What would you like documented?

[Hiller]

Since I have been using XLobby for a while now, I am pretty familiar with the setup of the program. What I would like to ask of the other forum members is what would you like to see documented? I know sometimes things aren't totally intuitive but overall I feel that XLobby is fairly easy to setup. What problems did you encounter when setting up the program or what problems are you still having? I would like to get at least a little documentation going to when new users come along they will at least have a little bit to get them going.

Thanks,
Steve

[Roscoe62]

Hi Steve,

Are you able to write something up on using the XLobby PPC client to issue commands via Girder? A little specific I know, but it's something I'll be doing a lot of soon.

Thanks

Ross

[Hiller]

Hey Ross,
I can do that as soon as my PPC comes in. I have parts and pieces of my dedicated system trickling in and am real excited to get my PPC. Once I have a little time to play with it I will definately write something up.

Steve

[Roscoe62]

Excellent! Can't wait!

Thanks!

[sdumas]

I'd like to see a list of commands available.

The xlobby commands for example.

It'd be nice if there was also a little explanation on category creation and usage.

Some explanation of the more obscure commands like "Snap".

Heck, whatever you can document, we'll take!

Thanks!

[Tracie]

We're seeing a lot of interest shown in skinning lately. How about a "How to Create Skins" tutorial?

How about a "How to set up your software DVD player in Xlobby" tutorial? I know it's pretty simple, but the question seems to get asked a lot, & if support were provided for Theater Tek, PowerDVD, WinDVD & Zoomplayer, you'd have the vast majority covered (I would think).

As well, how about a "How to set up Winamp" tutorial, with a full explanation of what each button does & how to set up & use playlists.

I know that the DVD & music issues are pretty simplistic, but those questions get asked often enough that it would be worth doing. Also, Bob Sorel & others are putting a How-to-rip DVDs document together over on AVS Forum. I would think that it would be a good idea to at least link to the document when it's finished, or better yet, post a copy of it here (with their permission of course). Steven's is good (it's what got me started), but it's incomplete in regard to the ripping software currently available. If something similar could be found/written for the music side, that would also be a good thing.

[Hiller]

Tracie,
A Skinning tutorial would be great but when I tried my hand at it I discovered that I can't work photoshop very well and gave up. Someone with real skinning experience can hopefully provide that one.
Tonight, I'm going to play with Girder some and see if I can remember what I have done in the past and then write something up for a simple girder setup. It's nice now that I have my HTPC and another PC that I can use for testing

[Hiller]

Okay, since I have been super lazy I'm going to start documenting stuff here buy basically moving forum threads over to the documentation section so that it's easy to find. When I can I will give credit where it is due.

I have been playing with Girder and will hopefully be able to get something for that together soon if I know what people are looking for.

Steve

[Wingman15]

I would like to know how to get this thing to work. I looked at a version of this program awhile back and liked what I saw. I downloaded the "non-test" version and can't get the thing to work at all. First off, where is the play button for playing a movie? Why can't I get a movie to play when you click on the cover?
I am not a programmer and a lot of things that are said in these forums are stated like everyone knows programming. I would love to see a dumbed-down doc explaining how to get this up and running. If that were to happen, I would then consider paying for this program. As it is now, I would not want to pay for it.
This is by no means a complaint against this program. It is just a request for documentation for dummies like me. If you wish to commercialize this program, you will get lots of us wanting it. Thanks.

[stevenhanna6]

As it is now, I would not want to pay for it.

I wouldn't ask anyone to pay for it either

I said I would document things a while ago....and now I am glad I haven't since things are still changing....I think once I get the new version out and fix the bugs I might sit down and start documenting...everything is starting to settle down.....but usually what happens is I think of something new to add and I do that.....all I can say is maybe wait for the next version (version 40) and see if you can get that setup....if you can't ask some questions...me and bunch of other guys will walk you through the setup......it also helps me when I see where people are getting stuck so I can make things easier.

[chadwolcott]

I would be more than happy to help out with some skinning documentation if that is desired. I'll start working on it now, and release it to steven after the next release comes out. I'll cover skinning only, it will not be a tutorial on how to use photoshop, there are plenty of resources for that out there and the topic is far to broad for this purpose. If someone has any specific photoshop questions I would be more than happy to try and answer them. You can find me on IRC EFNet at #xlobby, where you can almost always find me.

is there a preference in format? Word Doc, Html?

[Hiller]

Steven,

Since you brought this thread back, what do you think you will be documenting? It's not a very good excuse (I've been lazy and have been setting up my theater) but I haven't done much as far as documentation because I don't want to do something that you are already working on. Since you know your own program far better than I do, I'm sure you would be able to explain details far better than I, but I would like to take some of the work off your hands as you are quite busy!

Just let me know,
Steve

[jowaldo]

I would be more than happy to help with this too, if there is any specific feature that needs documentation on, let me know and I'll do my best

[MFan]

I would be glad to assist in writing some of the documentation if there is a role for me. Contrary to what one might glean from reading some of my posts , I actually do have some experience in an unrelated, but similar, arena (writing operating instructions for chemical plant operators).

If this were to become a team effort, I suggest a template be developed to try to get some consistency between sections written by different authors.

PS to Steven - how many posts to you have to have to start getting some of those little headphones under your name?

[chadwolcott]

I think we need to decide on a format first and foremost...Doc, html, pdf?? Any thoughts steven, it looks like you have lots of offers here. I started my skinning tutorial today, I'm up to about 20 pages already...there's so much to write about!