From The Complete Guide to Google Wave: How to Use Google Wave
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Navigation / Summary
First off love your work. Secondly your site is very hard to navigate, even though your site is looking very nice it still seems too complicated to use for someone just starting out. I recommend adding a side bar to the site, this would make the users experience more enjoyable.
Would it be useful to have a bullet point summary of the whole guide, for people with short attention spans or who don't have the time to read the whole thing? Something that is say 1 or 2 pages, covering the highlights of every chapter, without all the details. I am willing to write the first draft if you would like. (This would of course be more useful for the online version than the book.) -- Nanobug 18:29, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
- It's true, the site's organization is very hierarchical/book-like, but each chapter's contents are already listed at the top of each chapter page in an outline form. I'd rather keep the front page less cluttered for now, but thanks for offering. --GinaTrapani 20:30, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
I agree, you wouldn't want to clutter the front page. I was thinking more of a separate link to a summary page. -- Nanobug 02:36, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
One thing I've noticed is that only about half of the chapters have a link to the next chapter at the bottom of the page. Next-chapter links are definitely handy! --Zepfanman 23:58, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
- Just got finished added next and previous chapter links to the bottom and top of every chapter page, thanks for the suggestion. --GinaTrapani 00:07, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
another suggestion: a "donate with paypal"link. I don't want the (static) pdf but felt that i wanted to donate, just as i sometimes doe at twit.tv (user tvg or @tvgtvg)
- Interesting! We may just go ahead and do that, though I want to make this more a book and less a charity thing. But thank you for the suggestion (and your willingness).--GinaTrapani 00:07, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
What about an Index? As a “comprehensive user manual,” an Index would be useful. -- Eric Case
- The print version of the book will have an index. Online and in the PDF, there's just the search function. --GinaTrapani 00:07, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
Great book, enjoying working my way though it, but it's frustrating to not have a menu on every page allowing me to skip back to the shortcuts page, for example, or the gadgets page ... any chance of sticking in a regular sitemap-type menu, one link per chapter? Rafe Lavelle
- There's next and previous links on each page now, though we may add a drop-down menu to all chapters in a later revision for easy skipping around. Thanks for asking! --GinaTrapani 00:07, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
Translations in progress
Please help where you can! But don't use the Talk pages, translate either on-wiki or in Wave. [[Contribute to The Complete Guide to Google Wave#Help_Translate_the_Book|Here's how.]
Dutch
In progress, De Complete Google Wave Gids -- but needs a lot of work in formatting. --GinaTrapani 00:11, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
Italian
Italian translation of The Complete Guide to Google Wave is currently ongoing in Wave itself. Search for tag:completewaveguide tag:translation tag:italian and join in! --Alessandro F Cuttin 13:18, 24 November 2009 (UTC)
Korean
In progress, Korean -- Now it is just beginning. It is required lots of passion, and efforts. plz join us!
What about the Identification on Google Wave
Since Google Wave si to replace Email, i was just wondering what would be our ID. Today we have the email adress, but will we have something else to identificate ? Something new ? It seems that inside Gwave, we don't need them to add people. Will it be the @googlewave.com ?
Thanks for your insight ! --Clemtoulemonde 19:44, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
Is Google Wave Really Notoriously Difficult to Understand?
Personally, I haven't found GWave to be the least bit difficult to understand, and the comical link to easiertounderstandthanwave.com doesn't serve to substantiate that claim. It is certainly true that some people don't get Wave (i.e. The editors of the Google Wave Etiquette guidelines), while there are others of us that were born to Wave.
I'm experiencing an example of Wave's relative simplicity as I type. While the interface of this Wiki isn't that difficult to grasp, I don't think it has a prayer of passing the grandmother test. Though Wave in it's current state isn't a good Wiki candidate, it could become a powerful and very easy one. For instance, were the Complete Wave Guide in Wave form, (which I'm glad it isn't) I would be privately replying in the context of the page rather then on this back end divorced from the content I'm referencing. That's both powerful and easier to understand.
These remarks also relate to the guide section where the "notorious difficulty" of Wave is further elaborated on. It's new, it's different. Some people get it, some people don't, and other people need time to wrap their heads around it.
- I think the general consensus is that Wave is a bit confusing at first; easiertounderstandthanwave.com is evidence of that. (It's funny b/c it's a little bit true!) But I agree that as time goes on, Wave will seem less alien and much more graspable. --GinaTrapani 00:14, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
Security of Bots and Gadgets
I would like to see come comments about security for bots and gadgets. Do we have to worry about malicious bots/gadgets? What protection is in the Wave infrastructure to prevent somebody writing a bot that does something evil? JimPatterson
Format comments about PDF
Just finished reading the PDF, a few comments on the formatting. I like footnotes, but hate it when they are at the end of the chapter - I find them much easier to use if they are at the bottom of the page.
On page 20 you carefully mask out your personal googlewave address, but then on page 36 you have it displayed. Just to be consistent you should pick one style or other.
In later chapters you start using non googlewave.com addresses, I'm assuming that you are anticipating the future federated google wave servers. It is a bit confusing to see an address like zoe@serenity.com (on page 44) used as a Wave user ID. JimPatterson
