Documentation #11906
closedCommons "Help" and Teaching Site Overhaul
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Description
Somewhat related to ticket 8666: https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/issues/8666 (i didn't know how to or if i should connect the tickets)
Hi all,
I have taken a look at the Commons HELP pages and the Teaching on the Commons site (https://teach.commons.gc.cuny.edu/) and have some suggestions for streamlining the documentation on these sites.
In it's current format the Teaching site replicated documentation that could already be found in the HELP Pages. It might be most useful if the teaching site serves as a space to introduce folks to the possibilities teaching on the Commons with links out to the generic help pages for technical documentation. The Teaching site could host pedagogical strategies and models, explanations of the teaching templates and plugins, guidelines for professors to share with thier students, etc. and then ultimately guide/link users back to the appropriate technical documentation on the HELP pages. Creating linkages between the Teaching on the Commons site back to the HELP pages will connect users to important documentation while also showcasing what is available in the HELP area. Thoughts?
In terms of the HELP Pages, I have a few suggestions/questions:
- At the top of HELP there are 4 boxes. We might want to consider replacing "Get Creative" with "Teach a Course" and linking to the teaching page to create a prominent link between these spaces. The "Get Creative" info presents "ways to use the commons" which might be best used as an answer to a "Common Commons question" like: "What can I do on the Commons?"
- Speaking of the Common Commons Questions on the HELP home page, we might want to consider updating the questions to reflect the most recent and popular questions that come in through ZenDesk. I think Marilyn and Scott probably can provide helpful insight about the most common questions coming into the Zendesk in the last year. Some suggested additions:
*What is the difference between a group and a site?
*How do I create a post?
*How can I control Privacy settings on the Commons?
- Finally, we might want to consider eliminating the search bar. This seems counter intuitive but the results are often overwhelming and dont seem granular or targeted enough to be helpful. This is just a theory but I can imagine that new user who searches, "how to make a site", or "how to post" or, "how to create a page" and the results are so detailed that they are unhelpful. Boone, is there any way to know what people have searched for in the HELP site? Or, could we monitor upcoming searches to know what people are looking for? If so, that might inform how we approach this.