Sources of Help
This manual is the most complete source of explanation for Gnumeric and attempts to describe as much of the program as possible. However, this manual cannot answer all the possible questions readers may have: the manual is not yet finished and there are many situations which cannot be explained through a manual. Other sources of information which might be helpful to Gnumeric users are presented below.
Several of the sources of information below involve talking directly with the people who have created Gnumeric. These people are volunteers who have spend several years working on the program to make it useful. They will all be glad to help you but only if they decide they want to. They are all busy and only volunteer on this project. You can take several steps to make these people want to help you.
First of all, try to help yourself by reading the existing documents. If you have read the documents, others will be much more likely to want to answer any questions that remain. Secondly, be polite by introducing yourself, thanking developers for their hard work and asking your questions nicely. Please be aware that the developers all respect each other and their users so therefore, while their answers may appear brisk or discourteous, they are simply trying to be efficient and save time by being curt. Please assume they respect you and want to help you, after all they have written a program for you to use.
Steps for getting help.
-
Read the Manual:
First, please look carefully through this manual to see if you can answer your own question. This can be hard and requires careful thinking but will teach you the most.
-
Read the Web Site:
Second, look at the Gnumeric web site, look on the world wide web for explanations using other spreadsheets or look for a book on how to use another spreadsheet. Section 16.2 ― Web Resources explains how to access and find information on the web site.
-
Read other Spreadsheet Tutorials:
Another useful source of help is the literature written for other spreadsheets. Gnumeric is quite similar to a number of other spreadsheets and often books, web sites, tutorials and other documents which describe how to use other spreadsheets can help users understand how to use Gnumeric. Section 16.3 ― Related Manuals describes other spreadsheets for which usage manuals may provide useful information.
-
Send email to the Gnumeric List:
The Gnumeric project maintains an email mailing list which is a way for people to send email to all the core developers. Section 16.4 ― The Mailing List explains how to send email to the gnumeric list and how to read past messages including questions and answers which may be helpful.
-
Join the Chat Discussion:
The Gnumeric project also uses an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel, also known as a `discussion room', in which developers talk to each other, and to anyone else, about the program. Section 16.5 ― Internet Chat (IRC) explains how to join this discussion.