Welcome to the Documentation Center! This way of doing documentation may be a bit different from what you may be used to, so please read this document to understand how to contribute.

Quick Start

For the impatient, here's the bare minimum you should know:

• To add a piece of documentation, you need to be logged in.
  
• There are several different documentation types, most are self-explanatory, but pay attention to the difference between a How-to and a Tutorial (explained below).
  
• To add a piece of documentation/help, go into the relevant section, make sure there isn't already an existing entry about what you want to add, and use the button at the top right to add (normally says Add FAQ or similar).
  
• Add your content, and save it. This edit/view cycle can be performed as many times as you like, until you are happy with the result.
  
• Make sure you Submit your document for publication when you are done - top right pulldown in the content area.
  
• A reviewer will then pick up the document, and publish it unless the content needs to be improved.
  
• If somebody adds comments to your entry later, you will be notified by e-mail.
  

Please tag your documentation with the appropriate section and audience labels - these determine where your documentation will be listed.  If your piece of documentation requires a new section or audience listing, please email contact at makingthings dot com.

What type of item is my documentation?

Below is a description, usage and example for each type.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

An FAQ is a short question with a 1-2 paragraph answer. You can add several questions to a FAQ area and group the questions into sections.

FAQ Example

Question: 
    What is the Make Controller Kit?

Answer:
    The Make Controller Kit is a an open source hardware and software project.
 

HowTo

A HowTo is a one-page description on how to accomplish something, but is folderish, so Files/Images can be attached. It's usually very brief and to-the-point.

Typical How-Tos:

• How to set the network address of your Make Controller
  
• How to upload new firmware to your Make Controller
  

Tutorial

A tutorial is a multi-paged article with lots of detail. The tutorial is more in-depth than a How-to, and may cover the conceptual aspects of the task, in addition to the practical steps to get the job done.

If you are unsure of the difference of a How-to and a Tutorial, think about it as the difference between a recipe that only teaches you what ingredients are needed, and how to bake the cake (How-to), and an article telling you about the history behind cakes in general, that may or may not teach you how to actually bake one (Tutorial).

Typical Tutorials:

• How to use the Make Controller with a particular desktop software environment
  
• How to write firmware for the Make Controller