RE: "Type" vs. "Enter"

["Char James-Tanny" <CharJT -at- helpstuff -dot- com>]

> I know, I know, you'll say "pick one and be consistent." But I'm more 
> concerned about appropriateness, and to me, "enter" is both 
> completely synonymous with and not as limiting as "type."
> 
> Friday thoughts?

"Type" is the how the information gets into the screen. "Enter" is how it's
processed.

"Type your password, and press Enter or click OK."

Now, it could be argued that for one field, you could combine the phrases: 

"Enter your password."

With the sort of tacit understanding that the user will know to type the
password and then press Enter.

But then, what do you do on a screen that has two or more fields to be
entered? Type the first and enter the last, and hope the users proceed
through the fields in the same order you've described?

Obviously, I use "type." ;-)

BTW, I don't worry about how the information gets into the field. If the
user is speaking the letters, they know that "type" means "speak."

Char




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