Suggestion for new Yelp front page

[Andreas Lloyd]

Hi all,

recently, we had a discussion on IRC on how to improve the top level
"Help Contents" menu in Yelp. Matthew East has been trying out a lot of
different models of how to best present our documentation
[http://www.mdke.org/tmp/index-mdke.png and
http://www.mdke.org/tmp/new-yelp.png], and I thought I would add my own
suggestion based on those:

--------------

 * New to Ubuntu?
An introduction the Ubuntu operating system - including the answers to:
    - "What does Ubuntu mean?"
    - "How are Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu related to Ubuntu?"
    - "How do I import my data from Windows to Ubuntu?"

 * What is new in Ubuntu 6.10?
The release notes - if needed...

-----------

 * Working with your Desktop
Learn to use your Ubuntu Desktop for everyday tasks, and find the answers to:
    - "How do I install new applications?"
    - "How do I play MP3s and other multimedia files?"
    - "How do I connect to the Internet?"
    - etc.

 * Server administration and maintenance
Learn how to configure your Ubuntu Server, and find the answers to:
    - "How do I create a windows share?"
    - "How do I secure my system?"
    - etc.

* Getting More Help Online
If you didn't find the information you needed, get help in the online Ubuntu community.

-----------

 * Contributing to Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a community-driven project always in need of more contributors. 
Learn about all the ways that you can help here.

---------------


This suggestion is partly inspired by this page
[http://www.guidebookgallery.org/screenshots/help] showing how help
pages have developed in the past years. I especially liked the way the
Mac OS X help page 
[http://www.guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/system/features/help/macosx103.png]
lists the top issues that people will need help with right on the front
page, so I tried to integrate that. Each question will link directly to
that section in the relevant guide or separate guide, as it would be in
the case of the "Switching from Windows" guide and the "Adding and
Removing applications" guides.

Of course, there shouldn't be too many of these top-level issue links so
deciding which ones are most relevant is an important consideration. I
used the CommonQuestions page on the wiki as a basis to pick the current
ones, but that is completely open for discussion.

Another issue is that it requires redoing the Yelp frontpage completely,
rather than relying on Yelp's auto-generated front page. Matt assures me
that this is not too complicated.

Comments are welcome.

Cheers,

Andreas

-- 
https://launchpad.net/people/lloydinho