Geogebra PDF manual

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

The online Manual describes all commands and tools, as well as the user interface elements. https://wiki.geogebra.org/en/Manual

There isn't a newer .pdf version of the manual. The Materials team is creating a series of tutorials instead. It's a work in progress, so the page will be updated whenever new tutorials will be available.

You can find them here: https://wiki.geogebra.org/e...

Reply URL

1

tpgettys ● 3 years ago

Thanks for the response Simona, although it is very disappointing. A manual is concise and comprehensive, and much easier to use, IMHO. With an online manual so much is hidden; only by serendipitous clicking links do I stumble upon a feature or command that is very cool but had no idea existed (you can't search for what you don't know about).

A set of tutorials is nice, as far as it goes, but is NO substitute for a manual, not to mention the fact that most of the tutorials do not exist.

URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

I selected "Answered" because mine was the only possible answer, I guess :)

I know that there haven't been any updates since then, and agree with the importance of an offline manual, since e.g. schools here don't have always an internet connection.

I think that it depends on the recent decision of the Team to create a series of interactive Tutorials, of which the first ones are already available on the Materials platform. Plans were to create a series of them. I don't know how things developed in the meanwhile.

Reply URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

Finally, the good answer is :

"Everybody must have a GOOD internet connection everywhere

and everybody must understand PERFECTLY english language"

Reply URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

And for school (before university)

Every student (even young students) have a smartphone : They all know youtube ! (and they are spending hours on their smartphone)

For them, it is better go watch a tutorial on youtube than read a pdf !!! (and in the same time, they learn english...)

The only problem is that usually smartphone are forbidden in young school, and schools don't have wifi

But in 5 years ? 10 years ? It change so quickly..!

For example, in south of France (région Occitanie), we give a computer to ALL student (en classe de Seconde : 15 years old students) and wifi is coming in school

(in my school, all my students have a computer and wifi will be in each classroom in September)

I know school where students don't have books (books are on internet) and even don't have exercice book (they have Word or OpenOffice, and GeoGebra for drawing)

And quick internet is coming quickly in all countries

So.. we can say.. than GeoGebra prepare for future (or present)

Reply URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

The point (in my opinion) is:

Is it possible to create a PDF guide? Well, of course, yes. Just convert the wiki into a PDF file.

But there are hundreds of commands, and dozens of tools. This means a manual with not less than 600 pages. A Bible.

The QuickStart Tutorials can be downloaded and used remotely. They're standard ggb books.

Look at the manual of Mathematica. It lists all the features and commands. Does anyone currently read or browse it?

I use a lot the wiki, read it, write it, translate it. But for a "normal" user I think that maybe a tutorial makes it easier to get the grip on the software. New generations, especially, are visual, and learn by example. Give my son a manual or a tutorial, he'll surely choose the 2nd one. Then, when he'll have mastered the basics of ggb and will be curious enough, will browse the wiki to learn the details of commands.

Same as when you teach. I don't think that if you want to explain Lagrange's theorem you start the lesson saying: "Let f be a continuous function over a closed and bounded interval [a,b]...". You'll probably draw a function, draw the secant and tangent, and show things. This is the way we teach now. Starting by examples.

Just my opinion, as I said before. Sharing and discussing opinions and points of view is the only way to improve.

Reply URL

1

tpgettys ● 3 years ago

Hi again Simona.

You say it is possible to create a PDF by "just convert(ing) the wiki into a PDF file". Great! It would see like there would be tools for doing just that. How is it done? I do not mind the number of pages (the existing PDF file has 399 pages).

I am fairly facile in using Geogebra, what I am curious about are all the commands and tools that exist that I do not know about yet, and to quickly refresh my memory about the ones I do know about but use only occasionally. A manual would allow me to see them immediately, not so much clicking and clicking and clicking... That makes me crazy!

URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

Hi

With Acrobat , you can easily convert a website into pdf..

URL

1

tpgettys ● 3 years ago

How so jumera? All I see in Adobe Acrobat reader is create a PDF from a file on my computer. How do you tell it what website to convert?

URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

No.. with Acrobat Pro

Menu File > Create > from a website

(you can use it free during 7 days..)

URL

1

tpgettys ● 3 years ago

Thanks for that jumera. I signed up for Acrobat Pro and used it to create a PDF from the Geogebra Manual site.

