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As promised (see my earlier posting on this), here the first of two sets of questions for you about Citrix documentation. Remember, there will be a small prize for a few randomly selected people who take part in this All you have to do is post a reply here with your responses and insights, and I will enter you into the draw!
Don feel like you have to answer every question here. Of course, we be happy if you did, but any feedback in this area will be extremely helpful to the Technical Publications team.
When you and others in your organization consult Citrix documentation, how do you access it?
We interested in finding out how you and others in your organization install, download, and distribute administrator-related publications from Citrix. These might be administrator guides, getting started guides, configuration guides, readmes, or any other publications aimed at Citrix administrators.
Some of you may access documents on the CD (in the /docs folder). If so, are you happy doing this? Perhaps having publications ship on the CD is a requirement for your organization.
Some of you may access those same CD-based documents but you install them using the documentation option (aka the Docs.msi) on one or more computers. If that your organization preference, how does that work? How many computers do you install them on and is a single person responsible for that task? Are they also responsible for downloading and distributing updated docs when they become available?
Other folk may rely on downloaded documentation from our website. If so, is the Citrix website your first port of call, or do you go elsewhere in the first instance? How often do you visit our web site to get the latest docs? Do you find it easy to locate the appropriate document? Is lack of web access an issue (because, say, you in a locked-down environment)?
Maybe your organization is considering a change to the way Citrix or other documentation is obtained and distributed. Tell us about that.
Please tell us about your experiences, expectations, and desires in this area. We like to hear from you.
Thanks!
Comments (11)
Mar 09, 2007
Anonymous says:
Hi, when I need documentation I visit the Citrix Homepage and download the up t...Hi,
when I need documentation I visit the Citrix Homepage and download the up to date versions I need.
Sporadically I download all relevant docs and save them on my USB stick so that I can access them when I am supporting a customer.
Nice would be something like IBM does.
They have RSS feeds about their redbooks so one knows wehn new versions are released.
Regards
/Stefan
Mar 09, 2007
Anonymous says:
Well first of all i never install the documentation on a citrix server or licens...Well first of all i never install the documentation on a citrix server or license server etc.
we always put it on a share within the project or on a sharepoint project site.
i always go to the docs site of citrix to download the latest documents, but it would be nice to lets us know when there is new documentation.
in the years the documentation is from better quality.
citrix is also documenting more and more on their own site.
but ill still go to some websites to find out how to change things.
see ya
www.bjornbats.nl
Mar 09, 2007
Anonymous says:
Well to answer the questions right out of the gate. I never access the docs dire...Well to answer the questions right out of the gate. I never access the docs directly of the CD, I rarely access them from the installed docs, and I mostly rely on the web.
My usual course of action involves hitting Google typing what I looking for and getting the results. This actually seems quicker than navigating the Citrix webpage. I usually end up directly on your documentation but sometimes will get other sites that have additional information. Occasionally when I looking for something very specific I will go directly to Citrix, but I would say 90% of my searches are off Google.
Mar 09, 2007
Anonymous says:
Lately I usually start with Brian Citrix community search engine (www.brianmadde...Lately I usually start with Brian Citrix community search engine (www.brianmadden.com). I can usually get the answers I looking for there. If I want to refer to the original docs I always grab the latest copy off the web.
With that said, it is the policy of the company I am currently doing work for to save a copy of the vendor documentation (Admin Guide, Advanced Concepts Guide, etc) in SharePoint under a Documentation folder, under Citrix, under...
Mar 10, 2007
Anonymous says:
I feel there are three distinct sets of information, depending upon what you are...I feel there are three distinct sets of information, depending upon what you are doing:
1. Book style overviews on the entire subject
2. Knowledge base style articles on particular subjects
3. Technical support threads on forums
Books are IMHO still best read in paper format and PDF is a good choice for electronic distribution. I either print KB articles or read on-screen. Technical support are nearly always online.
In all cases, we prefer to keep document either online (linked sometimes from our intranet) or stored in our document library (Word docs, PDF etc).
But electronic is always the first method of looking which reminds me - the Citrix search engine and cataloging has never seemed very good. Hard to find things. Often end up wandering across to Brian Madden forum.
