2.5. For New Authors

If you are a new to the LDP and want to pick up an unmaintained HOWTO or write a new HOWTO document, join the discussion list at http://lists.tldp.org - This is to make sure the LDP knows who is working on what documentation.

Once that part is complete, you may write your documentation in the format of your choice and submit a draft to and the draft will be reviewed by an LDP volunteer. In a few short days you will get the draft and comments from the volunteer. After applying the comments, you may send this version to the ldp-submit list again for final submission into the LDP.

Note

Reviewers: Please consult the LDP Reviewer HOWTO for information about how to review various forms of LDP documentation. It is available at LDP sites as a regular HOWTO.

At this point, another LDP volunteer will translate your document into DocBook and send you the finished DocBook document. From here on, all submissions to the LDP has to be in DocBook format. If you have markup questions, you may ask the volunteer who assisted you, or ask the LDP DocBook list.

If you choose to start your document off in DocBook, there are plenty of templates to get you started. Check the LDP Author's Resources page for details.

2.5.1. Resources for New Authors

This section contains a list of web sites and books that may be useful to new readers. If you have never used DocBook before, or have never written technical documentation before, please take a look at these.

  • LDP Author's Resources page - templates, links, and tools.

  • http://lwn.net/2000/features/DocBook/ - DocBook tutorial from Linux Weekly News.

  • http://docbook.org/tdg/en/html/quickref.html - DocBook Quick Reference (v3.1 & v4.1.2)