[Edu-sig] re: Slighly OT: O'Reilly article [other resources for newbies?]

[Rob]

> I would imagine uselesspython is very welcome site, especially
> the tutorials
> page which I proposed earlier. The informal, irreverent tone and evident
> self-deprecating sense of humor throughtout will turn off some, but surely
> attract others. There is nothing to intimidate here. The personal
> tone of labor
> of love, and slightly wacky mood is great. The real message is simple and
> important:
> "Hey you too can program Python and its fun!" Pefect for some
> newbies imho.
>

This seems to be a major point of appeal. I toned down the wacky-ness a
while back, and received numerous requests to change it back.

> Rob
> > Useless Python has received a few hundred "thanks for existing" email
> > messages from newbies, despite what I consider to be grossly-inadequate
> > management on my own part. This is the reason the site remains
> in place so
> > far.
>
> Rob, please can you characterize your readers for us:
>
> What level, age, response ?
> What's most popular, what sort of questions ?
>

The only ones who have mentioned their ages seem to be in their early to
middle teens. However, responses seem to range from young people learning
Python as a first language, college/graduate students who think Python is "a
breath of fresh air", and professional programmers dabbling in Python for
the first time.

Only a few have asked questions of me upon discovery of the site, and I have
consistently suggested the Python Tutor list as an appropriate place to ask
programming questions. I have learned quite a bit, but I know where those
questions belong. (And, despite my own fingerprints all over the site, I
still consider it a direct side-effect of the Python Tutor email list.)

> > Since the site is an out-of-pocket expense stemming from my love of the
> > language, I would appreciate constructive advice.
>
> Thanks, and please do keep it up.
> and since you asked the conventional designer in me says
>
> Navigation 1:

I feel that navigation is the second weakest element of the site, and have
been giving a lot of thought to how to address the matter without messing up
the experience too much. The site's single greatest point of weakness is
that it lacks automation and is maintained manually by one person.
Automating the site could well be the means to resolving both the navigation
and management issues.

The tricky part is that the original design concept was indeed for the user
to rummage through the randomly-ordered source files. This didn't seem as
problematic when there were only a few dozen source files, but with the next
major update the number should increase to well over 200. At this size, I
can certainly understand the frustrations expressed by a few. (Fewer than
half a dozen to date, including today's comments.)

regards,
Rob