Changes

The Communications Group will therefore pursue the following goals, as time and resources permit:

The Communications Group will therefore pursue the following goals, as time and resources permit:

- Provide the information and support needed to help inexperienced users receive the benefits of using SME Server

* Provide the information and support needed to help inexperienced users receive the benefits of using SME Server

- Make the existence of this help as widely known, as easy to find, and as generally useful as possible, through marketing, web site design, and translation services.

* Make the existence of this help as widely known, as easy to find, and as generally useful as possible, through marketing, web site design, and translation services.

- Provide training materials and guidance to help less experienced users gain expertise and become more involved in the community as their time, interest, and abilities allow.

* Provide training materials and guidance to help less experienced users gain expertise and become more involved in the community as their time, interest, and abilities allow.

Provide the information and support needed to help inexperienced users receive the benefits of using SME Server

Provide the information and support needed to help inexperienced users receive the benefits of using SME Server

This is the primary goal of the Communications Group. A concerted effort will be made to focus, for this purpose, on the exact minimum information needed by the inexperienced user. More extensive information may be available, and should be easy to find, but the first-time SME installer should not need to deal with them before the need for this information becomes apparent. The main methods used to achieve this goal shall be:

This is the primary goal of the Communications Group. A concerted effort will be made to focus, for this purpose, on the exact minimum information needed by the inexperienced user. More extensive information may be available, and should be easy to find, but the first-time SME installer should not need to deal with them before the need for this information becomes apparent. The main methods used to achieve this goal shall be:

- The SME Server User's Guide

* The SME Server User's Guide

- A set of introductory web pages - About SME, How to download, Burn to CD, Installing SME, etc.

* A set of introductory web pages - About SME, How to download, Burn to CD, Installing SME, etc.

- New User's FAQs

* New User's FAQs

- A general discussion forum focused on beginning and inexperienced users

* A general discussion forum focused on beginning and inexperienced users

Make the existence of this help as widely known, as easy to find, and as generally useful as possible

Make the existence of this help as widely known, as easy to find, and as generally useful as possible

Information is not very valuable if people do not know it exists, can't find it when they need it, or can't understand it when they do find it. Therefore, The Communications Group will work to:

Information is not very valuable if people do not know it exists, can't find it when they need it, or can't understand it when they do find it. Therefore, The Communications Group will work to:

- Market and publicize the existence of SME Server, the community website, and the server documentation

* Market and publicize the existence of SME Server, the community website, and the server documentation

- Organize the community website so that the introductory information is found first, and the location of all the new user information is apparent

* Organize the community website so that the introductory information is found first, and the location of all the new user information is apparent

- Provide this introductory information (or links to it) in every language for which sufficient active resources exist to translate it. An obvious method to change languages (flags in the menu bar, etc.) will be present on the home page and all introductory pages, and all these pages must be translated to a given language for a link to that language to be placed. The focus of this is the minimum information necessary to have an understanding of what SME is, how to get it installed, and how to configure it to work in the most common scenarios.

* Provide this introductory information (or links to it) in every language for which sufficient active resources exist to translate it. An obvious method to change languages (flags in the menu bar, etc.) will be present on the home page and all introductory pages, and all these pages must be translated to a given language for a link to that language to be placed. The focus of this is the minimum information necessary to have an understanding of what SME is, how to get it installed, and how to configure it to work in the most common scenarios.

Provide training materials and guidance to help less experienced users gain expertise

Provide training materials and guidance to help less experienced users gain expertise

The Communications Group will therefore work, as time and resources allow, to provide the following:

The Communications Group will therefore work, as time and resources allow, to provide the following:

- A forum for more experienced users where more difficult questions can be asked and answered. If possible the forum will be integrated with an email list engine such that either method may be used to participate in the dialog.

* A forum for more experienced users where more difficult questions can be asked and answered. If possible the forum will be integrated with an email list engine such that either method may be used to participate in the dialog.

- A set of FAQs for these users

* A set of FAQs for these users

- An organized and searchable repository of howtos, for such issues as hardware, useful linux commands, common customizations, etc.

* An organized and searchable repository of howtos, for such issues as hardware, useful linux commands, common customizations, etc.

- An organized set of articles to 'walk' the user through the process of installing third-party software, rolling and testing RPMs, GForge usage, etc.

* An organized set of articles to 'walk' the user through the process of installing third-party software, rolling and testing RPMs, GForge usage, etc.

- An applicable exposition of security issues as they affect SME Server

* An applicable exposition of security issues as they affect SME Server

 

== Methods and Materials ==

== Methods and Materials ==