Getting started page?

Feature Request
1

The new user flow isn’t smooth. Granted, I may be feeling additional frustration because I had to work through a segfault bug with wget (see http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/280968/wget-segmentation-fault-core-dumped).

So the first page at www.seafile.com: there’s no Getting Started link anywhere. Try It Now is a tease which doesn’t have a flow to actually get started. But it’s enough of a tease that I want to do it. The closest Getting Started seems like the Download.

From there, I see a bunch of Download links. Before I need a desktop client, I need a server, right? But the Server link comes AFTER the Desktop software downloads.

The Server download says: “No installation needed, just extract and run setup script. See https://manual.seafile.com/”. Yep, that’s right, it doesn’t point to anywhere in particular (or the setup script) in the manual spanning probably hundreds of pages.

So I started browsing through the server manual and eventually ended up at https://manual.seafile.com/deploy/using_sqlite.html but the instructions are not all that clear and are a bit odd. For example, “Click the tarball link and save it” appears on https://manual.seafile.com/deploy/using_sqlite.html. But most people installing a cloud server are probably not using a GUI.

I spun up a DigitalOcean droplet and followed instructions anyway and eventually got it running, but then I found https://github.com/haiwen/seafile-server-installer! Which I would’ve loved to see on the Downloads page to begin with, or something similarly quick.

You also shouldn’t have your quick script on a Github page. I’m a developer but when I see something on a Github page, I usually assume it’ll be painful to deal with as there are so many outdated open-source Github pages suffering from bitrot. Whereas if something is on your own site, I figure it’s probably better maintained.

2 Likes
2

Hm… Download / Server / “See Server Manual”. Not a big deal in my opinion.

[quote=“jcrben, post:1, topic:1188, full:true”]
From there, I see a bunch of Download links. Before I need a desktop client, I need a server, right?[/quote]

Why? Most of Seafile users just want to connect to a Seafile server which doesn’t mean they have to set up their own one.

[quote=“jcrben, post:1, topic:1188, full:true”]
The Server download says: “No installation needed, just extract and run setup script. See https://manual.seafile.com/”. Yep, that’s right, it doesn’t point to anywhere in particular (or the setup script) in the manual spanning probably hundreds of pages.[/quote]

Here I agree. This sentence is not necessary because in the end it is not just running a setup script.

[quote=“jcrben, post:1, topic:1188, full:true”]
So I started browsing through the server manual and eventually ended up at https://manual.seafile.com/deploy/using_sqlite.html but the instructions are not all that clear and are a bit odd. For example, “Click the tarball link and save it” appears on https://manual.seafile.com/deploy/using_sqlite.html. But most people installing a cloud server are probably not using a GUI.[/quote]

If you can administrate a headless server you will know how to download the tarball. :wink:

[quote=“jcrben, post:1, topic:1188, full:true”]
I spun up a DigitalOcean droplet and followed instructions anyway and eventually got it running, but then I found GitHub - haiwen/seafile-server-installer: Script collection to setup production-ready Seafile server installations with HTTPS! Which I would’ve loved to see on the Downloads page to begin with, or something similarly quick.[/quote]

This installer was created by formerly partners of Seafile Ltd (Seafile GmbH). In my opinion this installer was the only good contribute of Seafile GmbH which forked Seafile Pro (in my opinion illegally) a while ago (and deleted the discussion about their “fork”).
So I don’t know if this installer is officially supported by Seafile Ltd. (the original Seafile developers).

Wow. So you mean all GitHub developers don’t know how to keep repositories up to date? Which code tracker do you prefer? :thinking:

By the way: may you remove the “tutorial” tag of your topic (tutorial tag I think is for marking tutorials (so that you can find all tutorials on one click) and not discussions about tutorials)?

3

Mobile so this is just a quick clarification: it’s great to host the script on Github, but at the same time It’s better to have a stable official release or download on the website. I use Github all the time (tho most of my stuff is on Gitlab right now). The fact that you’re not sure if it maintained demonstrates that uncertainty. :wink:

I prefer to leave this tagged Tutorial until there is a quick, easily accessible “Getting started” tutorial. Especially since at the end I do give people a good idea of how to get up and running quickly with that script.

I tend to think a high proportion of users will want to set up a server. This is free for personal use, right? And you can’t use it unless you have a server, right? I doubt many teams in the U.S. have adopted it yet.

4

Hi. New user here.

The main reason for me to use seafile is so I can have my files on my own server. Why else would I use seafile? If I wanted to use someone else’s server I might as well use dropbox or something.

The onboarding process is a mess. There are loads of guides and such, but it’s all very confusing and there’s no clear path from “I want to do this” to “I have a working server+client”. I have a server running now, I followed the SQLite guide then set up haproxy+letsencrypt and ufw, and the web interface works. I can log in with my desktop client but I can’t sync any folders. Accessing /seafhttp on port 8082 locally on the server returns 404 and I have no idea what I’ve done wrong or where to find the instructions for fixing it.

I understand this is an open-source project and it’s nobody’s job to write good documentation. I don’t mean to criticize the contributors in any way, just to point out that the current state of the documentation is not in any way friendly to new users. If any criticism is met with defensiveness and denial, problems won’t get solved.

I’m sure the answers to all my questions are documented somewhere. I just have no idea where.

5

We tried to tidy up, but most of our suggestions are blown into pieces from the devs as they don’t need it this way. And I’m not gonna wait 2-3 month for a manual that we wrote to get approved. I’m more or less done with writing something up and spending tons of time on manuals that become messed up anyways after a while again because there is no clear line to be seen anywhere.

6

Take a look at top list of free and Open Source projects: GitHub Maybe you find something that’ll make your work easier.

1 Like
7

We are working on it. Since a manual for such project is constantly work in progress we might even release the manual with 50-60% of its content ready which is enough to get Seafile up and running properly.