Helping newcomers anticipate that standalones can't save to themselves

[Vaughn Clement]

Hi Richard

This is a good opening topic that can solicit comments. I have passed
through the frustration about documentation already, and I find I live on
the How To email to find answers. The forums seem to take forever to get
answers. Considering that the How To offers a good reference platform,
wouldn't make sense to build on the knowledgebase of the How to to provide
for a more organized reference tool? Can the How to be improved like the
forum where topics are simpler to locate using a category and keywords.
I've used the current system for the How to listings and I have found it
difficult to find answers based on the current search approach.

Thank you

Vaughn Clement

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On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 8:28 AM, Paul Hibbert <paulhibbert at mac.com> wrote:

> From my own point of view, I struggled trying to understand some of the
> basic principles of using LC (Revolution as it was then), until I finally
> picked apart some sample stacks such as the calculator etc., then a few
> things started to fall in to place.
>
> After that I looked for stacks that had a similar use or techniques to the
> project I wanted to build (I still do to an extent), to find ideas and
> learn about how LC works in ways that I maybe don't know or understand.
>
> My biggest frustration at the time was the disjointed documentation and
> lack of structured tutorials, many people have also made the same comments
> over the years. I feel the tutorials especially have improved and the
> documentation is improving slowly.
>
> Thinking back to when I discovered that I needed an anchor window (or
> "splash" screen), again I had to do more research to find out what was
> needed until I eventually understood the reasons and principles behind this
> process. Maybe this could be addressed with a good, well structured "My
> First Application" tutorial that ships with each new user download, or a
> package that's easily visible and readily available for new users to
> download. Currently there is just a free mobile template that tries to
> entice users to download the community version.
>
> I'm sure there are enough teachers and ex-teachers on this list that could
> maybe help with this. A well structured tutorial can help to guide the new
> user with the right techniques from the start.
>
> Moving forward from the anchor window (or "splash" screen), I also feel a
> series of basic project templates (or starting points) could be useful, not
> as complex as the GLX framework, but something that already has an anchor
> window, preferences, menu bar and a few basic (commented) scripts for
> printing, saving etc.
>
> Obviously these templates would be different for desktop, mobile or
> tablet, but starting from a template rather than a single empty stack would
> eventually help to guide the new user towards a better understanding of the
> techniques needed for each platform.
>
> Paul
>
>
> On 2014-08-15, at 7:13 AM, Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
> wrote:
>
> > One of the most frequent frustrations new users have with LiveCode is
> the moment they realize the standalone they've built can't save changes to
> its stacks.
> >
> > Often this happens very late in the process, just after building the
> standalone to test out the work they've been doing, and suddenly everything
> that worked so well in the IDE stops working, with no readily discernible
> cause.
> >
> > So they come into the forums or this list, and folks mention everything
> from refactoring their work to use an anchor window (or "splash" screen)
> pattern, or completely rewrite everything to use an external text file or
> database or what have you.
> >
> > The LiveCode User Guide's section on building standalones includes a
> bold purple callout box explaining this (p 299), but it's a testament to
> the usability of LiveCode that apparently a great many people can use it
> productively for many weeks without ever cracking the User Guide.
> >
> > Clearly something more is needed.  What should that be?
> >
> > Putting a note in the Standalone Builder might help, but if they've
> gotten that far it's too late, they probably have to start rewriting things.
> >
> > How can we help users anticipate IN ADVANCE that no OS will allow their
> executable to write to itself, so they can write useful things from the
> very start?
> >
> > --
> > Richard Gaskin
> > Fourth World Systems
> > Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
> > ____________________________________________________________________
> > Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com
> >
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