Ok so after having the new sample page for a few days, I'm going to say it's not much of an improvement. The samples really just feel like a sales tool rather than a learning tool. They're the only real easy resource that answers the question "can I use Infragistics to do XYZ".

Could you at lease add some links to each sample with some follow up reading ... maybe link to the documentation? For example, the sample on OnDemand loading for WebDropDowns could link to the page http://help.infragistics.com/NetAdvantage/ASPNET/2010.3?page=WebDropDown_Lazy_Loading.html

I´m totally with you.

What a bummer that Infragistics does not employ somebody to produce REAL helpful learning stuff.

This would be a unique selling point.

Marco

ssd and macoso:

Thank you both for taking the time to post here – especially such well-reasoned explanations of your frustrations.

Regarding point #1, you are exactly right. It’s not you at all – it’s all on us. At the moment we have too many places where an answer to your question might be, but there is no clear direction from Infragistics of where the best place to look. In order to alleviate this pain we've made some significant investments in redesigning our website  (including samples and help) that work to tie together ALL of the possible entry points you mentioned.

To this point we are currently working on an entirely new approach to providing samples and help in the context of our website. The construction is centered around a search-based design and includes returning contextual content (such as related articles, forum  posts, media, etc.) for any type of content on the website. You’ll notice that the samples currently have a completely different layout than our corporate website. This is a hint to where we’re headed. The new website will resemble the samples as you see them now, but with much more functionality available. We’re just not ready to ship the full website yet :)

In point #2 you note how we can help make our samples more helpful. We are working on implementing techniques that help narrow the focus of code listings so you can easily zoom in on relevant code without obscuring the context of a sample. At times you will run into situations like you’ve described where a class’ definition is not readily available. This is usually due to our samples leveraging our underling framework. This is an unfortunate side effect and I am actively working on limiting any further occurrences of this problem.

Finally, in point #3 you describe the limited number of ‘advanced’ samples available. As with all software projects our team is must make a choice of where to point our resources. As new controls and features emerge with each release we first must make sure we cover the base-level scenario so customers are able to get a basic grasp of the material. Often once we've covered the basics we on to the next release and have to cover more basics – and this is a problem. I am actively working on ways we can spend more time on more advanced topics, but in the end it often comes down to time and resources.

I am looking forward to the coming months when we’ll release the new integrated website and I would love to hear your feedback (good and bad) once it’s available.

Please feel free to contact me anytime should you have any further concerns.

Best,

Craig Shoemaker

Product Guidance Manager

cshoemaker@infragistics.com

Hi Craig,

Thanks for your response. It's really nice to know you guys are listening. I've got a number of suggestions for improving the community support, I'll try to put them together when I've got time.

Btw, I've watched a number of your videos and they are very helpful.

Thanks,

Walter @ SSD Technology Partners