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Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 10:35:16 +0100
From: Ferdinand Soethe <sammler@soethe.net>
Message-ID: <1303702046.20041115103516@soethe.net>
To: Sean Wheller <dev@forrest.apache.org>
Subject: Re[2]: Selective PDF - Who uses Forrest?
In-Reply-To: <200411150902.10588.sean@inwords.co.za>
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Sean Wheller wrote:

SW> My experience with the average user is that they will not use forrest. The
SW> current system is way past the average user. If the average user could use
SW> forrest then we would have many more example sites. The user that I belive
SW> uses forrest is normally from a web admin or net admin background. Authors
SW> such as myself are here because we have knowledge of XML and XSLT. These
SW> people are not average.

Agreed.

SW> Much of the documentation does not profile the average user, 90% of the tasks
SW> explained in documentation are way beyond what the average user wants to get
SW> involved with. The average user profile ends on the first page. The average
SW> user wants install, copy files, and forrest run.

True, but this is only version 0.7.

In my opinion, Forrest is one of the very few frameworks that has
the potential to open XML-based-publishing to the normal user WHILE
keekping the unique potential of refining a site later on by learning
more about xslt and cocoon.

Which is why, after spending a long time researching other products,
I' decided to make Forrest a central topic in a book on everyday use
of XML-technology for "normal" people.


Also, it seems to me, that Forrest at the moment doesn't need a lot of
structural changes to make it easy to use. Those that would help,
can still be implemented until version 1.0.

What is mostly needed is an expanded and perhaps differently
structured tutorial explaining Forrest more from a users perspective
plus a reference manual on all the settings and options.

(I'm happy to start writing one as soon as I have a thorough
understanding of Forrest as a whole.)*


So I think the facts that you mentioned are true, but they are issues
to improve and not arguments for changing the target audience of this
project.

--
Ferdinand Soethe


Btw. Somebody offered to provide a site.xml and tabs.xml with plenty
of commented examples. Is this offer still valid???