RE: Paragraph numbering? (take II)

Subject: RE: Paragraph numbering? (take II)
From: "Jonathan West" <jwest -at- mvps -dot- org>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:18:23 -0000

Geoff Hart said
> The word-based cross-reference then offers the advantage of greater
> "friendliness" to a general audience that may be intimidated by
> numbers. By no means am I stating that we should assume our audience
> is less intelligent than we are. But we should consider whether
> numbering creates yet another disincentive to read our docs for an
> audience that already has plenty of excuses.

Not disagreeing, but reinforcing the point that you need to consider the
audience. I was for some years the committee secretary of one of the
international standards committees which wrote the technical standards for
the GSM digital mobile phone system, and I was the editor of about 5,000
pages of standards, mostly the test specification for the phone itself.

In this case, numbered headings were absolutely essential, because there
were occasions where multiple headings had the same name but different
content, and it was vital that cross-references were entirely unambiguous.
For instance, in the mobile phone test specification, it was necessary to be
specific as to which requirement the test was supposed to be testing.

Regards
Jonathan West

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


References:
Paragraph numbering? (take II): From: Geoff Hart

Previous by Author: RE: Paragraph numbering?
Next by Author: RE: Word: 'body' versus 'normal' style for body paragraphs
Previous by Thread: Paragraph numbering? (take II)
Next by Thread: Re: Paragraph numbering?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads