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digitalmars.D - Linking to other resources in the installer

reply "Xinok" <xinok live.com> writes:
Recent statistics of the downloads on dlang.org suggest that D 
may have thousands of active users who keep up to date on the 
latest releases of DMD. However, there are many who simply don't 
participate in the community here. As such, they may be unaware 
of certain resources, such as the forums, wiki, DUB registry, and 
bug tracker.

I'm unaware of any statistics for how many downloads are for 
specific packages or which OS, but I'm willing to bet that a 
large number of people download the Windows installer. As it 
stands now, the installer only offers a few "extras" being Visual 
D, DMC, and D1. It doesn't even provide a link to the dlang.org 
homepage. I feel there is an opportunity here to connect these 
people to some additional resources such as those I mentioned 
above and others. There are a few ways we can incorporate this 
into the installer:

* On the post-install screen, provide a few links here.
* Add start menu shortcuts to these things.
* Many installers open a webpage after installation is complete. 
This could be an option on the post-install screen.

What do you all think? There is some work to be done in making it 
easier for users to discover these resources, especially in terms 
of redesigning the website. I think modifying the installer is an 
extra step in that direction.
Oct 20 2014
next sibling parent "Rikki Cattermole" <alphaglosined gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 21 October 2014 at 01:03:21 UTC, Xinok wrote:
 Recent statistics of the downloads on dlang.org suggest that D 
 may have thousands of active users who keep up to date on the 
 latest releases of DMD. However, there are many who simply 
 don't participate in the community here. As such, they may be 
 unaware of certain resources, such as the forums, wiki, DUB 
 registry, and bug tracker.
For reference, I haven't said this publicly. But the survey I did fairly recently on the newsgroup regarding to educational tooling gave a rather interesting datem. Somebody referred to themselves as a corporate administrator. Not as an educator or student. Given that they are in our community actively this really suggests we have a much larger community base reading the newsgroup, maybe not active but nonetheless keeping up to date. It also means institutions administrators might be well aware of us and planning on teaching D. Well who knows, one point isn't enough to do analysis or see any trends. Let alone assert anything other than it existed.
Oct 20 2014
prev sibling parent reply "Brad Anderson" <eco gnuk.net> writes:
On Tuesday, 21 October 2014 at 01:03:21 UTC, Xinok wrote:
 * On the post-install screen, provide a few links here.
 * Add start menu shortcuts to these things.
 * Many installers open a webpage after installation is 
 complete. This could be an option on the post-install screen.

 What do you all think? There is some work to be done in making 
 it easier for users to discover these resources, especially in 
 terms of redesigning the website. I think modifying the 
 installer is an extra step in that direction.
Sounds good to me. Another idea is to add a message/link to the D2 Command Prompt. I doubt it gets much use but it's the perfect place for such a message for people who do actually use it. I don't really like installers that automatically open web pages when they finish personally.
Oct 21 2014
parent "Vladimir Panteleev" <vladimir thecybershadow.net> writes:
On Tuesday, 21 October 2014 at 16:48:01 UTC, Brad Anderson wrote:
 I don't really like installers that automatically open web 
 pages when they finish personally.
Agreed. Although potentially useful on first installation, it is a nuisance when updating or installing on a second PC.
Oct 21 2014