Talk:Introduction to JP Boyd on Family Law: Difference between revisions

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I would like to see a subsection in the introduction: '''How the information is organized'''. (Think about the print readers as well as online readers for this.)
==Introduction==
I have written a brief introduction to this introduction.  Also added a sentence or two to the existing copy in the following paragraph. I focus on JP rather than on the "team" because the great strength of this material is the feeling you get of his voice. See what you think.


This is as good a place as any to identify important organizational issues about headings and sections:
You may need to rejig the entire intro section a bit, in my opinion. The very strong wikibook focus is fine online - not so relevant when you're staring at a PDF.


Cross-referencing right now lists the chapter heading (short form) plus the section. There are no links just to a section.  
We would need to tell users where they can get the PDF and where to go online. Put it in a box. Bold.


There are still major challenges:
[[User:Gayla Reid|Gayla Reid]] ([[User talk:Gayla Reid|talk]]) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)


1. '''Names of chapters'''. For some chapters, there is a short title (in the TOC that you can see on the right) and a longer title when you arrive at the destination. This creates uncertainty when you link internally (am I in the right place?) Both for online and print, the name of the chapter should be '''exactly''' as it appears in the direction to it. Otherwise readers will feeling anxious. Right now the readers are looking at the short title in the TOC on the right, but being '''linked''' in the text to the long title. I'm thinking maybe we should revise the "short title" approach as the "long title" approach appears to be the one that embeded.


The poses challenges, such as The Legal System is really about family law in particular, not the legal system as a whole. I don't think we can get round it by having short/long titles. We can put something up front saying in the first sentence, "This chapter talks about the legal system in family law matters" . . . or some such.


2. '''Chapters headings doubling as section headings'''. At the moment the chapter heading is also de facto the heading of the overview section. This is followed by "more detailed" sections. Logically this bothers me. It should be (a) heading; (b) section/section/section. And in the in-print TOC it will need to look like this. 
==Chapters headings doubling as section headings==


The problem then becomes a style sheet one, where each section (aka page) starts with an (a) heading, even though subsequent sections are actually (b) section headings. In an online non-book format, I'd take a heading page, put in the intro, then line up the sections for folks to link to: overview section/more detailed section/more detailed section. (The heading for the overview could pick up on the current "long form" of the title, with the word overview at the begining or end.)
I strongly recommend adding a sub-heading, '''Overview''', to the start of each chapter (following the chapter's introduction).  


3. '''In-print use of the TOC'''. The chapters are not alphabetical. They don't right now have numbers (or  not that I can see). Readers cannot be expected to form a map of the TOC in their heads. Online they can go over and check where to go, because all that is showing are the short titles and its visually manageable. A print TOC would need to include sections as well and will be quite long.
Here is my thinking about this:


4. The links to sections are usually made to the long title, not the title you can see online on the right. This is ok-ish online but in print you'll have to use the long title of the section in the TOC . . .
In the copy I'm editing, the chapter heading is also de facto the heading of the overview section. This is followed by "more detailed" sections. Logically this bothers me. It should be (a) heading; (b) section/section/section. (And in the in-print TOC it will need to look like this.


5. Links to the forms have one name in the document and another in the TOC. We need to harmonize this.
The problem then becomes a style sheet headache, where each section (aka page) starts with an (a) heading, even though subsequent sections are actually (b) section headings. In an online non-book format, I'd take a heading page, put in the intro, then line up the sections for folks to link to: overview section/more detailed section/more detailed section. (The heading for the overview section could just say "overview."
 
 
[[User:Gayla Reid|Gayla Reid]] ([[User talk:Gayla Reid|talk]]) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)
 
==Names of chapters and sections==
 
Ideally, both for online and print, the names of the chapter and section headings should be '''exactly''' as it appears in '''any''' direction to it. Otherwise readers will start feeling anxious. (They know it's a minefield.)
 
For some chapters, there is a short title (in the TOC that you can see on the right when you have selected a chapter) and a longer title when you arrive at the destination. This creates uncertainty when you link internally (am I in the right place?)
 
