[texworks] Beginners' needs (was: Lua scripting)

[Stefan Löffler]

David J. Perry schrieb:
> 1. Do keep it simple (uncluttered GUI) and do keep the beginner's
> needs in mind.
>
> 2. I think TeXworks acutally _needs_ only three enhancements (as
> opposed things that are nice, fun, cool but not essential).
>
> 3. In fact, I think TeXworks works so well that I'd like to see the
> official version 1 sooner rather than later.  This would let more
> people try it. (BTW: thanks to Alain for those Windows binaries.  I do
> a lot of computer related stuff, but have no interest in buildling
> software!)
>
> 4. The three enhancements that I think are truly needed include:
> a. a better manual and/or integrated help system
> b. the ability to print source code (for debugging this is sometimes
> convenient) as well as the PDF output
> c. improved help with errors
Jérome Laurens schrieb:
> May I add
>
> 5) Help by contents: ask your question and you'll get an answer.
> Something like
> Q) How do I typeset in 3 columns?
> A) Use the multicols package (in LaTeX)
> In short, something like a searchable FAQ
>
> 6) An entry point to a forum, because online help is outperformed by
> human help.

Another point (though not an absolute must-have):

7) A good icon

Not that I dislike the lion, but that's the TUG. And since we have icons
everywhere today and people often associate applications with icons, I
think having a good one for TW would be nice. Plus: it could pimp up the
manuals ;).

If anyone's interested: I'd suggest designing such an icon as a vector
graphic (e.g. svg, also look at the program Inkscape). Since many of
TW's icons are taken from Tango: their icon guidelines are at
http://tango.freedesktop.org/Tango_Icon_Theme_Guidelines. An additional
good (IMO) resource about how to design good icons can be found at
http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/icons.html.

-Stefan