Template for Contrib documentation

Hi Danielle -

There was a lot of debate over a template for module docs landing pages http://drupal.org/node/1142004 when we were working on a standard to apply to D7 core modules (most of the new ones and some of the old ones now follow this). This would be a great issue to pick back up and finish if you want to help.

http://drupal.org/documentation/modules/field-ui is a good example structure to follow or work from ie.:

• intro (introductory paragraph)
• uses (what you can do with the module)
• versions (version specific info - try and be version agnostic in the previous sections)
• technical details (use or adapt template from field UI)

Once this issue has agreement, it'd be great to post the final template somewhere in http://drupal.org/documentation-writers-guide or possibly somewhere else where it'll be more visible to maintainers.

Ariane and Jennifer -

Thanks for the help. I was talking to Angie about a template at Drupal on the Bayou, which is how this came up. I think some of what has happened in the past is that when documentation is available, it is often very technical so a typical site builder or someone who knows how to install modules but not write a lot of PHP has trouble figuring out what the module does, etc.

I'm definitely interested in picking up where the project left off. I just want to make sure that I'm clear in stating that I don't want to change the template for the contrib module landing page but rather the additional documentation that is generally linked to in the right sidebar. This documentation generally tends to include more step by step instructions on uses, module configuration, screenshots, etc.

Ok, I'm going to try to provide some clarification as to what I mean. Sorry if I haven't been clear above.

I am indeed talking about the link in the right sidebar of a module that takes you to the documentation URL that lives on drupal.org. However, I am trying to solve the issue that Jennifer brought up of putting in whatever documentation you want. I think it is important to create a template to show what type of material should be in there so that each module does not have a completely different format. The template would be a suggested outline that a module maintainer/contributor would use. Some example content would be a module summary, who should be using the module (developer, site admin, themer), step by step instructions on how to configure the module, screenshots of what the module configuration screen looks like and screenshots of the functionality it adds to the site, etc. I may add or remove from the list I have in the previous sentence, but hopefully that provides some clarification of what I am looking to do.