Some links were using the short titles, but of course the longer title was showing up at the destinations. I changed this so that the link is the longer title - just to be consistent. (But in some cases (see comment on forms, below) I think the short title is the better one. Suggestions?
 
==The "short" TOC==
 
Right now the readers are looking at the short title in the brief TOC on the right but seeing a longer title in the link and at the destination. Consistency is important.
 
[[User:Gayla Reid|Gayla Reid]] ([[User talk:Gayla Reid|talk]]) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)
 
==In-print TOC==
 
We are having a nice numbered manual, right? It will help readers get around, given that they won't have hyperlinks. (I wouldn't want it online.)
 
[[User:Gayla Reid|Gayla Reid]] ([[User talk:Gayla Reid|talk]]) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)
 
==Forms==
The "short toc" has a name for the forms sections. When you get there it is something different - and it's ''very'' legalese. Something like: Supreme Court forms (family law). Can we get rid of those parentheses? (The short TOC for the forms is good, in my opinion.)
 
[[User:Gayla Reid|Gayla Reid]] ([[User talk:Gayla Reid|talk]]) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)
 
==Creative commons==
I added the rev. edition of the Creative Commons credit at the end of pages, but it has an ugly last line (darts out flush left).
[[User:Gayla Reid|Gayla Reid]] ([[User talk:Gayla Reid|talk]]) 18:57, 30 April 2013 (PDT)

Latest revision as of 00:54, 2 May 2013

Introduction[edit]

I have written a brief introduction to this introduction. Also added a sentence or two to the existing copy in the following paragraph. I focus on JP rather than on the "team" because the great strength of this material is the feeling you get of his voice. See what you think.

You may need to rejig the entire intro section a bit, in my opinion. The very strong wikibook focus is fine online - not so relevant when you're staring at a PDF.

We would need to tell users where they can get the PDF and where to go online. Put it in a box. Bold.

Gayla Reid (talk) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)


Chapters headings doubling as section headings[edit]

I strongly recommend adding a sub-heading, Overview, to the start of each chapter (following the chapter's introduction).

Here is my thinking about this:

In the copy I'm editing, the chapter heading is also de facto the heading of the overview section. This is followed by "more detailed" sections. Logically this bothers me. It should be (a) heading; (b) section/section/section. (And in the in-print TOC it will need to look like this.)

The problem then becomes a style sheet headache, where each section (aka page) starts with an (a) heading, even though subsequent sections are actually (b) section headings. In an online non-book format, I'd take a heading page, put in the intro, then line up the sections for folks to link to: overview section/more detailed section/more detailed section. (The heading for the overview section could just say "overview."


Gayla Reid (talk) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)

Names of chapters and sections[edit]

Ideally, both for online and print, the names of the chapter and section headings should be exactly as it appears in any direction to it. Otherwise readers will start feeling anxious. (They know it's a minefield.)

For some chapters, there is a short title (in the TOC that you can see on the right when you have selected a chapter) and a longer title when you arrive at the destination. This creates uncertainty when you link internally (am I in the right place?)

Some links were using the short titles, but of course the longer title was showing up at the destinations. I changed this so that the link is the longer title - just to be consistent. (But in some cases (see comment on forms, below) I think the short title is the better one. Suggestions?

The "short" TOC[edit]

Right now the readers are looking at the short title in the brief TOC on the right but seeing a longer title in the link and at the destination. Consistency is important.

Gayla Reid (talk) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)

In-print TOC[edit]

We are having a nice numbered manual, right? It will help readers get around, given that they won't have hyperlinks. (I wouldn't want it online.)

Gayla Reid (talk) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)

Forms[edit]

The "short toc" has a name for the forms sections. When you get there it is something different - and it's very legalese. Something like: Supreme Court forms (family law). Can we get rid of those parentheses? (The short TOC for the forms is good, in my opinion.)

Gayla Reid (talk) 16:26, 30 April 2013 (PDT)

Creative commons[edit]

I added the rev. edition of the Creative Commons credit at the end of pages, but it has an ugly last line (darts out flush left). Gayla Reid (talk) 18:57, 30 April 2013 (PDT)