FlightGear wiki - User contributions [en]

FlightGear Newsletter

2017-07-24T16:18:15Z

Ysangkok: june 2017 letter

[[File:magagazine.png|right]]

The '''FlightGear Newsletter''' is intended to provide a collection of the latest developments from the worldwide [[FlightGear]] community. With so much development ongoing, it's almost impossible for anyone to keep up. The newsletter was started in July 2009, and is presented on a monthly basis. It is a collaborative effort that is created, edited and distributed via the [[FlightGear Wiki]], and all FlightGear users, contributors and developers are invited to contribute.

=== Archive ===
{| class="prettytable"
! align="left" | 2009
! align="left" | 2010
! align="left" | 2011
! align="left" | 2012
! align="left" | 2013
! align="left" | 2014
! align="left" | 2015
! align="left" | 2016
! align="left" | 2017
|-
| valign="bottom" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2009|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2009|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2009|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2009|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2009|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2009|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2010|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2010|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2010|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2010|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2010|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2010|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2010|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2010|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2010|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2010|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2010|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2010|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2011|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2011|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2011|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2011|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2011|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2011|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2011|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2011|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2011|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2011|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2011|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2011|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2012|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2012|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2012|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2012|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2012|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2012|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2012|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2012|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2012|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2012|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2012|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2012|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2013|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2013|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2013|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2013|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2013|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2013|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2013|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2013|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2013|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2013|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2013|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2013|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2014|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2014|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2014|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2014|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2014|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2014|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2014|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2014|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2014|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2014|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2014|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2014|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2015|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2015|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2015|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2015|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2015|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2015|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2015|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2015|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2015|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2015|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2015|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2015|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2016|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2016|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2016|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2016|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2016|May]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2016|June]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter July 2016|July]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter August 2016|August]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter September 2016|September]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter October 2016|October]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter November 2016|November]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter December 2016|December]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2017|January]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2017|February]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter March 2017|March]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2017|April]]
* [[FlightGear Newsletter May 2017|May]] – ''Currently being written''
* [[FlightGear Newsletter June 2017|June]] – ''Currently being written''
|}

Some newsletter editions have been translated in other languages:
* [[File:De.gif|16px|link=:De:FlightGear Newsletter]] [[:De:FlightGear Newsletter|Deutsch]]
* [[File:Es.gif|16px|link=:Es:FlightGear Newsletter]] [[:Es:FlightGear Newsletter|Español]]
* [[File:Fr.gif|16px|link=:Fr:FlightGear Newsletter]] [[:Fr:FlightGear Newsletter|Français]]

=== You are invited to contribute! ===
We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. The FlightGear Newsletter is a community-driven newsletter, which means that it is created and edited by people like ''you''. You don't need to be a long-time FlightGear user (or even a developer) to contribute to the newsletter.

In fact, helping write the monthly FlightGear newsletter is an excellent way for getting started contributing to the FlightGear community very quickly and very easily.

Even if you don't have to add anything yourself, just reviewing and improving additions by others is also highly appreciated, as are efforts to help translate newsletters or add screen shots (e.g. taken from the forum or mailing lists) to the newsletter. Screen shots can be uploaded at [[Special:Upload]].

Everyone with a wiki account (free to [[Special:UserLogin|register]]) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.

A simple template providing a basic structure for each upcoming newsletter can be taken from [[Talk:Next newsletter]]. This template can be copied/pasted into each new newsletter to help users getting started providing contents.

The draft for the upcoming newsletter can always be found at [[Next newsletter]].

If English is not your native language, please don't be concerned about contributing to the newsletter, you can always easily ask fellow FlightGear users to review or proof-read your changes. Also, one of the easiest ways to get started is simply copying/pasting text from forum or mailing list discussions, such as announcements (e.g., new aircraft, new scenery, etc.).

Another neat option to get started is adding links to FlightGear-related YouTube videos. For this, we have a dedicated section in each newsletter: "[[FlightGear Newsletter {{#time: F Y | last month }}#FlightGear on YouTube|FlightGear on YouTube]]."

