While I sympathize with your position, this line really doesn't work.
Sure, documentation doesn't "write itself", but then again, neither does code. As this stuff is written, it should be documented, not as an afterthought.
so, which is it? Will there be a manual, or will there not be a manual? Please, do clarify.
The types of documentation described previously work somewhat well (though articles are not documentation by any means) for new users, yet these do not relieve the need for a manual of some kind.
Getting started guides, great idea, and could easily be a 'chapter' in the manual, but definitely don't take the place of it.
Inline help, as well, great idea, but this doesn't cover everything at all, and it shouldn't.
Articles, too wordy and opinion based, definitely not documentation.
There needs to be some sort of manual here, which, as already said before (not by me, mind you) would cut down on needs for support , and promote some sort of customer satisfaction. Somewhere a customer can go and say "ahah, THIS is how I do this", whether it's an advanced customer wanting to learn how to change a theme, or a new customer just wanting a step by step guide to creating a new forum. Both of those are just examples, but you still have a major need for documentation here , because the product obviously does not document itself.
