Welcome to the Phase 2 Documentation Site
Overview
Welcome!! This site was created for you, the reviewer, to present to you all the written documentation for our Phase 2 project to enhance www.allthingspg.org. It is my hope to present to you documentation on a website to make it easier and more interesting to read versus a boring set of Word documents, perhaps scattered in a number of different locations or emails. None of that. It’s all here. When I say easier, that doesn’t mean easy. It will take time and effort to do a decent review to understand and comment on the material. And we are all busy and have day jobs. So please know that - whatever time you spend, and whatever effort you make is greatly appreciated!! Also please know, that many documents are still a work in progress and that will be indicated in the breadcrumb bar. As time goes on, more documents will get completed.
It is my hope that your review is more than proofreading. You have the opportunity here to be a part of the design process by sending me your feedback. No need to comment on the documentation site, but on the content. Please read and review all the planned new features and designs for Phase 2, and click the Contact Us button at the top right as often as you like with your comments. It should open your preferred email client prefilled with values and ready to send after adding your comments and suggestions. These emails will go to a special email account I’ve created for that purpose. If it fails to open your email client, jusst create an email send your comment to suggestions@allthingspg.org. Please indicate if you expect a reply, and I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
Why do we have a Documentation Site for Phase?
- It’s nicer to browse a website than to read documents.
- Allows for immediate feedback (Contact Us).
- Allows including Stakeholders in the review and comment process.
- Centraizes easy distribution of documentation updates.
- Serves as the single source of truth. All documents here are the master copies.
- Serves as my design specifications to develop Phase 2 software.
- Specifications lets me know when the project is done.
- Fits the Software Engineering methodology of document first then develop the software.
Structure of the Website
The top-level menu items indicate topics (when you click the top menu). This will open the home page for that topic. If you scroll down to the menu items in that topic and click, that will open a page with the same name and display its content.
Each topic (Welcome, Phase 1, Phase 2, New Features, etc.) is laid out left to right in an order that makes sense for review. All the menu items within each topic are laid out top to bottom in an order that makes sense. You are of course free to review in any order you like, but you may learn more by following the suggested order: working left to right among topics, and top to bottom within a topic.
Each page has the same header, with the PG logo, menu, and Contact Us button. Below that is the Title Bar, showing a functional breadcrumb and brief description of the page on the right side. Below that is the Tile Bar. There are three tiles per page, and they’re different for each topic. All menu items within the same topic have the same tiles. These are shortcuts to related topics, like clicking a menu item, but are also intended to provide guidance for next steps. The tile bar is meant to enhance a guided experience. After the Tile Bar is the actual Page Content, starting with a Page Title.
Technical vs. Non-Technical
The documentation site contains a combination of analysis, commentary, opinion, and design specs. As such, some is non-technical, some is in the middle, and some is technical. Feel free to read all types, but realize the technical material is not meant to scare anybody, but is actually used as requirements or specs for creating the software. The commentary is useful to provide analysis and background information, and much of it will make it into the final proposal to be presented to the Board for a vote. It’s also meant for the stakeholders, as is the Executive Summary. Those are intentionally non-technical. Stakeholders have the opportunity to make changes before the final proposal is presented and voted on.
Where to Begin
What you’re reading now is the HOME page for the documentation site. It is the first page shown when entering the site. You can return to this page by clicking the PG Logo or the Welcome / Home menu item (yes, Welcome Home is a play on words). As already mentioned, the best order for review is to work your way through topics left to right, top to bottom within a topic, but this is a suggestion only. Read and comment on whatever interests you, and by all means, click Contact Us to send feedback on the specifications, proposed new features, wish-list items, anything you like.
The rest of the Welcome menu will show:
- Read the Executive Summary.
- Review the Phase 2 Overview.
- Read about the Proof of Concept.
I sincerely thank you for your time and effort! Feel free to start with the Phase 2 Overview next.
Dave DePottie
Chairman and IT Director
All Things PG