If you want to embed a video, please see {{mediawiki|Extension:EmbedVideo#Usage}}

If you are looking for other ways to get involved, please see [[Volunteer]].

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter]]
[[Category:Community|Newsletter]]
[[Category:Lists|Newsletter]]

[[de:FlightGear Newsletter]]
[[es:FlightGear Newsletter]]
[[fr:FlightGear Newsletter]]

OpenRadar

2017-07-03T11:18:18Z

Ysangkok: new release

{{Infobox Software
| title = OpenRadar
| logo =
| image = OpenRadar Prototype.png
| alt = Frankfurt Airport (EDDF)
| developedby = Wolfram Wagner (Ralf Gerlich)
| initialrelease = Nov, 18th 2012
| latestrelease = January, 28th 2017
| writtenin = Java
| os = Linux, Windows, Mac
| platform = Java
| developmentstatus = active
| type =
| license =
| website = https://sourceforge.net/projects/openradar/
}}
[[File:OpenRadar_KSFO_large.png|thumb|270px|San Francisco bay area(historical)]]
[[File:OpenRadar_KSFO_closeup.png|thumb|270px|[[San Francisco International Airport]](historical)]]

'''OpenRadar''' is a standalone radar screen which connects to the [[FlightGear]] [[Howto: Multiplayer|multiplayer]] servers. Coastlines, lakes, airfield layouts and airspaces (at least the 2D part) are being read from shapefiles.
It supports Multiplayer Chat and multiple FGCom frequencies.

Please read the [[OpenRadarGuide| Guide to OpenRadar]]!

== Main Features ==
* ''Radar:''
:* Display of radar contacts
:* Highlighting of the selected contact, controlled and interesting contacts
:* Contacts can be neglected
:* Display of radar contact base data on screen
:* Airports including runway numbers, alignment lines, extended center lines, vectoring help and baselines
:* Navaids (FIX, NDB, VOR) toggle
:* Navaid search
:* Possibility to convert/define STARs and SIDs
:* Distance circles around airport
:* Ground net including parking positions
:* Free definable zoom levels (Ground, Tower, App, Sector), mouse wheel works additional (zoom level and centers is saved)
:* Zoom depending detail visibility (runway numbers close to ground, airways visible from further away)
* ''Multiplayer Chat''
:* Filter on selection and visibility
:* ''Automated multilanguage text handling like ATC-ML'' (The same texts are available, Live data is included into messages): Click on flight strip, choose message, add details and send the message in English and in one additional language, defined on per contact base
* ''FGCom'' Integration (multiple radios in parallel), PTT Button, FGCom started by OpenRadar in background
* ''Weather'' (Metar) Download and display (wind, air pressure, visibility)
* ''Runway display'' is using Metar information (magn. heading,length, width, cross wind stength, ILS frequency)
* Compensation of wind and magnetic declination
* Radar contacts displayed on ''Flight Strips''
:* Flight Strips can be ordered manual in sequence and arranged in list (3 columns)
:* Automatic ordering available
:* Comment editor to make notes on Flight Strips
* ''Transponder/Squawking''
:* Compatible to FGFS Git implementation (generic transponder in radio dialog)
:* Optional usable
:* Define a squawk code range
:* Assign a squawk code to a contact
:* Revoke a squawk code from a contact to release the contact out of control
* ''SetupDialog''
:* Search airports
:* Download new airport shape files from scenery database
:* Edit settings
:* Main switches to tweak OR (available inside OR via map menu

== Current state ==
[[OpenRadarDownload| Latest binary release download]]

== System requirements ==
OpenRadar is no application for a small, a weak computer without graphic acceleration. We need to handle a lot of data, perform permanent Geo to Map projections and display them on the screen, while you
are shifting the map.
And believe me, a small screen is bad for the eyes and your neck muscles :-)

* a screen wide enough to display everything (22'' can show about 20 radar contacts, with two radios and two runways active, if you control a small airport with less runways, 18'' should be minimum)
* a Java Runtime Environment 1.7.0 e.g. OpenJDK
* [[FGCom]] really recommended
* a rather good network connection (FGCom is a VoIP application and FG transmits data as UDP packages, they can get lost over a weak connection)

