* Gerhard Killesreiter <killesreiter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> [2004-06-16 06:07]:
[...]
> I really wonder why people don't see such easy solutions and must fill my
> inbox with mindless blabber about teasers (not aimed at you).
Thanks for answering in spite of this.
But why do people keep asking? Frankly because the docs kind of suck. And
there are near-zero comments in the code. Those are two obvious factors from
my point of view.
I don't want to have to bother you guys for these kinds of things, but
neither do I want to have to read nearly every line of code in Drupal to
figure these things out.
You say to write a module. Previously I read the node_api doxygen docs which
say:
"If you don't need to make a new node type but rather extend the existing
ones, you should instead investigate using hook_nodeapi()."
and
"If you are writing a node module, do not use this hook to perform actions
on your type of node alone. Instead, use the hooks set aside for node
modules, such as hook_insert() and hook_form()."
<http://drupal.kollm.org/tmp/drupal-phpdoc/>
These two points are far from clear. And the diary example in the handbook
is a bit simplistic shall we say.
I realize this is all volunteer work, and appreciated, but it would
*drastically* help if the node system, and extending it had much better
coverage in the docs. I know developers hate writing docs, understandably
so, but if everyone's asking the same questions about 'easy solutions' it's
time to think maybe it's not evident at all to those not intimate with the
code. Especially as this is the heart and soul of the whole system.
If it's felt that a very small % of users actually modify/extend nodes and
internals, and more extensive docs for those who don't just "get it" are
uncalled for, just say so in the docs. "here's the general idea. to get a
better idea, read all the code, it changes too fast to keep the docs in
sync."
Then again, this is endemic to 98% of open projects, and at the end of the
day it is quite nice software. I just get the impression this particular
weakness turns away many who would otherwise join in and help. And I (and
countless others) could ask less repetitive annoying questions if it was
fleshed out a bit more in the docs.
And if I should write a new module to add back a teaser, what's flexinode
for? (OK, yes this is half-trolling...)
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