How important are MANUALS? = Please Vote!

[esl]

A good manual is essential. I always print out the manuals and keep them in a binder close by. I reference them often. PDF is OK.

[Liquidclear]

I prefer the HTML format for ease of use and readability (I really don't like white on black text most of the time)...

But generally for plugins I don't even look at the manual unless something isn't obvious from the GUI or I *really* like the plugin and want to make sure I know all it's capabilites.

Manuals are also useful for oddly named controls or when a dev decides to use unconvential or rare types of synthesis. (ie Lost Technology)

BTW, I've always liked your manuals, Jack. There's some personality that comes through that makes them enjoyable to read.

[Sargon]

None of the above: I do read manuals, and I prefer to find a properly printed one inside the box, and after installation to find it aditionally on my HD, optimized for reading on screen (technically, the format doesn't matter).

Michael

[Jake Jackson]

A manual of some sort is essential. If nothing else, the developer needs to be aware that some users will be less experienced than others. It's still not unusual for people to buy their first sequencer and VSTI at the same time. Very intimidating at first, since there's so much to learn.

More generally, it's better to give too much than to give too little. I used to write for a company that did software training, and the rule there was to beak down everything into the smallest steps, even if it meant writing "1. Click on the File menu. (New line.) 2. Click on Open...

Experienced users can skip all of the basis stuff, but the new person got his or her keyboard for a birthday present can get your instrument and learn to use it. Expands the customer base.

And I have to say that a hard copy of the manual, with an excellent index that may take a week to create, is a very, very good idea. Very old-mind, possibly, but I'd rather pay ten-fifteen dollars more & get a thorough manual with good graphics, ALONG with a PDF. I hate having to ALT-tab between a pdf and an application. And a hard copy of the manual lets you read about the instrument away from the keyboard. HOw about a discounted downloadable version of the software that includes a pdf. For another $10-15, a hard copy of the manual is shipped? I know it's a lot more work on your end at first, but the result in terms of user pleasure might be very good.

[Earprotector]

I mostly read RTFM, and I prefer .PDF and the "built-in" helpfile

thats my correct choice but cant choose it above,-)

[speccyteccy]

Crucial in many cases - there's so many amazingly powerful VST's without that it makes me want to cry - karmafxsynth in particular.

For me, the best option would be a help button that launches the help in .CHM format.

[foosnark]

I tend not to read manuals unless the software is hard to figure out (or has parts that are hard to figure out that still seem interesting).

Sometimes "easy to use" and "intuitive to figure out without the manual" aren't the same thing, and I can see the benefit in either side. "I made the interface weird just because I can" or "I really love mouse gestures so I'm forcing people to use them" or "my keyboard shortcuts are the best and nobody should be able to change them" is what I have a problem with

[.jon]

My favourite is something that's built-in and text-searchable, like HTML or
PDF.

+1

I hate to go into Explorer to find the manual. The best place for the Help button could be on the "About..." page.

[JackDark]

Well I don't care for .PDFs, I hate the things, to be honest.

I write my manuals lately in .HTML because that offers integrated images, searchable text, and a variety of colors for backgrounds and fonts... plus the .HTML file is -always- significantly smaller in kilobytes than a .PDF, and best of all, .HTML loads instantly due to using integrated software in the operating system (if you're on Windows at least)... without the need for 3rd party software.

But like I said initially, I don't read manuals much.

Personally overall, I think the perfect outset would be (1) verbose tool-tips like I did with Clenched combined with (2) an integrated help system the likes of the GENIUS one that HG Fortune used in XOF-III, along with (3) a ton of presets to study.

But it looks like I definitely won't be able to get away with not writing manuals. I'll just have to make them fun to write to be fun to read.

[eduardo_b]

I'm going to check out that Fox It Reader. Another tip: there is PDF speedup, which I've been using for some time and results in a near-instantaneous opening of PDFs.

Oddly enough, having the full version of Acrobat installed speeds up loading quite significantly. Version 7 is the fastest yet -- I have no idea how version 8 compares.

[Teksonik]

I find many manuals to have "broken" instruction sets. In other words, "The XYZ menu is used to change parameters" without ever telling how to access the XYZ menu in the first place. Or the.......This is a V..S..T..i... preschool language on one page and "Transmorphing the Spectral array yields Fourier crossmoding" on the next page. The first thing I do with a manual is toss it aside so I can get to the install disk. I find that only after experimenting with the synth for a while does the manual even make sense....most of the time. Manuals should never be written by those who code the software.

[laputa_sync]

another non-fish poll....

[mm_FX]

A few advantages of PDF:

1. everything is in 1 file... with HTML it's the HTML file and a folder of graphics

2. it looks the same on pretty much any system (although the on-screen graphics scaling is *awful*)

3. if you're writing for print AND online use, PDF's are more convenient

[bduffy]

I'm going to check out that Fox It Reader. Another tip: there is PDF speedup, which I've been using for some time and results in a near-instantaneous opening of PDFs.

Oddly enough, having the full version of Acrobat installed speeds up loading quite significantly. Version 7 is the fastest yet -- I have no idea how version 8 compares.

Did you try PDF Speedup? I don't think you can get this speedy with just the Adobe install, I was frustrated with the load time of v7, but I could be wrong.

[mm_FX]

By the way if you want to speed up Acrobat loading time, you just need to delete the superfluous plugins (i.e. most of them). This is pretty well documented on the web.