Web site could use a few updates :)

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've been slowly working on a complete feature list. So far it's only on the Teensy 3.6 page. Planning to copy & adapt this to the other 7 models. So far I've only managed to fill in about half of the descriptions, without links (but going to add them).

https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy36.html

It's very much a work in progress. Please give it a quick look and let me know if I've overlooked stuff, made mistakes, or should organize it all some other way?
 
I've been slowly working on a complete feature list. So far it's only on the Teensy 3.6 page. Planning to copy & adapt this to the other 7 models. So far I've only managed to fill in about half of the descriptions, without links (but going to add them).

https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy36.html

It's very much a work in progress. Please give it a quick look and let me know if I've overlooked stuff, made mistakes, or should organize it all some other way?

Good Morning Paul,

Lots of good stuff. Hard to say what is the best organization. Wonder if some of your top level things should be logical headers?
Like Software, Pins, Communication... And maybe at top have in page links that take you down to that section?

Again maybe hard to strike the proper balance, between what the average person needs to know and what the power user wants to know.

Examples:

Software Section: Much of this probably can be link to other pages, Like Arduino/Teensyduino. hopefully simple mention, with link to main page.
Also maybe mention that this also includes a makefile. Hard to know what goes here versus Programming section?

Also could mention, there are other options out there like, there are several now mentioned in the Teensy WIKI (https://github.com/TeensyUser/doc/wiki)

Digital Pins
Ports/Pins: There are a significant number of users who ask about the Ports and on two fronts. First the AVR emulation ports, and also the Teensy Ports.
Yes you can deduce that Digital Pin 0 is B16 from the Schematic. But might be nice to have some form of table with this. Also many want to know about reading/writing multiple pins at once, so table showing something like Port B pins are ... Would be useful for those people.

Also should have link(s) to downloads page for the reference manual.

Communication:
Again hard to know how much to describe here.
Example: Serial - Baud rates? Optional 9 bit support? Stop Bits? RTS/CTS? Available for Write? ... Again much of that maybe could trace back to some common page.
SPI - Main library supports Host mode only.

Displays:
The ST7735_t3 library also does ST7789

ILI9488_t3 library

Timing:

PWM Timers - Probably will go over the head of most people. Like what is an FTM (Flex Timer Module - Chapter 45) or TPM(Timer/PWM Module Chapter 43)? May want to relate this back to the PWM section under digital Pins. When used for PWM, maybe want to mention is there any differences in capabilities if I do I do PWM on an FTM pin versus a TPM pin? Which of these pins can also be used for Input Capture?

Probably enough rambling here for one message :D
 
Yes, I've been struggling with pretty much those same questions (and many more similar ones) over the last few days.

Indeed most of this stuff wants to be just short descriptions with links to more detailed pages. So far, I've not made any of those links. Some of those pages already exist, but many more probably need to be written from scratch.

Initially I had the software stuff down in the programming section. But I had 2nd thoughts about that, as I'm trying to go for a sort of top-down organization where the later stuff is more low-level documentation about how stuff works, the earlier stuff is more high-level overview and info needed to get started.
 
This easy to find table is not updated beyond Teensy 3.1 : pjrc.com/teensy/
> this was already noted prior where even the table extended HTML was posted :: Web-site-could-use-a-few-updates-)
> This table is more complete - but took many clicks to randomly come across : pjrc.com/teensy/techspecs.html

And this ultra useful T_4.x page on memory: pjrc.com/store/teensy40.html

Indicates FLASH's EEPROM details for T_4.0 , but not T_4.1 {alternatively that info is not on the T_4.1 page itself either}:
Code:
EEPROM [B]Emulation - 60K of Flash memory is reserved for EEPROM emulation.[/B] Normally the Arduino EEPROM library is used, but the AVR eeprom functions are also supported for compatibility with legacy code. During uploading, this portion of the Flash is not erased or altered, so your data saved in the "EEPROM" is retained.
Restore Program - When you press the Teensy 4.0 pushbutton for 15 seconds (a quick flash on the red LED will tell you the moment to release), all of the Flash except this 4K is erased, and this known-good LED blink program is copied to the beginning of the Flash. This top 4K is special read-only memory, so you can always use this 15 second button press to fully erase your Teensy 4.0 and restore it to a known-good blink program.
 
At long last, I've finished at least a first draft of all the features on Teensy 3.6.

https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy36.html

I reached out to Tim and Ivan for words to describe (sell) their software.

So far only a couple descriptions have links to the pages with more detailed info. Going to start filling those in later today. Many don't have any pages on the website. Long-term many more pages really do need to be written. A lot of screenshots and photos are also needed, currently marked with "TODO". It's all a daunting project...
 
Care to add VisualTeensy to the alternative Software section?

Here some info, feel free to shorten as needed

Repo: https://github.com/luni64/VisualTeensy
Doku: https://github.com/luni64/VisualTeensy/wiki
Binaries: https://github.com/luni64/VisualTeensy/releases

Description:
VisualTeensy is a lightweight Windows utility which fully automates the generation of makefile based projects for vsCode. It does not touch any global or user level settings in vsCode and does not install any extension to vsCode. It only creates some Json control files and a makefile and copies them into the appropriate subfolders of your project. After you have generated the project you can use the native commands of vsCode to create your sketch and upload it to the board.

