Re: [Audacity-manual] {manual} Your First recording tutorial

[Bill W. <bi...@go...>]

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/User:Billw58/Audacity_Setup_and_Configuration

grew out of the discussion on this wiki page

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/User:BillWharrie/Device_and_Input_selection_on_Mac
(scroll down past the discussion of the Device/Mixer toolbar to the  
discussion of how and where to advise users how to deal with "sound  
card" issues).

In short, we were leaning at that time to pulling the essential  
information from the wiki about setting up your computer's sound card  
(now confusingly placed on the "Mixer Toolbar Issues" page) and adding  
it to the manual.

I would start the YFR tutorial with "If you have successfully  
connected the device you want to record from, to your computer and are  
getting sound into Audacity, you are ready to begin. If you are having  
problems getting sound into Audacity, please read the Audacity Setup  
and Configuration pages." The end of the new AS&C pages link to YFR  
and Editing an Existing File tutorials. This way people who find that  
Audacity works "out of the box" can proceed with the test recording,  
etc., while those that need help can divert to the setup pages.

This assumes that the new Setup pages get the green light. They need  
attention from Windows and Linux users for content of those sections,  
and a decision from James, Gale and others on overall appropriateness.  
I don't think the Setup pages are a tutorial.

On 17-Jun-11, at 9:47 AM, Peter Sampson wrote:

> Hi Bill,
>
> to be honest, yes I had forgotten that you had been working on that  
> page.  That
> work was back in early May I see and I thought that momentum had  
> been lost and
> your work on that had been kicked, by you, into the long grass.
>
> I was responding to the ToDo-2 note that you placed on the Your  
> First Recording
> Tutorial (deeply conscious that a ToDo-2 blocks a stable release -  
> and thus
> trying to prepare the path for 2.0 - and even for the 1.3.14 release  
> it is
> currently a very unwieldy read, leading to TLDR).
>
> I still think it is worth breaking apart the existing tutorial and  
> then
> reviewing it in the light of your new proposed Setup and  
> Configuration pages.
> It is possible that your new stuff could replace items 1 & 2 in my  
> proposed list
> of contents, linked to from the master tutorial page - but  
> personally I prefer
> the flow h/w setup followed by Audacity s/w setup - it flows better  
> that way for
> me.

I have no problem with breaking up the tutorial. But note that the new  
Setup pages have the hardware -> software flow as well.

>
>
> Or maybe we should ditch the whole "Your First Recording" Tutorial  
> in favour of
> your new pages (which would need the "Tutorial - ..." labelling as  
> Martyn
> pointed out).  The downside to doing this is that an awful lot of  
> pages link to
> the "Your First Recording" tutorial - so a lot of links to fix too  
> (many of the
> other tutorials link back to YFR).

Not a good idea IMO. YFR is a tutorial, Setup is help.

>
> There is possibly room for both sets of tutorials - but there is  
> such a big
> overlap that it would lead to parallel maintenance and so best  
> avoided.

Overlap is the issue, which is why I'd link to the Setup pages from  
the YFR tutorial.

>
> Your thoughts?
>
> I will be a bit pressed for time in the next couple of weeks (unless  
> it rains in
> SW London - Wimbledon - watching, not playing ! ) so will not have a  
> lot of time
> to work on this over that fortnight.

I, too, will be watching Wimbledon - at least as much as the  
broadcasters here in the colonies deign to show us. :-)

-- Bill