Read me's
Ivy
Posts: 7,165
I have bought a few products in the last few days and I have noticed the read me files are gone from the installers and are now only available for online view. which is rather inconvenient if you are working off line and you need a read file.
can we please have the read me files included in the installers instead of being online
Post edited by Ivy on
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
I agree. I tried a few that were supposed to have on-line readme's a couple of weeks ago, but the page was unavailable. Readme's are usually quite small, and I don;t know why they don't still include them, it can't be to save space or bandwith surely? it would be easier all aound I think.
yeah, I'd like a manual readme. I've taken to saving the html at the end in the same folder I save the installer, so I can locate the file after install. I have the worst time locating installed content, and until I started to do this, i could waste a lot of tim.
I've been clicking on the (Export as:) PDF button on the upper right. It will generate a PDF and initiate a download to you.
Note, however, that the filelist won't be included - you'll need to grab that separately.
One of the reasons the read me files are all online is that products change and get updated. The online read me files are there to have one location where you can go to see the latest updates and info on that product. This decision has come with a lot of controversy but it should help customers know exactly what the status of their products are at any given time.
The Create PDF is available when you install your products, and if you need the read me, save a pdf during the installation process.
I have no problem with the readme being on-line. It would be significantly better if the readme were directly linked to the product page.
However - I'm on dialup and my 3D system does NOT have internet access. I see absolutely NO reason the readme cannot be included in the download package.
As it is, I use my laptop to mirror the complete readme section of the wiki when I'm at a wifi hotspot. Unfortunately, the config at the DAZ end is not co-operating and it is impossible at this time to just get the new and/or updated pages - the process pulls down the complete subsection of the readmes each time. This is a waste of bandwidth, but it is the best option available to me in my situation, so I continue to do it.
That is part of the problem. I want to know what I have, not what is now available.
I thank you for the responce to my request.. But I want to file a compliant for 2 simple reason. I don't need or want a bunch of saved read me's web pages in my favorite folder on my browser and 2) I sometimes will bridge work over to my laptop and will work off line and read me files are not avail if I'm not on line.
It is after all rather inconvenient to have to save the read me's in a PDF file plus the file list. because it was not part of the product in the installer. That is like buying a stereo that didn't come with instructions on how to use it.
As Simon stated .. I want to know what I have bought when i bought it and not a upgraded read me that will not apply to my product i had originally purchased down the road..
So I would like to make this request again. Please ad the read me's to the installers or zip files which ever the case maybe. If you update the product then you can update the read me that is included in the installer.
other wise my favorite folder has a ton of web site pages all named read me.. that is just silly.
What Maybe convenient for you all, is not at all convenient to your customers. just some food for thought.
I'm a customer, and I don't know what the status of a product I recently bought is, because the online readme does not yet exist!
I really can't understand why this decision was taken, given the incomplete state of the online readmes. Some items require a detailed set of instructions, they aren't included in the installer any more and they aren't online yet. See the problem?
Please give the readme's back in the products when we buy them? It's a good thing they are online also so if there are changes or updates we can find them there but for the product as it is when I bought it, I really would like to have the readme included.
I'm not always online and besides, the readme web page isn't always reachable.
Thanks in advance. :)
For people that want the readme's back there is a request filed here:
https://bugs.daz3d.com/view.php?id=47340, add a note please?
Love, Jeanne
It would be good if it was made available as one of the resource files on the product page.
A date printed on it with a note that newer versions may be available is all that's necessary to keep people informed about how up to date it is.
Why not include a hyperlink in the readme the client downloads? This solves both issues.
This way the client has their readme, and the link goes to the updated online readme. What would be even more awesome if the online readme file has the version number of the prodcut so the client can know if he/she needs to update this file.
I like this idea A LOT!!!
I too am looking for a readme that isn't in the on line documentation.
I have been going back to the doc page and saving as PDF, but since I didn't know the file list wasn't included, I'll have to go back and save those too... this is suppose to help me how????
I also agree about wanting a read me that matches the product I originally purchased.
Oh well...sounds pretty clear, this is a done deal and there isn't going to be a compromise ... it's the document page or nothing. What else is new. 8-/
As a PA, I'm also requesting the reinstatement of the readme in the download. I have certain complex products (Room Creator, for example), in which user instructions are absolutely essential, and IMO, an online readme just isn't good enough!. That much is obvious from the comments above.
I've included a readme in many products, and I dutifully made wiki pages for every product I had. Not that it did much good. They've all vanished now. The whole online system has too many user exceptions to the rule to force it upon us as the only system available.
mac
Yet another reason why on-line only readmes are a bad idea -- the number of times the documentation wiki has been redesigned/reworked and entries just plain dropped.
I submitted bug report 47340 about the readmes back in July - feel free to pile on with comments. Bug report here.
And I think I'll wait out the PA sale, no point in adding to the PA problems - and then I'm going nuclear. I'll be requesting a refund on every purchased item that does not include a readme in the download. I've hit my point of no return.
Yep. I already added my comment to that report a while back. The more, the merrier.
mac
Not if you export the page as PDF. I wrote a plugin, several months back, for Dokuwiki (the "engine" behind the documentation center) specifically for this purpose. If the page is being rendered as xhtml (normal display within the browser), the file_list page is linked from the start page - because file lists can get rather long, and unless you want to see them... in the way. When the page is rendered to pdf (or odt, but there are bugs in the odt plugin itself), the link to the file_list page is omitted from the top of the product notes section and instead included as its own section immediately below the product notes.
-Rob
Incorrect. All of the ReadMe's that where on the ArtZone site prior to it being taken down reside in a dedicated ArtZone namespace, or more specifically the Products A-Z index, on the Documentation Center - I personally moved all of them over. The index page for that section is linked within the text on the new ReadMe index page.
Home One Apartment
Home One Bedroom
Home One Bathroom
Home One House
-Rob
Not if you export the page as PDF. I wrote a plugin, several months back, for Dokuwiki (the "engine" behind the documentation center) specifically for this purpose. If the page is being rendered as xhtml (normal display within the browser), the file_list page is linked from the start page - because file lists can get rather long, and unless you want to see them... in the way. When the page is rendered to pdf (or odt, but there are bugs in the odt plugin itself), the link to the file_list page is omitted from the top of the product notes section and instead included as its own section immediately below the product notes.
-Rob
Not to bust your bubble -- but I just pulled the PDF for the A3 and H3 shapes for genesis. I got a 79.0 KB PDF with a link back to the wiki for the file list; it is NOT included in the PDF.
Not to bust your bubble -- but I just pulled the PDF for the A3 and H3 shapes for genesis. I got a 79.0 KB PDF with a link back to the wiki for the file list; it is NOT included in the PDF.
First I've been made aware that it wasn't working. I'm looking into why, right now.
-Rob
Probably because all the rest of us thought it was supposed to be a two-step process. :)
I bought Sandy hair for Genesis the other day, installed it yesterday and there was no readme. Not included and not online although the link pointed to the doc centre there was nothing there, no Sandy Hair for Genesis either. :ohh:
And no filelist included in the Sandy hair for V4 pdf also: Sandy hair read me
I didn't even know there was supposed to be one in the pdf. Anyhow, this one went back online and I don't like it. :(
So please put them back in the products I buy so I have them on my computer? When that thing crashes I won't blame DAZ for it, maybe... :P
Love, Jeanne
Incorrect. All of the ReadMe's that where on the ArtZone site prior to it being taken down reside in a dedicated ArtZone namespace, or more specifically the Products A-Z index, on the Documentation Center - I personally moved all of them over. The index page for that section is linked within the text on the new ReadMe index page.
Home One Apartment
Home One Bedroom
Home One Bathroom
Home One House
-Rob
Sorry about that, Rob. I thought they had all gone. Thanks for the correction.
mac
That is part of the problem. I want to know what I have, not what is now available.
THIS. I've just started the process of redownloading all updated products, and by far the easiest way I've found to find out what version of a product I have (and from there, whether I need to reset and download) is using the readme.
Using the "Export As: PDF" action link on ReadMe pages should again include the contents of the "File List" page, as I previously described it.
-Rob
Thanks Rob, that's going to make life easier.
Asking the question again because there doesn't seem to have been an answer yet...
I'm a customer, and I don't know what the status of a product I recently bought is, because the online readme does not yet exist!
I really can't understand why this decision was taken, given the incomplete state of the online readmes. Some items require a detailed set of instructions, they aren't included in the installer any more and they aren't online yet. See the problem?
Great work, Rob! This helps quite a bit. I know you do a lot of this on what are supposed to be your off-hours, and I really do appreciate it!
I still stand on my argument for having the readme in the download as well as on the wiki, as stated in the mantis bug tracker.
And, as a dial-up user, I need to ask (since one of the claimed benefits of the wiki is the ability to tell when a product has been updated) - HOW do I determine from the index page if a product has been updated? I don't have enough hours in a week to look at all the detail pages to get the information.
For all the reasons so far mentioned I can only add my wishes for a return to included readme files. Saving them as a pdf or any format presumably requires one to be online to access the readme in the first place, and since none of my workstations have ever had modems, and hopefully never will, it has become an almighty headache.
So please DAZ reinstate the read me files to the product installers. Pretty please!
How many times do I have to ask this question until I get an answer? "A lot of controversy" is beginning to sound like the understatement of the year.
I'm a customer, and I don't know what the status of a product I recently bought is, because the online readme does not yet exist!
I really can't understand why this decision was taken, given the incomplete state of the online readmes. Some items require a detailed set of instructions, they aren't included in the installer any more and they aren't online yet. See the problem?