSSManuals’ concept sort of like what Surfrider.org does for the beaches – volunteers show up to pick up trash so everyone can enjoy clean beaches.
The same applies for the free software and plugins we all enjoy; documentation for those open source software programs takes time, and a Booksprint helps worthy causes, so everyone can enjoy the software.
Charless last blog post..Wordle: Just check it out
[...] I found something interesting on the I’d rather be writing blog about Floss Manuals. It’s a wiki site where you and/or your team can create technical documentation collectively [...]
See inpics.net. They were featured in Wall Street Journal and the newswires for taking a slightly different approach to computer manuals. taking into consideration psychology of learning…think minimalism in style and colour.
The manuals are free…used to be able to download the PDF off the site..
apparently the key differences are:
- as few words as possible
- Pictures (must be grayscale, only highlight important sections in colour)
http://www.inpics.net/
@4Fear, thanks for the link to inpics.net. I hadn’t seen that before. Definitely worth checking out.