== Related content ==
* [[OpenRadarGuide|A guide to OpenRadar]]
* [[OpenRadar: Chat aliases|Chat Aliases]] Use aliases instead of the chat menu...
* [[OpenRadar: Transponder|Transponder support]] How to use squawk codes (requires contacts with a recent fgfs)
* [[OpenRadar: Editing routes|Editing STAR/SID routes]]
* [[OpenRadar_FGFS_ORCAM|ORCAM: Your window to the the airport]]

* [[OpenRadarDownload|'''Download'''! I want to try it!]], [[OpenRadar Change Log|Change Log]]
* [[OpenRadarKnownIssues|'''FAQ''' / Known Issues]]
* Please add your feature proposals to [[OpenRadarFeatureWishlist|this page]]!

[[Category:OpenRadar| ]]
[[Category:ATC clients]]

Template:Forum link

2011-05-29T18:46:31Z

Ysangkok: hilit support

<noinclude>A template to standerdize forum links. Parameters:
;<tt>title</tt>: thread title (optional)
;<tt>t</tt>: t-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php) (optional)
;<tt>p</tt>: p-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php) (optional)
;<tt>label</tt>: html label, used for jumping to posts (optional)
;<tt>hilit</tt>: word in forum thread to highlight (optional)
;<tt>f</tt>: f-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php)</noinclude><includeonly>[http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f={{{f}}}&t={{{t|}}}&p={{{p|}}}&hilit={{{hilit|}}}{{{label|}}} {{#if:{{{title|}}}|"{{{title}}}" in the forums|Forum link}}]</includeonly>

Template:Forum link

2011-05-29T18:42:38Z

Ysangkok: additional parameters

<noinclude>A template to standerdize forum links. Parameters:
;<tt>title</tt>: thread title (optional)
;<tt>t</tt>: t-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php) (optional)
;<tt>p</tt>: p-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php) (optional)
;<tt>label</tt>: html label, used for jumping to posts (optional)
;<tt>f</tt>: f-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php)</noinclude><includeonly>[http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f={{{f}}}&t={{{t|}}}&p={{{p|}}}{{{label|}}} {{#if:{{{title|}}}|"{{{title}}}" in the forums|Forum link}}]</includeonly>

Template:Forum link

2011-05-29T18:31:16Z

Ysangkok: try fix

<noinclude>A template to standerdize forum links. Parameters:
;<tt>title</tt>: thread title
;<tt>t</tt>: t-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php)
;<tt>f</tt>: f-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php)</noinclude><includeonly>[http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f={{{1|{{{f}}}}}}&t={{{2|{{{t}}}}}} {{#if:{{{title|}}}|"{{{1|{{{title}}}}}}" in the forums|Forum link}}]</includeonly>

User:Ysangkok/Sandbox

2011-05-29T18:29:20Z

Ysangkok: Created page with "{{forumref|t=10|f=20|title=lolthread}}"

Template:Forum link

2011-05-29T18:28:31Z

Ysangkok: document and expand

<noinclude>A template to standerdize forum links. Parameters:
;<tt>title</tt>: thread title
;<tt>t</tt>: t-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php)
;<tt>f</tt>: f-number (argument for phpbb viewtopic.php)</noinclude><includeonly>[http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f={{{1|{{{f}}}}}}&t={{{2|{{{t}}}}}} {{#if:{{{title|}}}"{{{1|{{{title}}}}}}" in the forums|Forum link}}]</includeonly>

Template:Forum link

2011-05-29T18:19:10Z

Ysangkok: Created page with "[http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f={{{1|{{{f}}}}}}&t={{{2|{{{t}}}}}} {{{1|{{{title|Forum link}}}}}}]"

[http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f={{{1|{{{f}}}}}}&t={{{2|{{{t}}}}}} {{{1|{{{title|Forum link}}}}}}]

Volunteer

2011-05-29T17:37:07Z

Ysangkok: /* Help improve the Wiki */ fix signup link

Many people think that contributing to [[FlightGear]] requires writing C++ code or doing [[Portal:Developer/3D Modelers|3D modeling]], and therefore feel that they cannot contribute directly. Not so. There are a whole variety of ways to make a valuable and satisfying contribution to FlightGear without having to be a developer. This page is intended to provide a starting point for those wanting to contribute, but who don't know how.

