FAQ
I'm just curious, there is no commonly ask questions for using MuseScore in the FAQ. Do you think it is a good idea to add this section? A sample question would be
"How do I add two rhythms on the same beat"
Answer:
"See https://musescore.org/en/handbook-basics/voices"
I would suggest not to go overboard and put things that belong in the How To or Tutorial section here, but questions that can be easily answered mostly by directing the user to the correct handbook page or possibly a forum thread that explains something like "I just upgraded to Windows 10 and now I have no sound. What do I do?"
Comments
There is an FAQ reg voices, see https://musescore.org/en/node/8640
It is there since 1.x days and applies to 1.x and 2.x, so is now shown by default. I think default should be 2.x + Any
There is also an FAQ about sound, see https://musescore.org/en/node/96811
In reply to There is, see https:/… by Jojo-Schmitz
Your references are to How to's rather than FAQ's. There are really no FAQ regarding using MuseScore. The forums are inundated by some of the same questions almost daily and I thought perhaps a section in the FAQ's with a title such as "Using MuseScore" with some of these would help users who either don't search or can't find what they are looking for, like in the case of "Voices," many new users don't know what it means. I was probably a bit terse in my suggested response and something like "MuseScore allows for up to four independent rhythms to be entered on a single line using voices (voices is a link to the handbook page).
In reply to Your references are to How… by mike320
Oops, right you are...
The problem is findability, there are so many ways to ask a question or describe a problem where the answer simply is 'use voices' (plus a pointer to the manual)
In reply to The problem is findability,… by Jojo-Schmitz
Exactly.
In reply to Exactly. by xavierjazz
I'm only looking for ways for new users to get the answers they ask more often than they should need to. Of course the obvious answer to the basic questions is "Read the handbook." Obviously some users don't do that unless prodded by someone in the forum. I would like this to be more of a brainstorm on what can be done to make the initial experience with MuseScore better for these users. The FAQs may not be THE answer or it may be AN answer, but it is the best idea I have come up with so far. Perhaps a link to the PDF handbook on the download page would help. Maybe including the PDF in the download package would be the answer. I don't know.
In reply to I'm only looking for ways… by mike320
Well, looking at the handbook can be a frustrating experience; I just tried to find a summary of the capabilities and limitations for text formatting in a vertical frame, and went round in circles. But enough of this morbid talk.
The real problem with the question to which the answer is "Voices", is that there is no obvious way to express the question in words (unless of course you already know the answer). I suggest that a visual key is what you need, and quite a while back I started working on a possible "Instant Guide" (feel free to find a better name). I'm uploading a very fragmentary start, but with a collaborative effort this could surely be made useful. It needs to label all the things like "Grand staff", "System", etc etc, where anyone who reads music knows what it is, but can't remember the name, and can't quickly find it in the Handbook. Then Musescore specifics about page layout should be shown, and no doubt lots and lots of other things. This is an A4 page, but perhaps should be what used to be known hereabouts as "Sony size", the width of A4 and the height of American "Letter", so anyone can print it. Also it could be a good idea to have one basic sheet plus a number of genre-specific sheets, such as "choral" (which I know about), "guitar lead-sheets" (which I don't), orchestral, etc.
Please comment!
In reply to Well, looking at the… by Imaginatorium
Something like you suggest might be useful, perhaps even as a "How to." As far as voices specifically is concerned, the terminology is introduced before instructions on how to enter a specific note, so anyone looking for how to do that can follow the link to understand how to enter voices. This was an addition I made to the handbook about a month ago since "How do I enter two rhythms at once..." or something similar was being asked almost daily. It does seem that question is now much less frequent.