What would make VaultWiki easier for new users?

**pegasus** · July 17, 2009

I pose this question to our users, because I know many of you have had issues in the past that could have been avoided if certain aspects of VaultWiki were explained better or the workflow were streamlined in some way.

For example, for the next build we are improving the Namespace Manager. "Create New Forum" will appear in the "Top-Level Forum" and "Display in Forum" drop-downs to eliminate the process of navigating between the Forum Manager and Namespace Manager, when many users would still end up with forums that were invalid selections. "Create New Forum" will automatically create a valid Top-Level forum without ever leaving the Namespace Manager.

Further, users will be able to select whether the namespace is the Default, Category, Image, etc. namespace while in the Namespace Manager. This will eliminate the extra step of writing down the ID and entering it in vBulletin Options, which many users forget to do.

So I dedicate this thread to usability improvement suggestions. While the correct place for suggestions is somewhere else, this space is here for users to discuss what can be improved before making a formal request.

**Jella** · July 17, 2009

I would like to suggest an easy to understand, step by 'baby' step... POINTER and click walk thru on video, (camera pointed to the screen setup) including every part of the setup process and extension setups, creating the wiki categories. (creating a category for all cats of the wiki) like on my lamp site which is now in crisis.... vbtube pro has this video and that software is a breeze to setup compared to the wiki.

For 2 weeks I kept reading the instructions thinking, ok I will get it, it will dawn on me... it never did as you know.

I love the wiki, it's just needs video instructions.

**pegasus** · July 17, 2009

Thanks. That's the second time video instructions have been suggested. As we're also a video production company and have a custom flash player, it should be a breeze to set up, once we find a place in the schedule to create the videos.

**pegasus** · July 21, 2009

A similar idea to the namespace suggestion above, but for Books: http://www.vaultwiki.org/issues/709/

**Davy Bhoy** · July 26, 2009

The Namespace part was the hardest, i can install vbulletin, update it, add most mods ect without problem, but i had trouble with setting up the wiki, a walkthrough/tutorial on what exactly to do when setting up, would be good for new users.

**pegasus** · July 28, 2009

Really the only thing you HAVE to do when setting up is give the Default namespace a forum. How many options should the walkthrough discuss? Would talking about all the possibilities be too much?

In the past we had instructions that explained everything step-by-step and in depth and users seemed at least as confused as they are with the simple (albeit non-linear) instructions. The way we have it written right now it leaves you on your own to set up extra things.

Do the changes to the Namespace Manager in 2.5.0 (now public release) look like setup would be easier? At first glance it seems to leave you with less to "figure out".

Are the 2 steps that were added to the Installing VaultWiki sufficient? Now that you're more familiar with the product, what items do you feel we should have discussed more? What about them?

**stev** · July 28, 2009

2.5 made me come back

**mickknutson** · July 29, 2009

I can say that each and every upgrade has been painful. Especially because my Book (1) and Categories (multiple) keep getting screwed up after EACH upgrade. This has been something I wish the upgrade process was easier.

**pegasus** · July 29, 2009

When Categories get messed up, this is simply a caching issue. If a significant change was made to the caching system in any version (as in 2.5.0), then the cache has to be cleared and rebuilt gradually.

However, to my understanding Categories 2.0.0 rebuilt its own cache during the upgrade. Any articles in categories should have been preserved.

**stev** · August 4, 2009

Is there a video demo on how to create a wiki book available yet?

**Jav** · August 4, 2009

The documentation is terrible. But this is not unique to VaultWiki. It really explains
nothing to those who do not already know about the software. Examples for each
setting would be good. I purchased the software a few weeks back and can still
not use it. So it is hard to recommend to anyone. The only reason I persist is that
you are quite helpful and once it is running I know it will be so useful.

**jawatkin** · August 4, 2009

I must agree. The documentation is very difficult to use and understand and I read English perfectly. I also have an undergrad in Computer Engineering, an MBA and have created a number of custom PHP applications for my site.... And I'm still having trouble figuring it all out...

Here's the thing, I don't know if documentation will ever be sufficient, no matter the technical or language barriers that some users may or may not have.

What I'm finding to be most difficult is building the Wiki with namespaces, etc. I would suggest going a different route -- include an optional "sample installation" for users. 5-10 basic pages, standard namespaces, etc.... Then, they could see it built, see how it works on their own sites, and then modify the sample or build their own new one based on the sample and the current documentation.

**pegasus** · August 4, 2009

Originally Posted by stev

Is there a video demo on how to create a wiki book available yet?

Not yet. While video demos are on our to-do list, there are a number of things that still need to be done before these can be posted.

**vimto** · August 7, 2009

Simple links on how to post a new article at the bottom of each wiki page.

Most users will read an article from top to bottom, by the time they reach the bottom and want to edit that page they are looking for the edit button, or create new article button (which doesn't exist). Most do not think of scrolling back to the tabs at the top.

So simple links at the bottom of pages where a user can Edit the existing page, or Create a New page.

A Table of Contents.
When users click on the drop down menu link to go to the wiki pages they are shown a list of all pages, much like you see on a forum with the newest pages at the top. My suggestion is to create a static page that is admin controllable where you can create a simple table of contents listing many different pages that you decide to link to.
This page would also have a box that has a menu with links to Create an Article and see simple things like "latest revisions" etc.
You could also have a box with the 10 latest books or something similar. Maybe top 10 viewed/edited articles.
A wiki search box on here would also help.
maybe a link to the help pages....

This would help new users get to where they are wanting to go without having to see a huge list of pages and having to search for the pages they want. The Create new article link/button would help lots.

(at the moment I have a sticky "Main Page" in my wiki namespace that has basic info, but a Special page like above would be so much nicer)

**pegasus** · August 7, 2009

You can already do a table of contents. In your AdminCP -> Forums & Moderators -> Forum Manager, edit the forum you want this page in. For the "Forum Link" setting, enter the wiki URL of your main page.