The FreeCAD manual

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r-frank
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by r-frank »

yorik wrote:2) We consider the wiki as a fork. In any case, there will be no way to update the printed version, so there will be several versions out there anyway.
Since the wiki version is tranlateable within the wiki and can easily be enhanced by wiki-writers i would opt for this way ...
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yorik
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by yorik »

Yes, basically for me this whole thing was an experience... To see if I was able to write a book, and to see how different it was to have documentation written by a single person. Now I saw these two things :) I think the "master" should be the wiki. When 0.17 will be out, a good part of the book will be outdated. I'm not sure at all I'll have time to change the book, so it has more chances to keep up to date on the wiki...
__Vinz__
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by __Vinz__ »

Hi there,

Ok, that makes sense too. Wiki editing is easier so this means the chances of getting contributions/translations is indeed higher.
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by ediloren »

I think the "master" should be the wiki
For me, Yorik's opinion is 'master' here ;) . Also the reason is good:
When 0.17 will be out, a good part of the book will be outdated. I'm not sure at all I'll have time to change the book, so it has more chances to keep up to date on the wiki...
But, if you really plan to have the whole book reviewed
make it reviewed by a native english speaker who has experience in the publishing business.
I think we may have many other small changes upcoming. Do you intend to edit the wiki then, and use the wiki as the basis for publishing? This is risky, as the wiki is by nature constantly evolving. You need a frozen version for publishing. So I would suggest to incorporate the part you think meaningful of my comments (many are typos or straightforward errors so probably not much to discuss there) as well as your reviewer's version in the master (github for the moment). BTW I'm sorry I don't know any experienced native speaker that could do the job (more than in the publishing, he/she probably should have some CAD experience, as the language is technical here, even if the book is aimed at novices - but not only!)

I can help there as well for my part, as soon as you review my comments, forking on github (silly me, I had that intention at first, then I was misled by quickly looking at gitbook in thinking there was no github source attached).

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yorik
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by yorik »

ediloren wrote:So I would suggest to incorporate the part you think meaningful of my comments (many are typos or straightforward errors so probably not much to discuss there) as well as your reviewer's version in the master (github for the moment)
Yes, that's the plan
ediloren wrote:he/she probably should have some CAD experience, as the language is technical here
An editor who speaks CAD will be hard to find :) but I think if I find someone who already worked with tech books, that should be all right...
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by KHarcombe »

yorik wrote:
ediloren wrote:So I would suggest to incorporate the part you think meaningful of my comments (many are typos or straightforward errors so probably not much to discuss there) as well as your reviewer's version in the master (github for the moment)
Yes, that's the plan
ediloren wrote:he/she probably should have some CAD experience, as the language is technical here
An editor who speaks CAD will be hard to find :) but I think if I find someone who already worked with tech books, that should be all right...

I have some experience with CAD software and I am prepared to read it and edit it.
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Re: The FreeCAD manual - an native English editor?

Post by Johnquicker »

yorik wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2016 4:12 pm
I'm also in the process of preparing a printed version, to publish on lulu.com (which allows to place it on amazon and barnes and noble too). The document is almost done, but I'd like to make it reviewed by a native English speaker who has experience in the publishing business. Anyone here knows such a person?
Hello, yorik. I noticed @garya is editing the manual on some wiki pages as I was informed to update the Chinese translation. In my opinion, @garya's changes are also awesome, making the sentences more smooth to read.
Screen Shot 2018-12-30 at 22.30.39.png
Screen Shot 2018-12-30 at 22.30.39.png (490.09 KiB) Viewed 4575 times
Are you in the process of updating the texts into FC version 0.18? Does someone have a timeline?

BTW, @garya is asking about "serially reading the Manual", and I think it will be good to have the <prev> and <next> links at the end of each manual pages like the one on those normal wiki pages.
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by ubiquity »

I just added a thread about broadening the documentation on the Development forum.
https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=33223
It is aimed at generating discussion on various forms of documentation and how access to them is organised.
I support the notion that the wiki is the primary source of material as it is easily accessed by all users and editors. It works as a good repository for some of the written tutorial material and Yorik has organised the tutorial access well.

I have a certain vested interest in the development of good documentation both online and offline as I am attempting to teach a series of courses to casual users of CAD and other software to support their individual and collective projects in woodwork, metalwork and plastics (including CNC and 3D printing). These courses have to be supported by documentation that is available offline as there is no internet access for the venue.
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andergrin
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by andergrin »

Hello. Link to ebook versions of The FreeCAD manual on Wiki page is broken
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JoshuaCall
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Re: The FreeCAD manual

Post by JoshuaCall »

andergrin wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:29 pm
I haven't created a gitbook account, so I'm not 100% sure what's on that site. But I'd recommend reading the manual on the wiki until the new manual has been finished, since the wiki is updated by the community.

Additional note: For readers who want to get the most out of the manual, I'll note the following best practices:

* Compare the in-work new manual with the manual on the wiki. Follow Yorik's progress on the new manual to see which pages have and haven't been re-written yet.

* In particular, note that the Drawing Workbench has been deprecated. See the wiki manual page for an updated, TechDraw Workbench oriented version.
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