Of course, these are just suggestions for some possible ways for getting involved, and there are obviously plenty of other options.
So if you have already a specific idea in mind, please do get in touch with the community to ask for feedback. This can be easily done using the [[mailing list]]s, [http://flightgear.org/forums forum] or the [[FlightGear IRC channel|IRC channel]] (chat).

Often, work in such non-development related areas will at least be as appreciated by other users as are contributions by developers, simply because it is in the nature of non-development related contributions that they will specifically appeal to non-developers/users. So, if you would like to help the FlightGear project improve, please take a look at the following opportunities and feel free to make suggestions for new ones.

If you are contributing to the core simulator, or an aircraft in the master repository, you should be part of the FlightGear-devel mailing list, which is the primary point of contact for all discussions regarding the development of the simulator.

==== Tell us if FlightGear works with your hardware ====

You can help fellow FlightGear users by telling us if FlightGear works with your hardware. Please see [[FlightGear Hardware Recommendations]], [[Problematic Video Cards]] and [[Notebooks known to run FlightGear]].

==== Create FlightGear screenshots ====

Another easy way for getting started contributing is to create nice FlightGear screenshots, you can upload these to the wiki where they can then be used for the "picture of the week": http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/Category:Picture_of_the_week_2010

==== Create FlightGear videos ====

Many users like to capture their flights in FlightGear as a video, youtube is for example an excellent way for sharing such videos with fellow FlightGear users. Youtube videos can also be directly embedded in forum postings.

==== Create FlightGear screencasts (video tutorials) ====

Creating FlightGear related video tutorials is another excellent way for getting started contributing.

==== Participate in the FlightGear Forums ====
If you haven't done so already, please consider registering at the [http://www.flightgear.org/forums FlightGear forum], this is a very simple thing to do, but it makes it very easy to obtain and provide help and other support within the FlightGear community.

Taking extra care in your posting to avoid requiring the attention of the moderators is in some ways also a contribution. Doing so helps self-police the forums so that the moderators can spend their time doing constructive development.

==== Check out the FlightGear Chat channel ====
{{Main article|FlightGear IRC channel}}
To talk to fellow FlightGear users in realtime, you may want to check out the IRC chat channel.
This is also an excellent way for getting and providing community help, or for getting the latest news about FlightGear.

==== Tell us about your own ideas and feature requests for improving FlightGear ====
If you think you have a good idea or feature request for improving FlightGear, the FlightGear forums and the IRC channel are also an excellent way for getting feedback.

Another new way for posting feature requests and making suggestions is provided at http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-future/issues/list
This is a Google code based issue tracker, specifically meant to be used for posting suggestions for new features.

==== Help us write the FlightGear Newsletter ====
The FlightGear newsletter is a community driven newsletter that is created and edited using the wiki.
All FlightGear users are invited to contribute to the newsletter. The only thing that is required is a wiki account, which is free and easy to register.
Please feel free to add news about your own FlightGear related projects, or projects started by others to the newsletter.

You can find the draft of next month's newsletter at: [[Next newsletter]]

Just tracking the forums, mailing lists or the IRC channel should provide you with plenty of opportunities for things that could be added to the newsletter. One simple thing for getting started -even without writing anything- is uploading screen shots showing recent FlightGear developments for use in the FlightGear newsletter.

==== Write FlightGear reviews ====
Another thing that can be easily done is reviewing FlightGear (or just certain parts of it, like for example scenery and/or aircraft) and submit your reviews to some of the flight simulation portals. Of course, you can also directly write your reviews using the FlightGear wiki.

==== Help improve the Wiki ====
You can easily register a new account and help improve the wiki, for example by editing existing articles or creating new ones.
Also, many articles could be greatly improved just by adding a handful of relevant screenshots for illustration purposes. Proof reading existing articles is also greatly appreciated.

