Documentation soft rejection - help needed

I was recently soft-rejected for my AutoUpdater script, and these were the quite valid reasons given for the rejection:

The documentation is sorely lacking.

Most importantly, remember that buyers may not be technically inclined. They may just be looking for an item to drop into their existing code base. Also keep in mind that a typical user won’t really know about all the features your system brings to the table. With them in mind, you should also look into providing a quick start guide of some sort. It need not be long: a short one will do.

You can use a premade template or the Documenter tool for your documentation, both linked below: http://themeforest.net/forums/thread/the-documenter/40757?page=1 http://themeforest.s3.amazonaws.com/108_helpFile/Template.zip

I get the message, my documentation is lacking. However, it is unclear what I am expected to do to improve. I was sort of hoping that in the event of a rejection the recommendations would be spelled out – so to speak.

So I felt I should throw it out to you guys, what changes should I make to my documentation? Should I simplify it or should I expand it? I am not too sure what the reviewer expects.

You can read the unaltered documentation here: http://pintdreams.com/autoUPDATER/

I think what the reviewer is trying to say here is that in your documention your talking about things like CHMOD . You should make sure your documentation is also clear for people who don’t know much about coding and don’t even know what CHMOD is. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your reply. Maybe it’s because its my first time uploading anything to codecanyon, but I didn’t think to simplify my documentation for less tech-savvy users.

Okay, rather than just simplifying the documentation and things such as CHMOD in the install process, would I be better served if I created an install.php file that they would simply run, sort of like the wordpress install file and it would walk users through an installation process and attempt to do all the techy stuff for them?

Thanks for that, however I would still like more suggestions for improvement.

pint said
Thanks for your reply. Maybe it’s because its my first time uploading anything to codecanyon, but I didn’t think to simplify my documentation for less tech-savvy users.

Okay, rather than just simplifying the documentation and things such as CHMOD in the install process, would I be better served if I created an install.php file that they would simply run, sort of like the wordpress install file and it would walk users through an installation process and attempt to do all the techy stuff for them?

Thanks for that, however I would still like more suggestions for improvement.

Yea, its a good idea to also provide a install wizard that installs the application for people instead of letting them do it by theirself. This way you will probably even get more sales.

pint said
Thanks for your reply. Maybe it’s because its my first time uploading anything to codecanyon, but I didn’t think to simplify my documentation for less tech-savvy users.

Okay, rather than just simplifying the documentation and things such as CHMOD in the install process, would I be better served if I created an install.php file that they would simply run, sort of like the wordpress install file and it would walk users through an installation process and attempt to do all the techy stuff for them?

Thanks for that, however I would still like more suggestions for improvement.

Sounds like a good idea. I usually just add a link to more complex stuff like that in my docs. The only other suggestion for sales is to get some help from a designer on improving the look of the app. But that is just my two cents.

HigherGroundStudio said
Sounds like a good idea. I usually just add a link to more complex stuff like that in my docs. The only other suggestion for sales is to get some help from a designer on improving the look of the app. But that is just my two cents.

Yeah, thanks for the suggestion. I sort of didn’t feel the admin panel would need a really eye catching design as when it comes to updaters I imagined people would rather it worked awesomely like they wanted and hopefully help entice users to buy their products.

pint said

HigherGroundStudio said
Sounds like a good idea. I usually just add a link to more complex stuff like that in my docs. The only other suggestion for sales is to get some help from a designer on improving the look of the app. But that is just my two cents.

Yeah, thanks for the suggestion. I sort of didn’t feel the admin panel would need a really eye catching design as when it comes to updaters I imagined people would rather it worked awesomely like they wanted and hopefully help entice users to buy their products.

I wish that people were like that but they judge a book by its cover… I am just talking about just a few tweaks to make it look newer. Such as a textured bg. That would make a big difference.