[ImageJ-devel] Documentation for ImageJ2

[Tiago Ferreira]

Hi,

I'm also very excited to see the 3rd alpha released.
I imagine that with so much to do, user documentation is probably the last
thing you want to think about right now but nevertheless I would like to
raise this issue here.

I've been working on a new revision of the ImageJ Guide. I've been struggling
to create a "publishing system" that could output simultaneously PDF, HTML
and booklet versions. It is far from perfect but its getting there.
A working draft is here (it is rather slow on dropbox):

           <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/136719/guide/index.html>

It would great if it could be extended to ImageJ2, but I would need guidance.
I've just compiled IJ2 on my laptop and felt overwhelmed only by skimming
some source files. Documenting IJ1 was hard, documenting IJ2 seems already
impossible, but Johannes seems to think it is doable :)

Questions:
- Which plans do you have for the IJ2 documentation?
- Could the guide be extended to ImageJ2? (A new chapter?) Or should it cease
  with 1.45 and a new one be written for IJ2? In which modality then?

Suggestions/Comments:
_ I think self-contained user documentation is very important. I know some of 
  you would prefer a wiki-like user guide. My experience however tells me
  that average lay users don't. My opinion is that self-contained documents
  are key to non-power users and wikis best suitable for advance usage and
  How-Tos. 

- It would be great if IJ2 users had more visible access to documentation.
  Something like Fiji's "Help on Menu Item" would be great.

- BTW, from a strictly usage point of view, IJ has some big flaws (e.g., the
  notorious interpretation of binary images via the blackBackground option).
  It would be great if IJ2 featured more user-friendliness.

Best,

-tiago