I started learning Yii about a week ago and even though i like the framework, the documentation is not easy to digest. I wish the authors of The definitive Guide to Yii could include more screenshots, images and/or drawings to explain the syntax and workflow.
Also i feel that more examples with clear explanations should be included to help new users pickup the basics of Yii quickly. The current documentations really make Yii appears more difficult than it really is.
I agree with you "yiiman", the framework is cool but it needs more examples and maybe full example manages the basics of the framework would be great for the beginners to start with it.
Any specific suggestions?
well, i recently found this project through svn checkout and i think it is helpful.
http://yii-blogdemo-enhanced.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/
more examples or modules done by Yii framework will make the framework much popular.
we’re going to start using Yii framework in my team so hope we will be able to publish more applications using Yii framework.
some of our projects are posted on www.multiframes.com/ourProjects.php
Just my two cents here.
At first I found the documentation very challenging also, some code examples would have really helped. But now after some time with the docs I can usually get what I want and quickly also.
Part of my problem with the docs was the style of documentation, I wasn’t used to documentation that didn’t provide examples. The best part about the docs, as they are now is consistency, once you start to understand the docs you will find it is fairly easy to get what you need.
I used to refer a lot to the definitive guide because it has a few examples but now I mostly go to the class reference. It takes a while and I am certainly not knowledgeable with Yii but the consistent approach is key to working with the framework.
Looking at the class files will also provide a wealth of learning material.
I wish I had an accurate class diagram of the framework, that would help a lot!
All in all I would like to thank the developers for all the hard work put into the docs, they really are detailed but you have to dig and after a while you know where to start looking.
Programmer/Detective its all the same thing 
doodle
Don’t get me wrong guys, the Yii guide is helpful but could be improved somewhat. I don’t think its possible to pick up any language or framework quickly and efficiently without code examples supported by clear explanations and screenshots maybe?
agreed, so stick with it there is a very knowledgeable bunch of people on this forum. I’m sure in time the docs will catch up with the development
doodle
It’s mainly a time problem - writing good docs is a very time consuming task. Note, most here are programmers, not writers. And most would prefer to see new features implemented instead of the devs rewriting the beginners docs. So if somebody here wants to write a nice tutorial or better explanation than the guide - please do so and publish it. If it’s good, there’s a good changce it will get linked from the site or even added to the guide.
Then there’s also the cookbooks and the Tips, Snippets & Tutorial section - both will appreciate contributions.
Hello,
maybe we have a solution for this 
We started a project called Yii Playground to let users work on a collaborative demo app just providing small / simple examples documented with a small snippet of code and a short description when needed. It is on early stage but we hope it will grow fast and that people will join; more info here.
bye,
Giovanni.