Unfortunately the result is unusable for a multitude of reasons. Besides the expected presence of redundant information (links to facebook, terms of service, etc on almost every other page), the absence of page numbers and references to those page numbers makes it non-navigable. The ordering of the pages is also absurd.

Personally, I much prefer a paper manual; it requires no electricity, network connection, supporting hardware and software. It is always "ON" and "CONNECTED"!

I am reminded of IKEAs book-book campaign; much fun!

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

A well-written "offline" manual can also be be read and navigated online; the opposite is very much not true.

URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

Hi

the absence of page numbers and references to those page numbers makes it non-navigable. The ordering of the pages is also absurd.

I don't think so. With Acrobat Pro, you can do all you want..

You can have exactly the same than online with all links

See in settings

https://helpx.adobe.com/acr...

You can also select areas and apply to many pages

https://helpx.adobe.com/acr...

Personally, I much prefer a paper manual

You just have to print pages..

You can number pages and make a content table

URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

We are not discussing opinions, because we said same opinion..! (you only add the difficulty to make an update pdf)

Reply URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

So, if all tutorials are in english,

the only essential pdf is which Noel did for french users : traduction english<>french commands

It must appear on GeoGebra site in each language

(and hope it will be updated..)

IMO..

Reply URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

No Jumera, Noel translated them all, I guess.

The links are in this page https://wiki.geogebra.org/f...

Reply URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

ok Noel did a good job

it is in all languages ?

Reply URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

German and Italian for sure. I guess Spanish, too. Don't know about other languages. Theoretically, if you use the link I provided above in my first post, and change the wiki language into other languages, you'll see if there are localised Tutorials in all the other languages.

Reply URL

1

frndmrsl ● 3 years ago

Bonjour ,

"depuis que Liliana a été virée" ! qu'as t'elle fait pour en arriver là ?

Cordialement

Reply URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

I think that "fired" is a word that is not applicable to volunteers :) as most of us are here.

Sometimes things just go wrong. Like in life.

As far as I can remember, the problem with the Spanish wiki was that it has been changed a lot with respect to the English one. And probably there was some disagreement about this.

Localization of software and manuals is not just a simple "translation". If you want to obtain a reliable "product", the first rule is consistency. What you see in one language must be the same in all other languages. Same links, same images, some examples, and so on. The passage among different languages has to be seamless. Same with the style. Technical writing (and translation) has rules. You may disagree with rules, but in the end you must stick to them.

Try adding an unneeded comma in the translation of a Microsoft manual when the style guide states that there mustn't be a comma there :) Been there, done that.

The Spanish wiki was a world apart from the rest of GeoGebra. Probably this was the reason because the Team looked for other people to work on it.

I strongly believe in working in Team, and this too has rules. Unwritten ones, there are no style guides, but there's communication and respect, which are the best and most flexible guidelines ever.

URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

Noel, we've been working shoulder to shoulder for so long.... 11 years for me here.

I hoped you knew how I do things. Since something is not in the English wiki, I don't change the Italian one. But I have a list of pending changes. I've asked about these options, and got no answer. So those two options remain in my todo list.

I'll ask again. Because you know how easy is to miss a DM in Slack. And you also know the priorities. And if I was able to understand the meaning of "godillot", well, I don't feel like that. I know that I'm just a tiny bit of ggb, but I think with my two neurons and express my own opinions, that can be obviously right or wrong. I just try to do my best. It's my way to say thank you to what has changed the way I deal with maths, teach, and much more.

URL

1

jumera ● 3 years ago

b791007380ecbeba7800a92fe5ac23ee

libre que chacun peut améliorer..

URL

1

mathmagic ● 3 years ago

J'espère que le manuel wiki français ne va pas tomber à l'abandon comme cela semble être le cas de l'espagnol depuis que Liliana a été virée

The Spanish wiki was a world apart from the rest of GeoGebra. Probably this was the reason because the Team looked for other people to work on it.

¿cual es la realidad?

Reply URL

1

Simona Riva ● 3 years ago

Liliana has gone since quite a long time: I think that now Fabian Vitabar is taking care of the Spanish wiki.

URL

2

frndmrsl ● 3 years ago

Je mesure la chance qu'on a de pouvoir bénéficier de tout le travail fait par Noël Lambert sur le manuel en français .

URL

Geogebra PDF manual

Comments (24)