Frequently Asked Questions

General

Q. What does OSDDP stand for?

A. OSDDP stands for Open Source Development and Documentation Project.

Q. What is the main purpose of OSDDP?

A. The main purpose of OSDDP is to provide a place where everyone can learn project development from each other through open source development as well as develop skills for producing professional and technical documents.

Q. What is a secondary purpose of OSDDP?

A. The secondary purpose of OSDDP is to provide open source documentation to the Purdue University Technical and Business Writing students as well as anyone who is interested in open source. This is an ongoing project that will allow Purdue students of future semesters to develop the work done by current students.

Q. Who is OSDDP for?

A. OSDDP is a community site designed for anyone interested in open source development and documentation organization as well as for the Purdue University students in Technical Writing (ENGL 421) and Business Writing (ENGL 420).

Q: Who is working on OSDDP?

A: Purdue University Technical Writing (English 421) and Business Writing (English 420) students, along with instructors, are working on OSDDP in order to learn more about Open Source documentation. Please visit the Purdue Professional Writing Program to find out more about 420 and 421.

Q. Who is heading the OSDDP project?

A. The co-directors of Purdue University's OSDDP project are Dr. David Blakesley and Charles Lowe.

Q: Who can join OSDDP?

A: Anyone is able to join OSDDP. All that is needed is an account. See “How do I create an account in OSDDP?” to create a user account.

Q. What is Drupal?

A: Drupal is an Open Source CMS reliant heavily on a large community of co-developers/users. It is the software running the OSDDP site. More information can be found at Drupal.

Q: Can I copy and use OSDDP documentation on my site?

A: Yes, if the terms of Creative Commons License, Attribuition-ShareAlike2.0 are followed.

 

Features

Q: What is Search?

A: A tool on the OSDDP website that allows one to search through the site content. You would use this to find a particular comment, issue, project, or OSDDP user. However, Search does not handle punctuation very well. If there is punctuation included in the query then it will return a null every time.

Q: Where can I find a glossary of important terms for understanding the OSDDP and open source?

A: Please go to Glossary or click on the question mark (?) symbol that appears next to glossary terms wherever they appear.

Q. Which Content Management System is being used?

A. Drupal is the Content Management System (CMS) used on the OSDDP website.

Q: Where is the RSS feed for OSDDP?

A: On the bottom left hand corner of every page there is an icon labeled XML. This is the RSS feed for OSDDP. The RSS feed allows RSS-aware programs to stay up to date on the changes in the OSDDP weblogs.

 

Support

Q: How do I create an account in OSDDP?

A: To create an account, scroll to the bottom of the left hand frame and click the link “create an account”. Follow the instructions, and check your email account for your temporary password.

Q. Can I use my login from an OSDDP partner site, such as Drupal?

A. Yes. As a convenience to the many shared members, users can use their Drupal distributed login from a partner site, such as Drupal, for the OSDDP site.

Q. How do I change my password?

A. After logging in to the OSDDP website with your username and password, on the toolbar on the left:

- Click 'my account.'

- Click 'edit account.'

In the Edit account form, fill in both password boxes with your desired password, then select 'Save user information' at the bottom of the screen.

Q. Is there a Drupal tutorial?

A. OSDDP members have created the Drupal End User Documentation: A guide for Drupal version 4.5.

 

Posting to OSDDP

Q. How do I post an issue, assign a task, post a comment, update an issue, attach a document to an issue, or post an issue for review?

A. Please go to Submitting Projects and Issues, which explains the process.

Q: How do I know who is working on a task?

A: Within the description of each task, the creator of the task will have included a list of the people working on the task. The description is filled in during the submitting process. To find the one person responsible for the task, check the post by viewing it. The “Assigned” field is the name of the coordinator for the particular issue.

Q: What is the difference between commenting on an issue and updating an issue?

A: Commenting on an issue includes discussion and criticism. Any user can make comments. Users who are assigned to the task or are working on it should do the updating of an issue. Updating an issue allows more options, such as file attachment. Also see Submitting Projects and Issues.

Q: How do I submit to the front page?

A: First login using your user account. Once logged in click Create Content and then select story. Here you can type in a title and description to be added to the front page. Select submit when finished. Front page stories are bumped down as new stories are submitted.

Q: How can I see the latest content?

A: On the OSDDP home page under the ‘Navigation’ heading, click on ‘recent posts’ for a list of the most recently posted issues and comments. People can also “subscribe” to projects so that they receive new posts by email. Look under Projects > Issues > Subscribe.