LMMS / LMMS/lmms

Where does help belong?

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Description

This issue is to discuss where documentation and help should be kept, and how to make it available to users.

Most of the documentation for the software is currently only available online at https://docs.lmms.io/. Some recent changes and exceptions:
* The `stable-1.2` branch has a "what's this" feature. This is rather incomplete and has been removed in `master`.
* `master` has a new "Xpressive" synthesiser which comes with a manual built into the software.

It would be useful for users to be able to access help offline. This could be achieved by:
* Providing built-in help within the software.
* Bundling the GitBook documentation with the main software download.
* Making the GitBook documentation available for separate download.

The following questions probably deserve answers:
* Where should new documentation go - in the software itself, as with Xpressive, or on the website?
* How should documentation be handled for changes that are as-yet unreleased or unstable?
* Once we decide where everything belongs, what should be done with existing documentation that belongs somewhere else?

Other related issues:
* #5571 - Display hover-sensitive info in top right corner of toolbar

Continued from #5570 as per @tresf's suggestion. Feel free to edit and discuss.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by comparing the current documentation at docs.lmms.io with the stable-1.2 and master branches, including the existing “what's this” feature and the Xpressive manual. Review related issue #5571 and the proposed offline-help options. Done means reaching a documented decision about where help belongs, how unreleased documentation is handled, and what happens to existing material.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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