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Subject:Re: Recommending Guideline From:Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:43:52 +1000
Ben wrote:
> In a previous job, we avoided "recommending" anything in our manuals.
> Alternatively, we reworded our recommendations in the form of "tested"
> methods and such. I was curious if anyone else is familiar with that
> guideline. Come to think of it, I never really asked why we did that. I
> guess I assumed it was to avoid legal ramifications.
>
We avoid the word "recommend" also, but not
necessarily for legal reasons. We have a couple
of reasons to avoid the term: first, because it
usually was phrased in either first-person plural
or passive voice, both of which we discourage.
("We recommend that you..." "It is recommended to...")
Mainly, though, we avoid "recommend" because most of
the time it is unnecessary verbiage. Instead of saying
"We recommend that you set the storage limit to
1 Gbyte," why not just say "Set the storage limit
to 1 Gbyte"? Even better, provide the reason rather
than just the recommendation. "To improve performance,
set the storage limit to 1 Gbyte."
-- Janice
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Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with
janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com | this message is the return address
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