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.
Style conventions: pipelines vs. arrows, single step style vs. se ntence?
Subject:Style conventions: pipelines vs. arrows, single step style vs. se ntence? From:"Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 12 Aug 2002 08:42:41 -0400
Colleen Carey wondered about preferences for: <<File|Save or File>Save>>
I don't do either, actually. I prefer "open the file menu and select save"
or similar wording. Why? It's longer, but it's entirely unequivocal for any
reader. You can certainly use a "how we write things" section of the manual
to teach readers about the arrows (in which case use a real arrow or at
least --> rather than just >), but most readers will never see see this
section. The first time they open the manual will be midway along, when
they're in trouble, and then some of them won't know what you're talking
about. I'd avoid the pipe | because that symbol has a special meaning in
some programming languages and operating systems, and might confuse the
occasional power user.
<<when you have a single step, do you place it in a list all by itself to
set it apart from the introductory information, or do you include it with
the introductory information in one sentence?>>
There's no need to put a single-step instruction in a numbered list. Numbers
are intended to help readers follow a sequence, and with only one number,
that's hardly necessary.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can
think."--Edwin Schlossberg, designer (1945- )
Save up to 50% with RoboHelp Deluxe. Get 2 great products for 1 low price!
You'll get RoboHelp Office PLUS RoboDemo, the software demonstration tool
that everyone's been talking about. Check it out and save! http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
