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We currently provide two guides, one for each flavor,
and each contains all of the information for all three OS
versions. Each OS version is in a separate chapter, with
all of the information for one OS in the one chapter.
I'm looking for "presentation to the customer" suggestions.
Once I settle on that, then I can get into the mechanics of
how to accomplish the goal using conditional text, insets, etc.
Other respondents have provided useful suggestions on this,
and I thank them in advance of using the offerings.
My first thought is to structure the document such that the
common information is at the beginning of a single book,
and the variable information for each flavor/OS on a separate
page or two at the back of the book.
This would provide the customer with a way to easily find the
specific information for their flavor/OS, and still simplify
the maintenance of the common information.
Other thoughts and presentation ideas solicited.
In some circles around here, providing the user with
information on features they didn't purchase is considered
a marketing tool. A way to let a actual user know what
else is available, since the buyer is usually different
from the person using the product. This allows the user
to see what possibilities there are for the product.
CB
SP> I'm not sure if I'm interpreting this correctly, but it seems to me that
SP> you're considering giving your users one big installation guide with all the
SP> "flavors" and OS versions included. One issue that I've run into with
SP> writing user guides for multiple-version products is that not every version
SP> will have the same features. Even products with the same version number, but
SP> designed for different operating systems, may have different
SP> functionalities. Your users may get confused when they read about features
SP> they don't have. Marketing might also have something to say about sending
SP> documentation describing features to customers that they won't be getting.
>
CB> I have a product with two flavors that can be used
CB> on 3 versions of operating systems. The majority of
CB> the text is identical in these 6 documents. This is
CB> a SW product for hardware interface.
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