I don tend to use Google very much for Citrix searching as the Citrix Usenet forum isn very heavily used. The microsoft.terminalservices one is better.
Cheers, Rob.
Mar 10, 2007
Anonymous says:
As a Citrite, I not really part of your target audience - but what I like to see...As a Citrite, I not really part of your target audience - but what I like to see is us moving to something more like livedocs.adobe.com, it has some really good features...
#1 It HTML - so easy to search, indexed by google, etc
#2 People can add _public_ comments - so if there are areas that need more work, people can flag them, or offer advice (e.g. http://livedocs.adobe.com/flashremoting/mx/Using_Flash_Remoting_MX/usingFRNET.htm)
#3 People can link to individual pages - so instead of posting on the support forums that it says X in the doc - they can post a link directly to the doc itself.
There are also some not so good things about livedocs.adobe.com...
#1 It uses HTML frames...
#2 The front page doesn look very enticing
I expect you still need PDF versions of the guides, but how about a docs.citrix.com site as well?
Mar 11, 2007
Anonymous says:
Hi, I never install docs on servers. I download them (I get translated version,...Hi,
I never install docs on servers. I download them (I get translated version, French in my Case, Exists) Citrix WebSite and then Check periodically for update... I also use Google or dedicated Websites to get tips or advice...
Mar 27, 2007
Anonymous says:
Documentation is very nice when having to browse information on a new product. H...Documentation is very nice when having to browse information on a new product. However secondary sites like dabcc and brian madden are my chosen when it comes to extra configuration and trouble shooting.
If possible I preferr an integrated documentation with references within Citrix products.
More documentation related to walk-throughs like current white papars or parhaps like IBM red books.
Apr 21, 2007
Anonymous says:
I work in Consulting here, so I can tell you from experience and implementing Ci...I work in Consulting here, so I can tell you from experience and implementing Citrix hundreds of time that I never install the Document Center. takes extra time during installation and just copies over some PDFs to a directory on the CPS box (which like many people are saying are usually already out-dated).
So I always go to support.citrix.com and download the latest version whenever I am looking for something. only resort to locally stored copies when I am on a plane and have to look for something offline, etc. of our customers that I work with don even KNOW the document center is installed if it is actually installed. I can honestly tell you that not one customer in my experience has EVER actually opened up a document in front of me using the Document Center on a CPS box, laptop, etc. we need to change that a bit in my opinion. think most people just go right to our website and get the latest and greatest admin guides and ACG like we all do.
-Nick.
Anonymous replies:
Jun 27, 2007
Anonymous says:
The one thing I'd love to see changed in Citrix documentation is the seemingly a...The one thing I'd love to see changed in Citrix documentation is the seemingly all-pervasive phrase "comprised of". This is utterly wrong and ungrammatical, both in UK and US English. It's either got to be "comprising" or "composed of". I know it's a small point, but I'm afraid it just gives the impression that nobody proof-reads our manuals or training courses before publication.
Nov 01, 2007
Anonymous says:
I mainly use the web to download PDF, Doc center or the PDF on the CD is usuall...I mainly use the web to download PDF, Doc center or the PDF on the CD is usually outdated and can not be trusted as a source of the lated "correct" information Things I wish Citrix/ document/article can do 1 if possible please dont remove the link to old CTX article. (some old CTX article I used to bookmark is just removed. I would rather see them on but mention like "documents have been removed due to xyz reasons or goto new CTX1234 to get the latest) 2 change log or at least version(revision) # of the document on the web page. page shows WHEN document is updated but has absolutly no information what has changed. I would be good if changed information is shown on the page or doc itself, but if its not easy or possible, I would like to see if version is same as what I have previously downloaded. So I dont have to download 4-8MB PDF over and over again. Again, whats the point of RSS or ATOM when you dont know what/where file is changed? 3 I know DOC center is not just PDf repository but far more like keeping information specific about problems/knowledge of citrix farm etc. it is TERRIBLE interface and not well marketed that way. If document center to be popular, may be Citrix should consider WIKI based platform so people can edit/enter new infromation without too much hassle.
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