This forum has been archived. All content is frozen. Please use KDE Discuss instead.

Basic Help for new users

69

Votes
71
2
Tags: None
(comma "," separated)
adacey
Registered Member
Posts
2
Karma
0

Basic Help for new users

Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:36 am
I've shown and installed a KDE distro for a few people and they all asked mostly the same questions. There should be a 'Getting Started' or 'How Do I?' section in the system settings written just for new users. If not there then someplace that is obvious. It should contain three parts: 1>answer basic questions such as setting up a new user, how to make a desktop cube, what KDE program do I use to do _____, how do I set up my email account, what do I do to see videos in my browser, etc. 2>a list of useful links to help sites such as the KDE forums as well as major distributions' forums. 3>help specifically for the transition from windows. This information is all over the place and accessible to somebody who knows how to look, but most of the people on this earth seem either do not know how to do it or are too lazy to try very hard.
rmeakins
Registered Member
Posts
2
Karma
0
OS

RE: Basic Help for new users

Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:19 am
This would be great for breaking people away from their Windows desktop. I think KDE looks very classy now (better than Vista and faster too) but if people are having trouble with basic tasks they are likely to just give up and go back to windows. I guess the thing to remember is that 95% of people just want to "use the computer" and if they can't figure it out then it's not much use to them.

Last edited by rmeakins on Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
einar
Administrator
Posts
3402
Karma
7
OS

RE: Basic Help for new users

Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:53 am
There is currently work ongoing on a "Welcome" plasmoid that probably fulfills part of your request.


"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
Image
Plasma FAQ maintainer - Plasma programming with Python
adacey
Registered Member
Posts
2
Karma
0

RE: Basic Help for new users

Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:11 pm
That's great, sounds like I'm not alone thinking about this.:-)
Will it be enabled on the desktop by default? Will the distros be able to customize it easily, like to add their specific forums and such?
I think it would be better than a yellow square on a blue background & new users should not have to search for something that they do not know even exists! It would also give a warm and fuzzy feeling of welcome, as we should. People who know what they are doing can easily remove it too.

Last edited by adacey on Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
chetankhona
Registered Member
Posts
129
Karma
0
OS

Basic Help for new users

Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:39 am
Can we have this documentation also in Wiki format so that everybody can contribute to it and thus we will have great help documentation.
User avatar
Gallaecio
KDE Developer
Posts
116
Karma
0
OS

Basic Help for new users

Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:38 am
There could be a text version in UserBase, and the Welcome being based in it.
User avatar
aapgorilla
Registered Member
Posts
247
Karma
0
OS

Basic Help for new users

Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:38 pm
Stuff like this should be obvious without having to read documentation, I never did for windows either or it should work out of the box or with the help of a wizard.
ghos
Registered Member
Posts
8
Karma
0
OS

Basic Help for new users

Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:47 pm
Linux Mint has something similar to this on first install. At least points a new user towards resources.

Otherwise I really think most people are astute googlers and will find the answer to their questions by searching for it.

People forget they had to figure out Windows at first as well. Its really not that difficult to find your way in Linux for the most common tasks one might perform.

A wizard or two might be helpful for some programs, but most should be no-brainers.
User avatar
Gallaecio
KDE Developer
Posts
116
Karma
0
OS

Basic Help for new users

Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:26 pm
This would be good for those who don't wan't to search the web, don't know how to use the documentation(yet) or has never done the initial configuration of an OS.

I think it would look good as an introduction to de “KDE OS” for beginers.
kbroulik
KDE Developer
Posts
131
Karma
0
OS

Basic Help for new users

Mon Nov 15, 2010 9:58 pm
Well the referred to “Welcome Plasmoid” has been on the To-Do-List of EVERY KDE version and has never been realized.


Bookmarks



Who is online

Registered users: Bing [Bot], Google [Bot], Sogou [Bot], Yahoo [Bot]