Plugin Documentation - Volunteers Needed

[rgleason]

Help is needed to provide documentation for the new and improved plugins:

Sean's plugins
- Watchdog - Changed interface, improvements, boundary alarm
- Weather_routing - Changed interface, extend documentation
- Weatherfax - Improved interface, new features.
- Statusbar - No documentation
- Projections - New plugin
- RotationCtrl - New plugin
- Chartscale - New plugin
- Sweep_Plot - Improved plugin for sailors
- Rtlsdr - Need improved documentation

Jon Gough's plugin
- Ocpn_Draw - New plugin under development with Boundaries

Mike Rasbats
- Tidefinder - No documentation
- OTcurrent - No documentation
- eBabel - No documentation

Pavel
- Iacfleet - No documentation
- Launcher - No documentation
- Survey (with Mike Rasbats) - No documentation

Rooie Dirk
- Nmeaconverter

I am certain I've forgotten some others, so please add them.
There is a lot to do. The documentation will be needed for the next update to the software.

Skills needed:
- Install and Run Beta Software, Opencpn and plugins.
- Create screenshots, crop and resize.
- Register and login to opencpn.org
- Upload screenshots to your new "Files" account.
- Use Tinyxml editor to create and edit documentation pages.

=======
How to get started.
Register on opencpn.org
It is not difficult to register here. Then login here.

Create screenshots and upload to your opencpn.org "Files"
Left column click on your account]
Top of page "View" "Edit" "Track" "File Browser"
Then under "Navigation" scroll down to your user name and click on it.
Now you can upload your screenshots - not bigger than 800 x 600

Then find the page and put it into "Edit" mode.
Use the tinyxml interface to create/edit text
Insert your uploaded screenshots into the page.

[bobofthenorth]

I'm willing and probably capable of helping but I'm too dense to understand exactly what you want screenshots of. Is there a standard documentation template somewhere that plugin documentation conforms to or is it the wild west of documentation?

[nohal]

Bob...
Look at the already existing docs under Plugins | Official OpenCPN Homepage
What is needed for each plugin highly depends on how complex it is - while for, say, WMM and VDR very little is needed, complex ones like weather routing or climatology need quite a bit of documentation. Wherever you improve it, it serves, of course...

Pavel

[rgleason]

Thank you Bob. Pavel explained, and if you need some help with some aspect just give us a shout.

I've told Jon that I would work on Ocpn_Draw documentation and have it about half finished. We are trying to give users some guidance to get started and in the critical areas, without being verbose. Trying to keep the documentation download size reasonable.

[bobofthenorth]

OK - bear with me.

I use the BSB4 plugin regularly but I don't see any documentation at all related to it. Am I just looking in the wrong place? Or - in the event that nothing actually exists - how do I start something from scratch?

[nohal]

Bob...
FWIW the BSB4 stuff is at o-charts - Certainly can be improved as even you, as a regular user of it, can't find the docs and pretty much all related to it on the main site is BSB4 Plugin | Official OpenCPN Homepage ...

Pavel

[bcn]

Today O-charts.org is just dedicated to S-63 as our answer to comply with the regulations required to use S63 charts.
No BSB there.

[nohal]

Of course, I should probably do a few less things at the time and use the brain, sorry

[Rasbats]

No experience of using the Wiki but I have made an entry for my DR plugin. This is in the nature of a trial run.

DR Plugin | Official OpenCPN Homepage

But how to move this into the correct place in the 'book'? Or is there an editor out there who could edit/look at this entry and move the 'node'?

And what if the plugin is a beta and not listed with the other plugins that have been posted? Should there be a link to Rick's/Nohal's repository?

Mike

[petter5]

Originally Posted by Rasbats

No experience of using the Wiki but I have made an entry for my DR plugin. This is in the nature of a trial run.

DR Plugin | Official OpenCPN Homepage

But how to move this into the correct place in the 'book'? Or is there an editor out there who could edit/look at this entry and move the 'node'?

And what if the plugin is a beta and not listed with the other plugins that have been posted? Should there be a link to Rick's/Nohal's repository?

Mike

I suggest to explain briefly what DR is in the beginning of the manual for the plugin, for example as stated in wikipedia:

In navigation, dead reckoning or dead-reckoning (also ded for deduced reckoning or DR) is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time and course.

