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Subject:Re: Release Notes From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:19:49 +0800
As much as possible, the main docs should be complete, correct and
current with respect to the latest version of the product. It shouldn't
really contain much history on how things worked in older releases.
Given this, the main job of the release notes is to brief users on what
has changed or been learned recently (bugs, fixes, workarounds) and
hasn't yet been added to the full docs.
The more detailed operational information you put in the release notes,
the more often a user will be forced to look in two places to look for
an answer. As a software user, I hate that--don't you?
Zen C said:
> hehe good question about what customers want. I don't think they
> even read it..they are a lazy bunch.
A bit of free advice... be really careful with that attitude. Maybe your
customers are somehow statistically lazier than the general population,
but I can't think why that would be. It's also possible that your
customers avoid reading your docs because they've them unhelpful in the
past.
I have no way of knowing which of these is true, but I do know this: you
can't make your customers less lazy, but you can make your docs better.
Work on the thing that you have some control over. Imagine that your
users are hard-working but *busy*. Help them be successful by not
wasting their time.
Regards
Stuart
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