Will you be adding more to the DEVONacademy? I would not mind seeing more QuickTime tutorials regarding DEVONThink/ DEVONThink Pro. I want to make sure I am using DTP efficiently. I am sure there are a lot of features in DTP that I am not aware of. Besides the tutorials, I like seeing the various sample databases. I hope to see more of those too.
Seconded. There are mutants like Bill DeVille who seem to have been born ready for this software, but I’m sure a lot of people could benefit from it.
I don’t feel like I’ve done too badly myself. I usually have to draft a system five or ten times before I feel comfortable with it. It took only two drafts with DEVONthink. But if DTP2 is any more complex than 1.2.x (and I hope it is), new switchers will likely be confused.
Maybe a few volunteers could go through the forums and mark down some of the more commonly-asked questions/answers, create some more example databases, and so forth? I’d donate a good amount of time to the project if it helped new users. Since DT got me using AppleScript, too, I might try and figure out some more scripts that might be useful to people, and send 'em in too.
This recent thread brings to mind another issue – that many people don’t seem to be quite sure of which technologies DEVONapps use that are OS X-standard, and what their strengths and limitations are.
I totally agree which your viewpoint. I, like you, am willing to volunteer to comb through the forums and mark down some of the more commonly-asked questions/answers. I would then send the info to DEVONtechnologies so they can create more example databases (are you listening guys?).
Users who are new to DT products seem to have two different concerns: (1) how does this software “work” and how do I master its technical powers; and (2) how do I use it to organize my own particular projects?
It’s relatively easy for the experts to answer (1) but far more difficult to tackle (2), because our projects, working styles, and purposes are so individual. And for me, (2) is always the more important issue.
So, for new users I think reviewing the Usage Scenario threads might be helpful, to get a feel for the kinds of work that a DT product can assist. Then later on, you may query the difference between Duplicate and Replicate or Index and Import, and you’ll know whether that is useful for your style of work.
And by the way, I wish we would get rid of these labels that appear beside our names. I am no “God” because I’ve written lots of messages, and many of our newest members have tremendous knowledge of scripting. Invidious distinctions, begone!
Indeed. One problem I see, though, is that people seem to have a bad habit of posting things in the wrong forums, which (to me, at least) makes browsing painful.
Since I just got Hell Week out of the way (taking 23 credit hours; had five long essays, three shorter ones, and two presentations), I’ll probably make a “sterile” non-populated version of my database and upload it somewhere. It should be useful for anyone trying to write a complicated novel or series of novels, even though no one is going to want the exact same things I do.
There’s a third concern you didn’t mention: “How does DEVONthink work with other applications?” The inter-app possibilities are the main reason I use OS X, and seem sorely underutilized by the “I hate M$ so I use Mac; 1337er than thou” crowd. Maybe some good examples of workflows (like the DT + Bookends + Mellel workflow, or DT + Scrivener, or DT + GraphViz like me, or whatever) would help people to understand how they can easily get the best of all worlds through some personal investigation, a couple Automator workflows, and a well-planned system.
Another concern (deeply connected with both the ones you listed), is “Would this even work for me?” I came across this site probably five times, and poked around each time – increasingly more desperate each time – but never downloaded it because I severely doubted its capabilities to handle what I needed. I assumed my idea was simply too complex to be handled by any “writing” software, and my casual glances at software like Scrivener, EagleFiler, and so forth pretty much confirmed it. I used things like MediaWiki, which were open-source and massively powerful, but which I then had to hack.
So save the mythopoeic novelists! Make it clear to the desperate writers out there that DT can handle their ideas.
Of course we are. We’re actually just drowning in emails from the DEVONthink Pro Office release (which is good, of course.) Please, go ahead and send me whatever you think would be worth adding to the FAQ or the DEVONacademy and I will try to be as helpful as I can!
Eric.