Documentation

[TheSeize]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
There have been things I wasn't sure were functioning as expected and things I could not figure out how to do without doc.

I do not learn well from video tutorials, but I still have been trying my best to use those. The information I need is often not where I expect it to be even with the marked time stamps because sometimes what I am trying to find out is very specific and not sure where if it will be covered. Written doc you can skim, search, or ctrl-f.

For what is written down, it is in a bunch of different spots. The help text in the framework itself has been way too basic to help with anything I couldn't figure out on my own. There's some info in the MapTool forums, GitHub (FAQ, Wiki), and most recently the Discord.

Describe the solution you'd like
I would like written documentation for this Framework in one searchable and scannable text based spot (supported with still images).

Describe alternatives you've considered
Clicking around until I figure it out, assuming I have found all the important features, reading info in different places, asking friends who are using this framework if they know how to X or or how did they do X after playing in their game, posting in Discord or forums to get personalized help

Additional context
I started using this framework when it was pretty new- amazed and impressed at how much it's grown and changed! I am using it to run two campaigns right now. However I don't think I'm using it as well as I could without having doc to refer to.

[rtakehara]

Since English isn't my native language and I am not familiar with programming best practices and documentation, I find it really difficult to do that, I find easier to record videos showing how it's done and showcasing features.

But I completely agree the documentation should be better. I would like to ask for the help of you or anyone who is interested in contributing to edit the articles in the Wiki, I wrote some simple (and incomplete, I know...) ones that can be used as a starting place.

With help, I can come to the articles and improve/fix/offer alternatives to the solutions and instructions (also known as wiki magic)

[TheSeize]

Writing doc when I honestly am not sure what I am doing is a bit like the blind leading the blind. ;) I can give it a try, though!

It doesn't look like I can edit. Does anyone but you have edit access? Do you need to enable permissions? https://docs.github.com/en/github/building-a-strong-community/changing-access-permissions-for-wikis

[francespower]

I've never done formal doc or worked in programming myself, but I've done user guides for people for existing software. Assuming we can figure out how to contribute to the wiki, I can help with some of that, particularly for players.

I've mostly been working from an older version of the 5e Framework, but once I'm caught up with the 2.5 updates I can help with doc for GMs/DMs too.

[francespower]

Just talked to TheSeize - we both think that your written English is solid. I would not have guessed that you learned English as a second language until you told us (I didn't watch the videos). We also can't update the Wiki because it's not modified for public edits.

TheSeize and I can work on drafting public-facing Wiki sections since we are very accustomed to doing this from our jobs.

We basically need to know a) that the features exist, b) where to find these features, and c) approximately how they should work. To do this, we need an outline/bullet points/very rough summary from you, otherwise we're going to have to work on drafting something only to be told after a draft has been created that it's not how you've intended for it to be used.

We can use SOME of what's in your videos, but frankly the videos are intimidatingly long. If you even just have a list of features we can work from, if we don't understand what the features are or how they work we can still ask you.

[rtakehara]

My issue with language is that 90% of the time it's fine, but 10% of the time I get stuck on an idea that I can't convey then thinking becomes stressful, that's why documentation is either outdated, incomplete or nonexistent.

Oh, I didn't knew about the wiki permissions, it's changed now.

And for an outline of the features, is an article like the PC Tokens enouth for a starting point? Or even MapTool? Or is it better to make those outside the wiki, here in this issue for example?

Lemme know how to best deal with it

[francespower]

I've now added a few things to the Wiki, including on how to create NPC tokens on the NPC tokens page. I will probably have more questions as we get to processes I'm much less familiar with (visibility, PC tokens in 2.5, that kind of thing).

[rtakehara]

great job, and no problem! I can add over the changes and suggestions

[rtakehara]

I added a page called wiki magic with each page and what needs improvement.

With that I think we can refine the documentation. Even if you don't know how to use some tool, leaving instructions on what is not clear can help me (or anyone else) improve that page.

I also added it to a section I called Metawiki for other coordination projects, like instructions on the documentation maybe, dunno, lemme know what you think.

[francespower]

I've expanded the Wiki Magic page with a questions or points that I think should be added in each section. More questions or instructions can be added, but at least we have a starting point to help begin drafting pages.

I think we need to have a wiki section on common problems or pitfalls when updating from one Framework version to another. There was another question on this posted to Discord, and from what TheSeize and I have done in shifting our campaigns to 2.5, I've seen:

• Problems with a comma being in a map name
• Importance of particular maps being important (particularly 01.Start etc)
• PC token functionality changes (I'm upgrading from 2.4 and have yet to wrap my head around libraries)
• PC library tokens needing placement on a particular map
• Multiple methods for NPC token creation, some of which have different results than before
• Wiki updates incorporating key software changes from one version to another (probably using the changelog as a core outline for that)