[FRC Blog] Documentation: Reboot

[bdaroz]

Originally Posted by guniv

Something funny to note is that this post was originally listed under the Resource Library for some reason and they just moved it to the blog. Old link is dead.

Thanks - I fixed the links in the original post.

[Siri]

I'm reminded of the pdf export function on the Q&A. If the goal is simply to provide a centralized website for the important/useful evergreen admin material rather than a central pdf, then adding a similar export function might relieve a lot of these access worries.

Still color me a skeptic, though. It's a worthy idea, but the number of people who've reached out in recent years to say "I can't find it on the website" is too worrisome for me. And these aren't CD or even deeply involved folks; I've watched the website drive people away across all kinds of associations. I'd very much rather they fix the UI first and then migrate more content to it.

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by Siri

I'm reminded of the pdf export function on the Q&A. If the goal is simply to provide a centralized website for the important/useful evergreen admin material rather than a central pdf, then adding a similar export function might relieve a lot of these access worries.

I would be extremely interested in this. My team has no access to internet where we work, so we rely on paper copies of the manuals. I don't mind if they try and consolidate information, as long as it's easily accessible and it's easy to print off this information for use at shop or at competitions.

[Chris is me]

Luckily, nobody has any trouble navigating or finding what they need from the FIRST website, so all of this information will be just as accessible and easy to find as before.

.

.

.

But seriously, does FIRST think the website is easy enough to navigate that nobody will have trouble finding what they are looking for? What about the people who don't know exactly what they are looking for, who learn from reading the admin manual? This is going to get messy.

[Taylor]

Since the resources are "easily available" from the dashboard, and the awards sections seem to be floating near the top, they should be rather easy to find and utilize.
Of course that's for people logged in to the wobsite with knowledge of the resources area. It's not entirely intuitive. And I'm not sure how to access simply starting from the wobsite home page.

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by Taylor

Since the resources are "easily available" from the dashboard, and the awards sections seem to be floating near the top, they should be rather easy to find and utilize.
Of course that's for people logged in to the wobsite with knowledge of the resources area. It's not entirely intuitive. And I'm not sure how to access simply starting from the wobsite home page.

Maybe Frank will write about this in his blag.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Maybe Frank will write about this in his blag.

As everyone knows, a wobsite is a place on the world wide wob, accessed by clacking on a lunk.

I've never heard tell of a blag, though.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

As everyone knows, a wobsite is a place on the world wide wob, accessed by clacking on a lunk.

I've never heard tell of a blag, though.

https://xkcd.com/148/

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ind...Mispronouncing

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by marshall

https://xkcd.com/148/

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ind...Mispronouncing

I lived in St. Louis for many years. Cueball is a good friend of mine.

[Big Ideas]

I've only been involved with FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) for 11 years so I don't know much. Someone please tell me what "evergreen" is.

I am personally old school enough that I like my rules as hard copy, complete, and up to date. I like the idea of taking blot out of rules but I don't want my ability to get a full set of rules dependent on my ability to hunt.

[ahartnet]

Originally Posted by Big Ideas

I've only been involved with FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) for 11 years so I don't know much. Someone please tell me what "evergreen" is.

Thats the tame version of my first thought. Granted, they defined it the first time they used it, but then treated it as if that's a term for something that's always been around.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Mark McLeod]

Evergreen means unchanging year-to-year, always available and not game specific, like the purpose of FIRST or Consent forms or how Lost & Found is always handled.

[MARS_James]

So for those who haven't taken a look at their handy dandy chart the list of things that will be incorporated into the New Game and Season Manual are:

Admin 2.3.1 Getting answers 
Admin 2.3.1.1 Q&A
Admin 4.5.1 Practice Matches 
Admin 4.5.1.1 Filler Line 
Admin 4.5.2.1 Qual Schedules 
Admin 4.7.6 Inspection 
Admin 5.1 Stop Build Day*
Admin 5.2 Bag & Tag & Robot Transport to Regional/Districts
Admin 5.3 Instructions for Bag & Tag 
Admin 5.4 Robot Lock and Unlock Instructions
Admin 5.5 Robot Access Periods (for teams at Districts)
Game 1.1-6

*5.1 will also be posted on the website well beforehand.
They also call Game 5.5 Tourny Rules which is odd cause it refers to it as Tournament in 5.1 take that as you will, although I hope that we will not have it called a Tourny for this game (like how MC's were harolds in 2016) as it just seems like an unnecessary change for the worse.

Now my personal list of things that I would love to also be in this new manual even if it just lists the url to find the resource (Either to ensure that everyone reads it or so if they change it we know about it through a manual update):

Admin 4.2.1 Safety recommendations
Admin 4.5.2.3 Early Matches
Admin 4.5.3 Competition Agendas
Admin 4.7.4 Team Pits
Admin 4.7.4.1 Pit Rules
Admin 4.7.4.2 Pit Structure
Admin 4.7.4.3 Space Regulations
Admin 4.12 Bleacher Rules
Admin 6 All of the Awards Section

Some of these are common sense to be included (where to find the safety manual), others should be in the game manual anyway (4.5.2.3), others are rules that need to be read by EVERYONE on a team and the manual is the best way to do that (4.12). The awards section is because I am shocked how often I speak to teams who do not know what each award means, how many awards there are, or what gets them to championship once again putting it in the game manual makes it so hopefully someone knows these things.

Overall based on the handy dandy chart most of the stuff that they aren't going to be publishing and making "evergreen" makes sense although like I said above some of them should also be published. I understand not wanting information to be redundant but making it not redundant by putting it on the website and just saying hey it's there if you know you need to look for it is like saying "Welcome to your new job our company policies or in case something goes wrong, will not be discussed or even looked at during hiring/orientation, it's all available on our website which I am not going to give you a link to; Find it yourself!" No, that's stupid you tell them, "All our company policies and what to do in an emergency will be told to you now and if you forget here is where you find it on the company website"

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Evergreen means unchanging year-to-year, always available and not game specific, like the purpose of FIRST or Consent forms or how Lost & Found is always handled.

I think in this context "Evergreen" also means subject to change without notice; i.e., what you click is what you get -- no need to worry about how the current wording of an Evergreen rule/policy/process might differ from an earlier version. And I think that is fine for many former parts of the Manual, especially those formerly included in the Admin section.

Of course, many other rules, especially those specific to the current game, are "Seasonal". Those rules are often the ones we expect to see changed, even improved, relative to earlier versions -- and they are the ones that I think teams and volunteers should expect to see discussed in Updates, Blog Posts, and some kind of version control in the Manual. And of course, ad nauseum, here on our favorite CD fora.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

But seriously, does FIRST think the website is easy enough to navigate that nobody will have trouble finding what they are looking for?

Yes. Yes, they do.

I am usually a staunch defender of FIRST HQ: I know these folks and see how passionate they are to do good work. But in the case of the FIRST Website: It is pretty, but just awful as far as being able to find information.