Licence MIT
Windows only.
 
Care to add VisualTeensy to the alternative Software section?

We need to talk about this name. I'm a little reluctant to even bring this up, since the open source community as a long history of misunderstandings and needless conflicts over names and trademark issues. So please keep the context in mind. This isn't a complaint about anything you have done. The issue is about whether PJRC should or should not do something, on the PJRC website.

For years Robin & I didn't worry about this stuff. But seeing the drama where Federico Musto tried to take over Arduino really was a real eye opener. So a few years ago we paid an attorney to properly register Teensy. We're not litigious people. So far we've never sent any cease & desist letters or even informally requested anyone to change anything. When people have asked about our policies, I say we recommend following Arduino's guidelines.

https://www.arduino.cc/en/trademark

The really hard thing about trademark stuff is how gray and squishy and subjective it can be. For example, on Arduino's page, one of the prohibited uses is:

Use a trademark of Arduino in a way that creates a false impression that your product or business is endorsed, sponsored by or associated with Arduino.

My concern about promoting software from PJRC web pages with the name "VisualTeensy" is the opportunity for misunderstanding and confusion (or possible dilution or other trademark problems in the future). As software on github, not linked directly with PJRC, I believe it's pretty clearly not associated with PJRC. But as use of a trademark name goes, "VisualTeensy" is really close to that fuzzy gray area. My feeling is if we promote it with this name from the official PJRC project pages, that adds the extra weight to push it over the trademark line (or at least too much into the fuzzy gray area).

Arduino's page gives specific guidelines in the "you may" list:

Use the word Arduino (or any other wordmark being a trademark of Arduino) to indicate that a third party product is compatible with or based on Arduino technology. In these cases the Arduino trademark should follow a referential phrase such as “compatible with”, “for” or “with”.

Again, I'm not demanding you change the name. My gut feeling it's close to but not quite over the fuzzy trademark line.

But putting it on those product pages with this name isn't something I'm comfortable doing, because it's such a borderline case. If PJRC is going to promote this software, the name needs to be clearer. Arduino's "referential phrase" guideline seems like really good advice. If you're willing to change the name with a "referential phrase", I'd be happy to promote it.

Please also understand, on a personal level this legal stuff is pretty much the absolute last way I want to be spending my time. I really do hope this doesn't come across as harsh or demanding... or overly paranoid. PJRC isn't a huge corporation where we have an attorney review everything, so in cases like this I try to balance common sense with a somewhat cautious approach.
 
Last edited:
Ups, the last thing I want to do is infringe someone's trademarks. Actually, I have no problem at all to rename it by say "VST". I think GitHub even forwards old links to a renamed repo.

However, since TeensyXXX does make such nice names I do have a couple of other repositories containing Teensy (TeensyStep, TeensyTimerTool, TeensySharp, TeensyDelay...). But, if I understand you correctly, since they don't appear on your web site, you are OK with that?
 
I'm less concerned about library names. I believe we're currently bundling Fernando Trias's "TeensyThreads" library with the installer. That name isn't ideal. Following Arduino's "referential phrase" would be much better.

Trademark is a fuzzy subject. For hopefully not too political analogy, consider the current coronavirus pandemic. There have been guidelines at 6 feet distance and 15 minutes exposure. Some people have taken this to mean they should schedule indoor meetings in close proximity which last 14 minutes!

Like many things in life, there are good practices which aren't hard rules. You don't have to rename your libraries. But if you were to do so, a name like TimerToolForTeensy would be much better than TeensyTimerTool from a trademark perspective. That would make it easier to promote from the PJRC website, though TeensyTimerTool might still be ok if we put a notice on the web page.

For the high level IDE software, the name is more important than with libraries.

Choosing a good name isn't easy. "VST" is a very common acronym for Virtual Synthesis Technology. While probably not a trademark issue, still worthwhile to avoid something so widely used. Google search is always a good idea before finalizing naming something.
 
Thanks for the clarifications. Might be a good idea to explain your trademark policy on your web site.
Regardless of being listed, I want to fix that and I'll spend some time renaming VisualTeensy this weekend. Does anything speak against "teeMake" from PJRCs point of view?
 
Software Section: Much of this probably can be link to other pages, Like Arduino/Teensyduino. hopefully simple mention, with link to main page.
Also maybe mention that this also includes a makefile. Hard to know what goes here versus Programming section?

I added mention of the makefiles. Indeed so much to cover.


Ports/Pins: There are a significant number of users who ask about the Ports and on two fronts. First the AVR emulation ports, and also the Teensy Ports.
Yes you can deduce that Digital Pin 0 is B16 from the Schematic. But might be nice to have some form of table with this. Also many want to know about reading/writing multiple pins at once, so table showing something like Port B pins are ... Would be useful for those people.

I'm going to add that to the digital I/O page... which is also in need updates, as it was written in the very early days of Arduino.


Again hard to know how much to describe here.
Example: Serial - Baud rates? Optional 9 bit support? Stop Bits? RTS/CTS? Available for Write? ... Again much of that maybe could trace back to some common page.