Registering an account takes less than 10 seconds.
To register an account, please go [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&type=signup here].

After registration, you'll have to confirm your registration by clicking on the link sent to you by email.

==== Help review Wiki articles ====
Many wiki articles are [[:Category:Out of date|outdated]], or may simply need to be reviewed and improved for other reasons - your help in reviewing existing articles would be highly appreciated!

==== Help translate the Wiki ====
{{Main article|Help:Translate}}
You can also help localize the Wiki by translating important articles into different languages.
Please see [[translation requests]].

Also, FlightGear itself can be easily translated by updating the files in $FG_ROOT/Translations. For details please see [[Translating FlightGear]].

==== Submitting bugs to the Bug Tracker ====
Bugs are currently being reported at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ this tracker]. Feel free to contact one of the project owners to be added to the member list, if you would like to add a bug (or two). Reporting bugs accurately helps make bug fixing significantly easier for the developers.
Another thing that is very helpful, is reviewing posted bug reports and see if you can reproduce/confirm them.

==== Providing patches for aircraft's -set.xml status fields ====
One way you could easily contribute would be to submit patches to HEAD setting the "status" flag on each aircraft accurately. While it will require learning a bit about SCM, and XML, hat would be a fine contribution. You would have to decide on appropriate criteria for the status flags, but that isn't impossible.

==== Screenshot managers ====
In order to illustrate FlightGear's impressive and advancing capabilities it was recently suggested (and agreed) to conduct monthly screenshot competitions where users are encouraged to submit their best FlightGear screenshots, so that the very best screenshots will be posted on the webpage for one month. Participants are expected to make their submissions at the end of each month, submissions should not be directly sent to the user mailing list as attachments, rather participants are expected to upload their screenshots to some free webspace and send mails containing links to their screenshots to the FlightGear User mailing list. It will be the decision of the screenshot managers to determine which screenshots shall win the monthly competition and are thus uploaded to [http://www.flightgear.org www.flightgear.org]

Currently the screenshot competition is on hold.

==== FAQ-Maintainers ====
The FlightGear project is currently looking for people who are willing to help maintain the FAQ (which is quite out of date). If you you would like to get involved, please subscribe to the FlightGear Developers [[mailing list]] in order to discuss the details or simply start editing the [[FAQ|wiki FAQ]]

==== Creating interactive tutorials ====
FlightGear has a built-in [[Tutorials|tutorial]] system that is based on its scripting language [[Nasal]], this system is very flexible and can be used for creating interactive tutorials (or even missions) for use in FlightGear itself, in other words these tutorials run directly in the simulator.

Creating new tutorials, or updating and improving existing ones, is another great way for getting more familiar with FlightGear. For details please see [[Tutorials]].

==== Scenery Model Creators ====
The FlightGear project maintains a steadily growing repository of [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/models.php 3D models] for adding some eye-candy to the scenery. The world has always enough room left for your [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/contribute.php contribution]. Please take the time to investigate what is already there and enjoy populating your favourite area.

Note that you don't have to create any models yourself. You can simply [[Howto: Place 3D objects with the UFO|place existing models using the UFO]].
For example, placing objects in the scenery with the [[UFO]] and submitting them to the Scenery Objects DB is pretty straightforward and takes very little time. Even an hour spent doing this would make a difference.

==== Artwork Creators/Contributors ====
FlightGear itself would not be possible without the contribution of various types of artwork:
* Often aircraft developers have to use different resources to accomplish the goal of realistically modeling a particular aircraft. Contributing photographs, images, sounds all have value.
* A splashscreen is displayed when loading the simulator, and can be specific to the aircraft being loaded. Why not create a spashscreen of your favorite aircraft: [[Howto: Create custom splash screens]]
* Sound recordings of aircraft are also valuable - particularly engine sounds for unusual aircraft.

Also see:
* [[Splash screen requests]]
* [[Livery requests]]
* [[Texture requests]]
* [[3D object requests]]
* [[Instrument requests]]
* [[Airport requests]]
* [[Aircraft requests]]
* [[Sound requests]]
* [[Shader requests]]

==== HowTo Writers ====
Various parts of FlightGear are currently not yet sufficiently documented, also available documentation is often not really suitable to be used by non-developers. This results in users being unaware of the wide range of features and possibilities that FlightGear supports already.

