I just read Chapter
2 that you posted, and I have to tell you that I can't wait the 29
days to read the rest! I've had TNG for more than 2.5 years, and
thought I had a good handle on everything, but the way you presented
the material, I can't wait to compare how I'm doing things now with
the "best practices" you will be describing in your book. The
material you wrote is so well-done ... easy enough for the novice to
understand, but not dumbed-down for the intermediate user. I've
already taken take 3 pieces of advice from this chapter.
Thank you for all the work you have put into this project. I
think this needs to be a must-have for any TNG user, especially
those that are genealogists and not webmasters.
I just scanned your
FTP tutorial. Another excellent piece of work. I’m just beginning to
dip my toe in the water of web site construction and maintenance and
much of it is still a bit bewildering. As you know I have been
trying to document for my own benefit what I’m actually doing each
time I do it for the first time. It’s hard work and the main
difficulty is that I am learning (if you can call it that) largely
by trial and error – a very inefficient and frustrating way of
learning.
So your tutorials are a boon. They explain the broad concepts in
plain language and then follow through on the individual steps. I
find them very helpful, and they will be one on my first ports of
call as I progress over the next few months.
Keep up the good work!
Best regards
Peter Kelly
John
has set some pretty high expectations for himself in developing this
book and I cannot say if it has met his expectations, but it has
exceeded mine. I feel honored to be one of the few that has been
allowed to review the draft of his book, and can say without
question that if this book had been available when I started with
TNG, it would have saved me many hours of wasted time and avoided
many mistakes. TNG itself is easy to install with a very good
install process but it's all that other stuff you need to know that
will take years to learn. John has tried to pull it all together
into this one book. There are so many features in TNG that it took
me a very long time to figure them out and this book will guide you
step by step through them.
I can say without question you will not be disappointed. John is
clearly a professional and as a technical writer he has lived up to
the TNG standard of excellence.
As a
former system software developer with over 25 years in system
development and support and a previous 7 years in application
development in the retail, health care, and airline business with
Electronic Data Systems (EDS), I wish I would have had such a
dedicated tech writer on my projects who wants to understand the ins
and outs of installing and using the software to effectively
communicate the concepts to his audience.
As a reviewer of most of the book I can only offer that this TNG
book will be well worth the cost. The higher price of the book
over the software itself just means that TNG is way under priced for
the value not only of the software itself but for the outstanding
support provided by Darrin.
From the table of contents you can see the breath in scope of the
book which was truly an ambitious undertaking. If this book had been
available when I initially installed TNG 3 years ago, I would
have saved countless hours in just setting up a local testing
environment, never mind setting up the web site. The book truly
reveals the feature rich capability of TNG that some of us are still
uncovering and provides hints and tips on multiple areas from
initial planning to installing and customizing your web site, to
creating reports, and to managing and securing your data. It will
be a book well worth acquiring and will be a reference for even the
most experienced users.
I
got the opportunity to read a portion of “Webmaster’s Guide to TNG
7.0”. As a website creator since 1998 and user of TNG since version
5, I was very impressed with the scope of this book. I’ve helped a
number of others that got stuck when setting up their TNG websites.
I believe that this book would have been a valuable guide to them
and likely would have enabled them to be able to do the setup
themselves.
This book has much to offer all levels of users including those
new to setting up web sites and new to using TNG as well as the
seasoned pro. Much thought and content has been put into each
chapter. Whether it’s explaining the concepts of designing your
site, the nitty-gritty of importing data or the various other facets
of setting up a TNG site, there are clear explanations of all the
details and settings.
The new user will benefit from the step-by-step guidance which goes
through the whole process from selecting a host and domain name to
having the finished product on the internet. It helps the user to
examine the purpose and intent of their website and then addresses
from start to finish how to make that a reality.
For the already established TNG user, this will serve as a handy
reference. It will help make quick work of tweaks!
Being a programmer, I’ve read many software manuals and this was
professional and informative. The book showed me - a longtime
user - capabilities that I did not know were a part of TNG.”
As
one of the proofreaders for the TNG Book, I've had the opportunity
to review several chapters. I am also a new genealogist, as well as
new to using TNG genealogy software (or any other genealogy
software).
I have been impressed with the amount of helpful information and
tips provided in the chapters I have read so far, and I am looking
forward to the final edition of the book. If only this book had
been available a couple of months ago when I first installed TNG! It
would have saved me hours of frustration and prevented me from
making so many unnecessary mistakes in getting my genealogy site set
up.
However, there is still a lot I need to learn about using TNG, and I
can tell that this book will be a valuable reference for all
users of TNG software, regardless of their previous experience
with TNG.”
...
this book is a fantastic resource for setting up and using a TNG-powered
website. I've been lucky enough to review the first four chapters,
and I can tell you that John is very detailed and writes in a clear,
concise, and organized manner. I think all of us TNGers will not
only glean a lot of good tips from his book, but we can also use it
as a reference if something goes wrong. His ‘Troubleshooting Tips’
are awesome! I also liked the fact that he notes what kinds of
information to ‘keep for later’... things I wish I would've known
about when I first installed TNG. I can't wait to read the rest of
it -- I know it's going to help make administrating our sites even
easier, and it may even make our already awesome TNG sites even
better!
