Indeed. I like the pages about Automations in the Docs. They start very general and if you follow the links the information gets more and more detailed, so you can go as far as you want to (and end up in templating if youāre interested in that).
It would be helpful if pages like this were flagged up in some way, or indexed. Someone has been trying to do this, but as usual you need to know the correct search term before you can find for anything.
Without wanting to look like Iām trying to get the last word in, perhaps you could see your way to having a quiet DM with people who are posting links unrelated threads that Iāve participate in in order to continue old arguments in new places?
If I were to post links to your comments here on unrelated threads Iām sure that you wouldnāt be happy about it.
If you do need those you made a poor decision on your hardwareā¦ you really donāt need to know SMTP, CURL nor WebHooks to achieve what you want (controlling lights, getting feedback from binary sensors, and taking snapshots from CCTV)
I do all of that without using SMTP, CURL (Iād rather wouldnāt but I do use a webhook though but only because of a bad choice in hardware )
This one Iām attacking separately because where I used to work we had policy around this (it was a professional support org. We had policy for all kinds of things)
First we would always define the problem weāre trying to solve up front. One question that can be resolved yes or no. (ever see my first response to many on the forum - Iām trying to squeeze down to this - the problem statement). This kept techs out of neverending problem hell.
In solving the problem we would never:
Touch the client keys (liability)
Provide working finished code (forces the end user to interact to make it work)
Provide an opinion on on a technique not backed by a probable point (provide reference)
Read out the document to the client (i can absolutely show you where it is and summarize but I will ask you to find the content yourself and read it. - trust me I read it before I sent it. The answer is there if I sent you a link)
Because doing those things donāt teach and the client didnāt understand the why.
For some areas, definitely. If someone is writing a complicated routine to extract statistics from an energy monitoring device and to perform mathematical functions on them then the odds are that theyāre an experienced user who needs highly technical documents and doesnāt need a lot of basic details explaining to them.
I think that maybe where the documentation that already exists falls down a bit is in dealing with the people who just want to do one or two things, like taking the cloud out of the equation for their smart lights, rather than building a fully functional home automation system. People who are task orientated, rather than interested in gaining a full technical understanding of HA. They want to know how to do something, rather than how to get HA to do something, if you get my meaning.
Like someone who goes onto Youtube to look for a video on how to fill their washer bottle up, but who isnāt looking to do a full automobile maintenance course.
The problem is getting the balance right. Ideally weād have some documentation that starts by explaining how to do something, and then goes on to explain why they are doing each of the things that they are doing?
If we put too much technical information up front the people who just want to know a few things that specifically relate to what they are doing will just tune out.
This is the constant battle in user adoption and why Im very happy to see some of the recent Nabu hires. They seem directed at this exact point.
Theres a point where weāre providing just enough to get someone excited and they take off and run unfortunately that tipping point is different for everyone. For a very technical user it may be as simple as hereās the website. For others we have a hill to climb before they see a website.
(this is the same problem Microsoft and Amazon and Google have getting new users into mature cloud properties btw)
Personally I like the idea of a primer series. Probably in video format (itās friendlier) but in these we MUST stay away from specifics and ride higher in the water. Go conceptual.
Like what is an integration and why does HA do it that way. (7min) If you havenāt seen videos 1,2,3 you probably want to watch them nowā¦ In the video weād discuss when to look for an integration and what it adds and why but stY away from. The actual step by step in the UI. That video could probably survive a year or so at the current cadence of UI shift.
Itās all legacy equipment. Iām cutting out cloud based services rather than choosing new hardware specifically for use with HA. The fact that HA s so adaptable is why I chose to use it rather than a blackbox solution.
Iād really appreciate it if you stopped making comments like this. Is it really necessary to criticize every choice I make?
If you donāt like something that Iāve done then please simply pass my comments by. Ignore me, mute me, donāt reply to me or about me. Just pretend that Iām not here.
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