As "HowTo writer" you should be able to document your own experiences with FlightGear in a clear and concise style, so that others can easily follow your instructions on order to make use of FlightGear's less known features. HowTo guides do not need to be very comprehensive, they shall only serve the purpose of providing users with easy to follow instructions about how to set up their version of FlightGear.

Adding screenshots to articles is another excellent way for improving the existing documentation.

Topics that could use some HowTos are listed in [[Article requests]].

==== Documentation Editors/Reviewers ====
As already stated on the Wiki main page, FlightGear comes with a set of illustrated documentation, notably "The Manual". This piece of documentation aims at being printed onto paper and being read as a reference while you're exploring FlightGear - or simply taken with you on a long trip. If you are a skilled writer and a little bit familiar with LaTex, please take the time to dig into the [http://mapserver.flightgear.org/getstart.pdf PDF] or
[http://www.flightgear.org/Docs/getstart/getstart.html HTML] version. Instructions on how to get the source code are [http://www.de.flightgear.org/cvs/getstart-cvs.html here].
It lies in the nature of FlightGear development that The Manual is always a bit behind current development. We invite you to pick information from a) your personal experience with FlightGear, b) the available README's in the FlightGear source tree or the Base Package or c) the Wiki and merge these into an appealing shape for The Manual. Turn your head to the FlightGear developers' [[mailing list]] and you'll find someone to talk about how to improve The Manual.

Currently, some of the other documentation that comes with FlightGear is lacking, terse or simply inaccurate (outdated) in various places due to the advances in FlightGear's code since the time when the original documentation was written. This state is not improved by people's tendency to create new documents instead of maintaining what already exists.

As a documentation editor/reviewer, it would be your task to check the current documentation and identify areas for improvement. Preferably you should also be able to directly make corresponding suggestions for augmentations, or even write new help documents altogether (possibly based on evaluating recent mailing list discussions). You would be expected to thoroughly check the documentation folder ([[$FG ROOT]]/Docs) and review all relevant documentation for obvious shortcomings or mistakes, smaller corrections shall be sent by email to the developer mailing list, preferably in unified diff format (for patch to work).

Alternatively, small text files can also be sent directly to the mailing list, more complex modifications should be only made available by uploading them to a webpage and linking to the corresponding files from your emails. If you are not now familiar with the process of creating unified diff patches, but would like to make it easier for the developers to work with your changes, please consider trying [http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/ KDiff3], a GUI frontend to the diff and patch utilities that works on several platforms (also Windows).

If you intend to redo a major part of the current documentation, it is recommended that you first discuss this with the developers, to ensure that you do not end up documenting code that may also be subject to major changes or even removal altogether. Please contact the developers before launching into a major documentation effort.

==== Pre-Release Testers ====
Pre-release testers will be regularly offered the opportunity to test development code without having to build the corresponding binaries themselves, it will be expected of you to provide feedback about your experiences with experimental code to the developers, you should be able to provide details about your hardware and software setup, as well as being able to follow developer requests to track down any potential issues. You should also be willing to test run all aircraft that are by default included in FlightGear's base package on the platforms you have access to in order to ensure that all default aircraft are working properly.

By directly providing feedback about your experiences with FlightGear's development code, you will become a crucial part of the development process and you will basically serve as quality control for FlightGear, your experiences will determine whether FlightGear's development code is ready for a next official release or not. If you are willing to volunteer in this way to the FlightGear project, please consider subscribing to the FlightGear announcements mailing list, where future pre-releases are likely to be announced in order to attract a greater number of potential pre-release testers.

Note: If you are interested in actually doing development for FlightGear, make sure to check out the [[Portal:Developer|Developer section]].

==== Hosting a multiplayer server ====
If you have access to a unix based server, another good opportunity for contributing would be to set up a multiplayer server for use with FlightGear, for details please check out [[Howto: Set up a multiplayer server]].

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