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.
> I agree with Mike here. Don't waste time with fancy, involved
> intros or anything that detracts from what the manual is
> about--how to use your widget. That doesn't mean you can't be
> entertaining in your *tone*, but the focus should always be
> on the product.
Remember that not everyone knows everything about the product before
they use it for the first time. Theymay know nothing about it...they
weren't responsible for aquiring it, specing it, installing it,
defining it..it's there and they need to know how to use it.
Imagine...you come in from lunch and there is a manual on your desk.
You check your email and there is an email that says "We've installed
FrameMakker on your computer and we've uninstalled Word." That's it.
You've never heard of FM. What's the first thing you read? How to
create Books.
You don't know the FM model or what books mean to it. Sure...you
could start the chanpter explaining what a book is. You now know what
a book is, but you don't know how a book fits in to the FM approach.
I very much think any product manual has to have a section at the
beginning that puts the product in context before explaining the
purpose of each feature of the product.
Sometimes, it is necessary to frame the peoduct, give the user a feel
of the scope of the product, its purpose.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
"What do we want? More than
anybody else has."
Steve Ballmer
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help 2005 converts RoboHelp files with one click. Author with Word or any HTML editor. Visit our site to see a conversion demo movie and learn more. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
