Quote:
Originally Posted by theducks
I think Chaley has it right. Users want quick fixes (to problems they created  because they did not RTFM (or MR) first) |
I think Charles and unboggling are right that structuring the KISS thread as a story - "These are the problems I encountered, and how I solved them" - is better than structuring it as "This is how you should do it."
I'm not so sure that users don't want to know or read about how things work, it's just that they have a hard time connecting the manual's details to a practical solution for whatever problem they face. I can look at a long list of functions and still not realize that one of them is perfect for solving my current problem. It's far easier to spot a problem description and say - That's just like my problem - then read a specific solution using a specific function, then go back and read about how the function works, than it is to do all that in the reverse direction.
Examples are great, and new users are always going to create problems for themselves. A thread like this, with a good set of basic steps for the new user can certainly help minimize those problems.