The info now links to the serial page with most of this stuff documented. Maybe more should be mentioned on the product page?


PWM Timers - Probably will go over the head of most people. Like what is an FTM (Flex Timer Module - Chapter 45) or TPM(Timer/PWM Module Chapter 43)? May want to relate this back to the PWM section under digital Pins. When used for PWM, maybe want to mention is there any differences in capabilities if I do I do PWM on an FTM pin versus a TPM pin? Which of these pins can also be used for Input Capture?

I'm considering adding several pages with tutorials about how to really use the timers, probably after we're shipping a 1170 board. It'll probably only cover the timers in the newer IMXRT chips. Doesn't seem worthwhile to double the amount of work to document the finer points of the FTM timers of the older chips.

Until recently, I had mostly shied away from this sort of thing. But a couple weeks ago, I posted a quick Twitter poll which got nearly 1000 responses.

https://twitter.com/PaulStoffregen/status/1335161133808771072

twitter_poll.png

This result was a little surprising. I had expected Python to be far more popular than low-level coding. Admittedly, this also lumps in RTOS use, which I'm also more seriously considering (Frank, yes, I know... please keep this thread about the website & documentation updates).

Obviously so much low-level documentation will go on other pages, but these parts about the timers can serve as a way to tell people that documentation exists (... that is, when it someday gets written....)
 
Frank, yes, I know... please keep this thread about the website & documentation updates).
Frank is silent. He already wrote what he needed to write ;) (but I wouldn't say RTOS is low level...oops.. I'll keep my mouth shut)
 
@Paul - looking good, I like that you are putting in links to pages of different subsystems.

I would still probably mention a few technical/Selling points probably at the top each page:

Like the T3.6 is MK64... Has 1024KB or Flash, 256KB of RAM N digital pins...
Also would also either put links to the two datasheets or to the page with the datasheets.
 
@Paul - looking good, I like that you are putting in links to pages of different subsystems.

I would still probably mention a few technical/Selling points probably at the top each page:

Like the T3.6 is MK64... Has 1024KB or Flash, 256KB of RAM N digital pins...
Also would also either put links to the two datasheets or to the page with the datasheets.

Indeed, It does look very good!

Funny it links to this info page at top - the one noted as missing T_3.6 (3.5/4.0/4.1) in the info summary table. :: The Teensy USB Development Board >> pjrc.com/teensy/index.html
> That is a good page, and when table completed it would show the details easily that KurtE notes. Though not directly at the top ...

Good news is Paul that with the T_3.6 page looking good ... the T_3.5 Page is already half done :)
 
Funny it links to this info page at top - the one noted as missing T_3.6 (3.5/4.0/4.1) in the info summary table. :: The Teensy USB Development Board >> pjrc.com/teensy/index.html

Yes, you've already brought that up on this thread. Just to specifically address it, I am intentionally *not* editing any other pages at this moment. Only the Teensy 3.6 product page is being edited now, and soon the other 7 main product pages.

Indeed that page has old info. Many pages do. They will all be updated eventually. Please understand my approach is to focus on 1 page, or one group of similar pages at a time.
 
Yes, you've already brought that up on this thread. Just to specifically address it, I am intentionally *not* editing any other pages at this moment. Only the Teensy 3.6 product page is being edited now, and soon the other 7 main product pages.

Indeed that page has old info. Many pages do. They will all be updated eventually. Please understand my approach is to focus on 1 page, or one group of similar pages at a time.

Only mentioned in context of KurtE's post - having detailed info at the top ... was noted as 'when completed', as "in future". That page would be good to see at top of All the detailed Teensy's as a quick ref without repeating everything 'at the top' since 'everything can not be at the top'.
 
That page would be good to see at top of All the detailed Teensy's as a quick ref without repeating everything 'at the top' since 'everything can not be at the top'.

I've added "Compare detailed specifications of all Teensy models" link just below the specs on the Teensy 3.6 page.

https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy36.html

Plan is to make all 8 product pages follow this format. Hopefully that will make the newest specs comparison table easy to find.

When I edit that other page, my plan is delete the very old specs table and put other content on that page.
 
Nice Page for the 3.6.
Don't forget the Teensy LC.

Forum:
The spammers are in top form.
Could you add a user auto-ban when a post gets reported?
If the forum-software is not able to do it, perhaps a MYSQL trigger could do it. It could check for a admin or "+" user before.
 
A few findings from a quick look:

- Headline:Teensy 4.1 features the fastest micocontroller and an expanded set of powerful peripherals in a 2.4 by 0.7 inch form factor. (typo)
- if you don't want to edit those page again when 1176 arrives, don't write "fastest" :) maybe just ".. features a 600MHz microcontroller .."?
- Luni's Tool still missing (He renamed it)
- Several "(info here)". / "TODO" - delete it or fill it :) old pages show "todo" since years - that's not very helpful.
- Photo with keyboard is too large.
 
- Luni's Tool still missing (He renamed it)

Actually he bragged about renaming it but got distracted by a few PCBs :). But now X-mas vacation starts and I'll have time for those things...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top