I think one source of frustration for new users regarding the documentation, was that literally until this week when Lillie released the “First Steps” guide, there wasn’t a clear learning progression for a new user. Using Dorico Pro 3 as an example (since it doesn’t have the updated First Steps guide) when the user arrives on the help page, they are met with links to Operation Manual, Tokens in Dorico, Popovers in Dorico, HALion Sonic SE, HALion Symphonic Orchestra, and Olympus Choir Micro. A new user won’t know what most of the others even are so they will select Operation Manual.
The First Steps chapter of the Dorico 3 Operation Manual gives some very rudimentary instruction on how to add a time sig and enter a few notes, but that’s about it. Want to enter a staccato? The user is forced to search to figure it out. John Barron’s Getting Started with Note Input was a good resource, but there’s nothing in the manual or on the Help page to help direct new users to it, so they would have to find it by searching or luck on to it. Sure there are plenty of very nicely produced videos, but plenty of users (myself included) would rather spend 30 seconds looking up how to do something than watch a 15 minute video to maybe find what they need. Some things, like percussion setup, playback issues, etc, are quite complicated and better suited to videos, but there was no way to channel users to something as simple as a staccato in Dorico 3.
“Just look up how to do it.” The documentation assumes users don’t even know what a clef is and spends an entire page explaining it. If a user doesn’t even know that, they certainly aren’t going to know to search for the term “articulation.” Therein lies some of the frustration. The manual goes to great lengths to describe aspects of notation that most users don’t need explained, but then didn’t have a clear workflow to channel new users to things they did need.
Much of this has now changed with the 3.5 “First Steps” guide. There is now a clear pathway for new users to learn the program, so this is a great improvement! The one additional thing that I think would really help would be something akin to Finale’s Visual Index. If the manual is assuming a user doesn’t even know what a clef is, they certainly won’t know Voices, Cross-staff beaming, Multi-bar rest, etc. A visual index where new users could click on the element that looks like what they are trying to do, learn what Dorico calls it, and immediately be taken to the corresponding help page would be a very useful addition IMO.
But many users do know what “Voices” are and when they go to p. 1471, to discover how to create a second voice on a stave, they are met with:
“For many instruments, such as flute or trombone, each staff usually contains a single musical line in a single voice that is read from left to right along the staff…” etc…
I have no idea which version of the manual page 1471 refers to, but it’s not the current one.
Either way, the text you’ve quoted comes from a section of the manual that’s called “Notation Reference”. It’s clearly the wrong place to look for instructions on how to enter a second voice, and the first Related Link under the topic is useful.
My use of the term “voices” was misinterpreted on Tuple polyrhythm alignment - #2 by pianoleo just yesterday, so clearly a description of Voices does need to be somewhere in the manual.
I certainly take the point, David, but I also think this is an area where growing familiarity with the manual helps. Users may well go to page 1471 to discover how to create a second voice but. as with all other subject headers, - the bit that comes with familiarity - the first thing up for explanation is "what is …?" (in this case voices). I think that’s the best approach as you can’t really get into the detail of a subject without first explaining what it is. As it is, the first link under that opening section in Voices does lead directly to what you felt they might be looking for - how to create a second voice on a stave.
While I’m sure there are ways that it can still be improved, I think the manual is great. Really good, in fact. I use it because the most common mistake I make is to assume I know what Dorico means when in reality I don’t and the manual puts me right by telling me where I’m going wrong. I would also add that I don’t think the manual is a one-stop shop to learning about Dorico. The videos, John’s monthly sessions, other You Tube videos, articles on other websites and this forum are all important parts of the process of learning how to get the best out of it.
(just read Leo’s post and I probably need to update my version of the manual. My p 1471 is the same as yours, David).
Well stated. There are many places on this forum that include a variation on “Well, why would you want to do it that way?” I find the manual a special circle of hell -extremely difficult to learn and more importantly remember how to change parameters of a score. Comments are dismissed for “not being helpful”.
@bobsabin ’s experience is absolutely not mine.
I have written before that I think that the Operation Guide is an exceptional piece of work that I find invaluable, especially now that I’ve understood how it’s organised. Any complaints I’ve made have been promptly and courteously addressed.
Separating the narrative of Dorico’s concepts from the input methods took a bit of getting used to but appreciate it as a good way of trying to simplify a very large and complex structure.
Well done documentation team, and thanks for being so uniquely accessible to your users.