Looking for feedback from the community

Talk about Documentation
1

Looking for comments, suggestions or ideas on the wiki at https://techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com .

My intension is to have a firmware unbiased wiki.

Currently working on:
https://techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Template:OpenWrt

Example:

How does the wiki look? Is there anything to be changed for a better user experience? Is my OpenWrt template enough info for someone looking at my wiki to know about OpenWrt?

Jim

2

Thanks for asking, Jim. I appreciate the links back to OpenWrt -- I think that'll be useful to inform users about the option.

Some thoughts...

  • Is this only going to be about OpenWrt or will you list other 3rd party/FOSS firmware options?
    • would it make sense to have a table for information about compatibility:
      • OpenWrt: Supported/Not Supported/Partially Supported + relevant link(s)
      • DD-WRT: ... (same as above); and so on.
  • The particular device you're using as a demo is actually a really good one to highlight the partial support and warnings.
    • Yes, technically OpenWrt can run, but your page makes it seem like it's fine. Only after you click through to OpenWrt do you see otherwise.
    • Can you indicate that this is not a good candidate device to use OpenWrt because of those issues (limited wifi, no DSL, not enough RAM/flash)?
  • How will you keep your information up-to-date as firmware versions change and/or devices are added/removed from support?
  • Visually, I find it a bit hard to read the page in general. It's fine for me as a technical person, but I think there may be other users who could be intimidated. I don't really know what to recommend in terms of readability/design changes, but something to look into.
3

I think you should have at least one other opensource firmware on the page. (if I correctly understand and you are trying to have a one stop shop for what firmware options a specific chipset or router can support).

The page needs larger fonts for navigating different categories. I.E. headlines.
It took me a while to navigate it. I had to read your post a couple times and go back to the page to understand your intent.

This^^
I think it is a great idea, if I have managed to figure out the intent.

4

Would a table of contents help this issue?

5

Green, yellow and red would help a lot.
e.g.

Flash1 Size 16 MiB
RAM1 Size 32 MiB

Could benefit with yellow.

6

Maybe... I'd have to see a demo of that.

As I look at the page more, I see that you do have a table on the right that has 4 different 3rd party firmware optiosn (unknown for all but OpenWrt).

I'm not sure that the "Flashing" section adds value since the table already has a link to OpenWrt, and you're not really adding much info... maybe just expand the table to provide the additional links and maybe the supported versions range?

Also, I think the table could be more useful if the topmost lines were about user-facing features (i.e. wifi radio technology, number and speed of radios, number and speed of ethernet ports, -- basically the stuff you have at the bottom.

For the Availability -- you list EOL for this (which is true) but can you get the data in there for when it was launched and ideally when it was EOL'd (by the manufacturer)

7

All mentioned changes made available on that demo page.

The infobox is populated with the info I know at the present moment. If you look at some of the other devices, say https://techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC3200 there is a multitude of data points available to use including est release date and others.

8

It is easier to make sense of now.

The reason I suggested yellow for flash and ram with the N300 is because they are 16/32 and are close to end of support in OpenWrt or , at best, limited in additional packages..

9

For the moment I don't have a conditional template set up for color, but this would be a great idea.

10

You could include hues too because not everything is as red a flag as another.

11

It is really starting to take form. Keep it up!

1 Like
12

Looking into keepin the virsion numbers updated more easily, maybe a template.

Target-->Subtarget-->Architecture = Current Supported Version

Am I correct in this assumption? I have not messed with OpenWrt personally so forgive my ignorance.

Jim

13

@psherman Please read my previous post.

14

Not really sure what you're looking for, but I can tell you that our Table of Hardware relies on manual updates to the devices to keep the current supported version information up to date. This is tedious and means that there are still a lot of devices that are behind (for example, stating that the latest supported version is 23.05.0 or 23.05.2 instead of the current 23.05.3 is actually available for those devices).