TOPIC:

Following on from the discussions on the 8th October, we are looking to improve and expand on the documentation that's available for Xerte.

We know that a lot of the documentation we have is somewhat out of date but we also know that there's a lot of information that people have developed in their own institutions more recently.

Firstly, I would like to audit what already exists so at the very least we can produce a list of useful links for people to work from. I have started a Google Sheet for this (see the Existing/Docs tab). If you have documentation, how to guides, video clips etc. that you would be happy to be made more widely available then please request editing access to the document and add them in.

Secondly, what's missing? What do you think users need to know about that where info doesn't seem to exist already? As above, please request editing access to the document and add to the 'New Docs' tab.

Finally, the new website will include an updated FAQ list. The document above contains details of the existing FAQs and we need new questions that should be included (& their answers!) to be added please. Working together on this should give us a pretty comprehensive list.


In the future, ideally we would like to centralise some of the documentation mentioned above that is currently scattered across various sites. This would mean that information is easier to maintain & the community can properly collaborate on its creation. Do you think this is something you could get involved in? On the 8th we discussed the merits of PDFs (ease of use for users) vs. online guides created in Xerte (showcase Xerte's use & easy to collaborate on). What are your opinions on the best format for the documentation that's created ion the future?

Let's continue this discussion here (or start a new thread in the Documentation topic if you have a particular issue you'd like to discuss)

Thanks

Hi
I got into the Google Sheet, requested edit access and then got an error message saying "You have exceeded your sharing quota". I'm guessing that's your quota, rather than mine, because I just set up a new Google account to be able to make the request!

Jonathan

I've just added to the Google Sheet 6 PDF guides produced in ISLI, the University of Readings's language centre:

- Getting started
- Adding audio and video
- Using Gap Fill page type
- Using Categories page type
- Using Matching Texts page type
- Using Interactive Text page type

Some of the text is specific to our context, but I'm happy to make available the Word versions for editing. There should be more to come. I'm doing Multiple Choice/Quiz, and planning to do guides for Transcript Reader, Dictation, Model Answer, Timeline and Modify Exercise. These are the Interactivity types we are using most.

Hi

I've just had a browse through some of the documentation in the Google Sheet, and there is some really excellent stuff there which I wish I'd found earlier!

As a non-IT specialist who has come to Xerte in the last two years with very little previous experience of authoring online learning materials, what I have found missing is a (reasonably) comprehensive, up-to-date Authoring Guide for people like me.

So up to now I've had to rely on documents I've found through Google searches (e.g. the University of Durham webpages , Anne Misselbrook's University of Northampton guide )

I'd like to see one resource with content hyperlinked, consistent formatting and use of metalanguage, updated every time there is a new release. I'd be happy to work with others on something like this. Perhaps this centralising tendency isn't really in the spirit of Open Source, but that doesn't mean that other guides couldn't be shared alongside this resource.

I think that printable guides are clearly useful, and I'm wondering whether or not video screencasts add much for the user. One issue with videos is that the pace at which the user mentally processes the information s/he is presented with is dictated by the video - it can often be too quick or too slow, and pausing or skipping bits is just not as easy as with a static text.

I have put 3 more guides from the University of Reading in the Google Doc :
Using Dictation page type
Using Transcript Reader page type
Using Multiple Choice & Quiz page types.

More to come in the next week or so.

Thanks for all your work Jonathan. I haven’t had a chance to properly look through all of these yet but hope to be able to put aside some time before Christmas.

We have a Xerte community install that Ron, Inge, Tom, Julian & I have access to where we have collaboratively produced a number of resources in the past (e.g. release notes). It would be great if access to this could also be given to members of the wider community such as yourself too, particularly for working on an authoring guide collaboratively. We need to have a think about getting the format for this right though - it's something I've attempted in the past but never got very far because it's pretty time consuming. I'm unlikely to have any time this year to look at this though so welcome any input from you or others in the meantime!

I agree with you on the use of video guides, I tend to avoid using them unless I can't find an alternative, but I know some people like them.