Ok to start this topic with.
Like a whole lot of others i started using mysensors, and at the moment I'm blown away by the fact how simple and good everything works.
the tutorials for the basics are great and can be done by anyone who takes the time to read them.
But... after that there is a great knowledge gap if you want to do some cooler bigger or just different things with mysensors then you have to be an fully capable arduino programmer (in my opinion).
can we make a extra page to the mysensors page with just basic information and explanation about how everything works wihtin the system?

for example me, I'm enthusiastic using the sensors but don't have any knowledge in electronics or programming whatsoever.
I allready managed to get the gaeway going and building a couple of sensors that also works:).
But now I want to combine some sensors, say a motion sensor and a relay sensor on one nano board, I know it should be possible and (think) know I have to do something with "childs" but what to do with it I can't find.
Especialy how do I combine the libraries in the sketch, That kind of basic info I can't find anywhere.
Again I also know that it is a lack in my own programming skills.

So tell me what you all think about the idea, or just be honest and tell me that I'm a lazy nitwit

Okay, let me explain which kind of information I mean, because a lot of skilled people understand my kind of question as fix my problem for me.

The things that i would love to see explained is some discovery style information like in this ship will fit a 1000 truckloads of blahblah. it does not gives you any information about the ship but it does help you understand how big it is if you don't have a clue.

For example I would not need any explanation how the code is written and how the whole system is communicating through the mesh web, but it would greatly help me figuring out who is talking to who on which point, and maybe which sketch is responsible for it.
so really plain basic numbnuts information.

And of course one of the other returning questions is can you combine sketches easily. is it just as simple as adding inclusion of another sketch and pin assigning plus copy pasting the rest in the void loops and void setup, or are there other things to look for as well

So indeed I'm on your side as well regarding that there is already a lot of arduino courses/information/tutorials/etc on the web so there is no need to explain all that again on this site.
But for now (and I do understand sketches a little bit when I read them) a whole lot of abracadabra is going on to get everything to work. because it needs more sophisticated scripting then if pin d3 is above 30% switch pin 1 to full (example).

ah nice that there is such great and quick response in this topic.
I do agree that the whole setup being so easy is a plus and probably the reason for the succes of mysensors.

I also understand that making software is a lot of work especially if you want a little bit sleek looking gui.
thats actually not what i would ask for, because like a lot of people on this forum (and others) my opinion is that you also have to do your own research so you can also fix your own problems.

but if you're not a programmer or skilled in programming, then you at least need guidelines or terms to look for. otherwise you are just reinventing the wheel wich takes a lot of time.

So thanks for all the help and good work, and i'm curious what you come up with.
Till then I wait with overflowing the forum with questions

Hey martin,
Thanks for your reply, and i did not found the extra information regarding the API.
The rest you mention is actually how i do it myself a lot, especially instructables is a place i often look. But you are actucally missing my point a little bit. (maybe its me explaining it wrong. in that case i'm sorry but i'm not an native english speaker)

The thing is that as like almost every technical forum this one is flooded with so called noob questions. I know even if you documentate everything that you still get these questions. But my point is that a lot of the whole mysensors project is really well and understandble documented wich is a great help when you are a beginning starter. but it leaves you hanging at the point that you want to try things out for yourself, because the way the whole thing actually works is not described in stupid peoples language as the rest is.

So an option is to start learning arduino, but for me myself it takes to long to really learn and understand it, because there is a lot of difference between letting an led to blink or letting it communicate through wifi.

So with a little bit more of background explanation I think including me a lot more people can make awesome projects, and share it again.

Dear theo,
you're blogs in dutch looks quite promising, the way you explain things is nice and understandable for people without any technical background.
So keep on going doing that and you wil be a helping hand for a lot of people.
If you are 'scared' to post them, then maybe you should post them somewhere else then your own blog. that way people don't contact you directly 9by mail or through your own website, and other people can clear out questions as well.
But.. What I can read now (what i found) are still some really basic explanations. what I'm looking for is some extra deeper information.
as an example,
The whole mysensors system communicates through mesh technology, so repeating the signal/data to a outposted sensor via the shortest way.
wich part of the sketch makes that work? is it in the basic mysensor.h script that is akkready included in most sketches or do i have to include another sketch or script to make it work.

and as in my firts post how do you combine things. what is the node? the wifi transceiver? what is the child a sensor on a board or the board itself etc. etc.

If you know all that kinds of things you can find the rest on the internet again sketches manuall's etc.
But for now, as a nono I get stuck because more then just copy pasting things I can't do because of a lack in knowledge, wich I can't find because I don't know where to look.

Ok to start this topic with.
Like a whole lot of others i started using mysensors, and at the moment I'm blown away by the fact how simple and good everything works.
the tutorials for the basics are great and can be done by anyone who takes the time to read them.
But... after that there is a great knowledge gap if you want to do some cooler bigger or just different things with mysensors then you have to be an fully capable arduino programmer (in my opinion).
can we make a extra page to the mysensors page with just basic information and explanation about how everything works wihtin the system?

for example me, I'm enthusiastic using the sensors but don't have any knowledge in electronics or programming whatsoever.
I allready managed to get the gaeway going and building a couple of sensors that also works:).
But now I want to combine some sensors, say a motion sensor and a relay sensor on one nano board, I know it should be possible and (think) know I have to do something with "childs" but what to do with it I can't find.
Especialy how do I combine the libraries in the sketch, That kind of basic info I can't find anywhere.
Again I also know that it is a lack in my own programming skills.

So tell me what you all think about the idea, or just be honest and tell me that I'm a lazy nitwit