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[Lorelle on WordPress]

Excellent discussion all. Here's some experiential history to consider.

WordPress Levels have been set to be:

   1. Beginners/New to WordPress: Installation (if necessary), setup, terms,
   posts, Pages, finding and switching Themes, links and images and video
   (content stuff).
   2. Plugin Writing: For those into the technical side of developing
   Plugins from simple to sophisticated.
   3. Theme Development: For all the web designers of the world embracing
   WordPress.
   4. Developers: Coders, hackers, core developers, customizers, delving
   deep into the engine that runs WordPress.
   5. Contribution: Documentation to support those who want to give back
   through docs, forums, Plugins, Themes, WordCamps, devs (an area we
   definitely need more documentation on).


We've found that terms like intermediate and advanced don't work. We tried.
They are vague and don't apply specifically to the areas that people are
really interested in.

The most successful TOC structure we've found is to give key links to "sub"
table of content pages so people can drill down to their specific needs.
We've tried most popular links, a site map structure, and a variety of ways
to speed up clicks from the front to the answer in the past 8 years. The
current structure of sub TOC pages for drill down works as many people
really don't know what they are looking for. This method leads them down the
right path with a familiar "book" format.

This has been especially true since the search functionality on the Codex
has always sucked and now is worse since changes in structure in the past
year turns up EVERYTHING WordPress.org when you think you are searching only
in the Codex. We need to get that fixed and restrict documentation searches
to documentation with an option to expand into Plugins, Themes, and Forum
results. It's taking me longer than ever to get right to the page I need as
Codex pages are way down on the results and I "know" exactly the same of the
page.

A lot of the help in creating the structure of the front page came from
WordCamps. As they grew, they developed tracks, funneling participants to
areas of most interest to them. As a frequent attendee to WordCamps
worldwide, I realized the natural pattern their program tracks created and
used that for structuring the new look for the front page. It's like the
architect who left landscaping for a year or two after the building was
built. The natural path of people to and from the building became the
sidewalks rather than forcing people to cut across the grass.

As for the Book Jog, there is the WordPress Handbook which will link
directly with the WordPress core and is divided up into similar breakdowns
as above. It already has documentation based upon the Codex and will become
the key "manual" for WordPress. The Codex will continue to exist as a more
in depth support documentation service, digging deeper into subjects beyond
the Handbook and offering topics it doesn't cover. I don't see the docs team
splitting their energies away from support for the Codex and Handbook as
there is so much work to do here, do you?

Lorelle
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