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Subject:Re: Another Newbie question about procedures From:mearro -at- msn -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 17 May 2005 15:25:35 -0600
John:
No, I wouldn't do any of the things you suggest. However, I believe that
there are instances where relevant info should be added to a procedural
topic that is not necessarily part of the procedure or required to
complete the task. I can't think of any offhand from my own work but here
are a few hypothetical examples:
I write the topic "Request a report." In this process, after the report is
requested, a confirmation message displays with request details. I include
numbered steps detailing the process up to this point. After these steps,
I include a note stating: To print details of your request, click Print. I
add a brief explanation of why the user would want to print these details.
Now, in this example, the user has already successfully requested a
report. This is only a bit of info that they might find useful. That's why
I would include it as a note and not a procedural step.
Another example, I write the topic "Assign privileges to a user." Now,
users can only be assigned privileges that have already been assigned to
their user group. In a Help system, I might only include a note stating
this with a link to the "Assign privileges to a user group" topic. In a
hardcopy doc or if this other process can be summed up in a sentence or
two, I might provide details about this other procedure. This would be
separate from the numbered steps but would be included within the
procedural topic.
> The way I read this..You're writing about how to use a dialog to send
> a report to a printer. However, there is a button that has nothing to
> do with the process of printing that report....maybe a security
> optrion. You'll address it?
>
> I don't think that I would. If I was the reader, I'd wonder what I
> missed in your instruction that made me use it since you did point it
> out?
>
> Isn't this comparable to (though maybe a little extreme), you tell
> them to select a dropdown menu. While you are telling them to select
> X off the dropdown menu, you also explain all 10 other options on the
> menu even though it has nothing to do with the task?
>
> John Posada
> Senior Technical Writer
>
> ?Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone
> amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built
> the Titanic.? - Dave Barry
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