[Zope3-dev] 10x growth for Zope? Never without docs

[Jon Whitener]

Upon noticing the stated desire to grow Zope usage "10x", I'm compelled to chime in as a Zope newbie.  If Zope wants to grow ten times, here's your solution:

  DOCUMENTATION!

Zope would enjoy astonishing growth if Zope development efforts were sufficiently redirected into completing Zope documentation that is:
 - current
 - accurate
 - accessible
 - reliable
 - comprehensible
 - comprehensive

If this were achieved, Zope would suddenly become a realistic option for the multitudes of smaller Web production groups that make up the majority of the Web development industry (like me, a group of one).  But before such an achievement, wide acceptance (or even consideration) of Zope is impossible.

The on-line Zope documentation is the first and often last place people will investigate using Zope.  As that documentation exists now, people can't be blamed for assuming Zope is a poorly-supported programming experiment for Python hobbyists who enjoy figuring things out on their own.

I personally have committed to Zope, but I possess an uncommonly stubborn determination to figure the dang thing out.  If you (Zope Corp and friends) want to see Zope grow 1000%, you need to realize that you've pretty much tapped out the population of Python programmers out in the world who can read the source code for their documentation.

Now you need to concentrate on providing details about Zope for the many more content-oriented Web site makers who are not and have not full-time programmers / developers.  These potential users just want to make Web sites.  Zope could enable that.  Zope cannot enable that without good documentation.

Users want to do nothing less than fritter away precious time on documentation treasure-hunts.  The Zope Book?  What software would anyone ever use where we go to the official doc thinking "Oh, no, I really hope Chris McDonough had enough time to work on the ZPT chapter some more!"  That's the whole problem in a nutshell.

I know Zope could satisfy many people's needs if it was far less mysterious.  If you want to see Zope gain much wider acceptance, you first have to offer it FULLY: complex software without proper documentation is an insult to users, potential and current.

The people who could become a large part of Zope's user base want to make Web sites, not play MYST.  I deeply hope the Zope Powers-That-Be awaken to the seriousness of the lack of good documentation.

Jon Whitener
Detroit, MI, USA


At 10/28/02 12:33 PM, in "Re: [Zope3-dev] [OT?] zope.org", Chris Withers wrote:
>[...] Unless ZC relinquish bottleneck control over zope.org, it ain't gonna happen.
>Given the current pathetic excuse of a site at zope.org (crap searching, UI, outdates content, etc) we can hardly expect Zope to grow at all, let alone the 10x promised last year.
>[...]