[rgleason]

Bob of north. I will add a page for BSB and get it started if you will register and add your knowledge. Its a perfect way to start. Rick

[rgleason]

Miike Rasbats - author of DR.
Petter5 Will try to add it.

How to add a new Plugin Page to the Wiki
Here is what I am doing step by step:
1. Login to the website to edit.
2. Plugins | Official OpenCPN Homepage
3. At the very very bottom there is "Add child page". Click
4. You will be brought into the wiki editor.
5. Type the title which will be seen in the plugin list. (not too long!)
6. Type a very brief one line description.
7. Hit "Save" the the bottom.
8. You will see the listing appear in the Plugins list on the right.

Next we will go back to that page and "Edit" it to complete the Plugin Documentation.

In this case I will try to copy your page into this new Page that has been created within the Opencpn User Manual in the outline under "Plugins".

To do that I will have to open your documentation page to "Edit" and then copy to the clipboard (Control-C for Windows) , and then go to the page I just created in the Manual outline under Plugiins and Paste it (Control-V). Note: Do this in the Plain Text Editor window, not Rich Text. This is found at the bottom of the edit window.

How to Copy Plain Text from one Edit Window to Another
I found that it was best to go out of the rich text editor and to copy the HTML by just going down to the bottom and selecting "Switch to plain text editor"

1. Then select all text using Windows (Control-A)
2. Copy Control-C
3. Go over to the other edit window under Plugins that is open for editing.
4. Go into "Switch to Plain text editior"
5. Paste Control-V
6. Save

It is quite easy once you have done it a couple of times.

Thank you Mike, for adding this. Can I compile your DR_plugin now?
I think you should check out this page, edit it as you like. And then delete your original.
DR Dead Reconing Plugin | Official OpenCPN Homepage
Also thank you for uploading properly sized 800xless resolution photos cropped and ready, to your "Files" Account on the webpage and then using those URL's to past into your Plugin Text. It's a little less than intuitive, but it is workable.

Great Job. Once again.

PS Thomas might have a faster way of doing this using the page you created, but I could not find "Plugins" in the Main "Outline" it seems to be working but it is not listed and it should be. Perhaps someone could fix this?

[rgleason]

Bob of the North,
I have added a special plugin Page for BSB4 Charts for you to edit.
We are all ears, and look forward to your writeup.
Thank you for sharing you knowledge.

[rgleason]

Screenshots and Photos:

1. Max Resolution is 800xLess.
2. It is best to have a full screen overall with first plugin menus up (sometimes all of the menus) and the screen displaying the particular action or function.
3. Then it is very helpful to have closer clips of sections of the screen, buttons used, menus in particular, as they are used and needed.
4. Try to remember that less is more.

Keep it simple. Keep it concise, Extra words are not read.
Also the manual is getting pretty big to download.

How to take a Screenshot in Windows:
1. Use your "PrintScreen" Key to copy it to the Clipboard. Alt-Printscreen should do the current active window.
2. Then paste the clipboard into your Microsoft Picture Editior or your favorite Photo Editor, Gimp or whatever.
3. Crop out everything extraneous, never show more than the program Screen Opencpn unless there is a good reason.
4. Resize to no more than 800 max x less.
5. Add any marks or notations that are needed (often not needed)
6. Save it to an upload directory.
7. Try to compose the screenshots needed before doing them, it saves time re uploading new images.
8. Windows 10 users may not have Printscreen button. In that case use Windows Key + Fn + Spacebar.

[rgleason]

How to Upload Cropped & Resized Photos

1. Login to the website.
2. On the left bar below "Book Navigation" and "Who's Online" find [Your Name] - Your Account
3. Click click on "My Account"
4. At the top find: View Edit Track File browser
5. Pick on "File Browser", pause for a File Browser to load.
6. Find your forum name on the left scroll bar. Its a long list.
7. Click on your name.
8. Now you will see selections "Upload" "Thumbnails" "Deletee" "Resize"
9. This upload tool will resize photos, also it will make thumbnails of the uploaded files which can be useful, but it does not crop. I do not save thumbnails as I crop beforehand if I need it. I don't want to use extra space on the website that is unnecessary.
10. Once the photos are uploaded they are available to you by browing to them from the Rich Text Editor when you are editing a particular page.

Hope this is helpful.