TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
on 2/2/00 1:07 PM, Arthur Schweke at tekritelist -at- hotmail -dot- com wrote:
> I would use the Windows button names only. PC users outnumber MAC users and
> MAC users are intelligent enough to know that SAVE is the same as OK. If in
> doubt use a back slash.
As a Mac advocate and user, I would not recommend this. If I were to see
"Click the Save button." and there were only an "OK button", I'd probably
figure it out, but I'd wonder what was missing. I would definitely lessen my
degree of confidence in the material.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Hi All,Do any of you document cross-platform software that uses different
> button
> names depending on what platform the user has? For example, OK and Cancel
> buttons in Windows may be called Save and Cancel on the Mac.
> Some ideas I have are to use either a slash or parenthesis to include both
> button names in the same step:
>1. Click the OK/Save button.
> 1. Click the OK (Save) button.Anyone have any other suggestions?
The problem with the () is that whichever platform was "relegated" to the ()
might feel like they were being treated as "lesser".
I'd agree with Harry B. and use the /. I can't come up with a better way off
the top of my head. Typically, I really dislike using /.
Christi Carew
Technical Writer
Sage Instruments
www.sageinst.com