Ubuntu
ubuntu-docs package

Intro paragraph in "Advanced topics" section doesn't really help

Bug #144783 reported by Matthew Paul Thomas
6
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
ubuntu-docs (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Wishlist
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: ubuntu-docs

Ubuntu Gutsy, all updates installed

1. Choose "System" > "Help".
2. Choose "Advanced Topics".

What you see: "The Ubuntu help system contains a lot of documentation, not all of which you see in the table of contents. This topic contains some of the advanced categories of documentation. Use the search tool to find more help!"

In other sections, the intro paragraph helps reassure people that they're in the appropriate section. But in this section, summarizing its contents is impractical, because it's a grab-bag (albeit unavoidable) of unrelated topics. So I suggest that no matter what question someone is trying to answer when they open this section, they'd be more likely to solve their problem faster if the intro paragraph was removed.

Phil Bull (philbull)
Changed in ubuntu-docs:
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Mads Peter Rommedahl (lhademmor) wrote :

In this patch I've tried changing the wording a bit to concentrate on the actual content of the help page. Is it any better?

Changed in ubuntu-docs:
assignee: nobody → lhademmor
status: Confirmed → In Progress
Revision history for this message
Phil Bull (philbull) wrote :

Thanks for the patch Mads. Just a couple of comments:

 * The phrase "to your special needs" seems a little redundant, so could probably be removed.
 * "info" => "information"

I think that your patch is an improvement over the original. I disagree with mpt that a user would be more likely to solve their problem (at all significantly) faster if the paragraph was not there, as I doubt most users read intro paragraphs! However, I do agree that an intro paragraph is not necessary in this case. I'm fine with it either way - a) updated text or b) no text.

Revision history for this message
Mads Peter Rommedahl (lhademmor) wrote :

Okay, I admit that the last part was only "fill-in".
I personally think this version is better than nothing because it adds that basic users may normally not need this. But anyway, I don't know. You decide :)

Revision history for this message
Phil Bull (philbull) wrote :

Thanks for the updated patch, Mads.

MPT, would you prefer this patch to be applied or for the paragraph to be removed?

Revision history for this message
Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) wrote :

Thanks for putting some time into this. I still think nothing at all would be better, though. It might be useful to have one sentence saying that these topics will be interesting to you only if you're an expert. But I think that's mostly satisfied by calling the section "Advanced topics" in the first place.

Incidentally, I suggest avoiding the phrases "this topic" and "this section", because they're symptoms of unnecessary sentences (try deleting them); and "the ... user", because it's impersonal and slightly disrespectful (try "you" instead). <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-doc/2006-July/006669.html>

Revision history for this message
Mads Peter Rommedahl (lhademmor) wrote :

mpt, I didn't quite understand your last comment, and since I've lost the patch since then I'm just jumping off this bug for now.

Changed in ubuntu-docs:
assignee: lhademmor → nobody
status: In Progress → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Matthew East (mdke) wrote :

I've removed the paragraph.

Changed in ubuntu-docs:
status: Confirmed → Fix Released
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