Re: RE : More usage: "Open" or "Access" web addresses

["Suzette Leeming" <suzette -dot- leeming -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Well said, Leonard!

I'll be able to sleep at night now, knowing that I'm not breaking any
techwriting cardinal rules, by telling my users to "Select the XYZ option".
I may be somewhat lax, but I think the MOST important thing is to decide on
a style and stick with it; consistency is more important.

I always remember a quote I once heard - The exciting thing about standards
is that there's so many to choose from.

Suzette Leeming
Stouffville, Ontario

PS - I always use "Go to www.blahblahblah.com" because I consider a URL to
be an "address", abeit a virtual one.



On 3/19/08, Leonard C. Porrello <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Some argue that all language is metaphor. In fact, it's not dificult to
> argue that "click" itself is metaphorical. One doesn't click. The "mouse"
> clicks. To be strictly literal, you'd have to say, "apply pressure to the
> left-most button on the top of the mouse until you hear a 'click', then
> release the button." Of course, this begs the question, "does a tree falling
> in a forest make a noise if there is no one to hear it?" In other words,
> "does the mouse really 'click', or is the 'click' merely just a human mental
> construct?"
>
> I don't want to try to settle this issue here. Rather, as a result of
> these considerations, I would suggest there is a continuum between literal
> and metaphorical. While statements that appear to be most literal refer to
> physical acts (e.g., "click"), virtual acts (e.g., opening a combo box in
> a dialog) and mental acts (e.g., reading "words" on a screen) can also be
> considered similarly literal. Therefore, it's not untoward to say "select"
> when instructing a user to choose one of several options, and it's ok to
> tell a user to "go to" a URL. In online help, "Click wwwDOTsampleurlDOTcom"
> and "Go to wwwDOTsampleurlDOTcom" are both fine. In printed docs, however,
> it wouldn't make sense to say, "Click wwwDOTsampleurlDOTcom", and there is
> nothing wrong with saying "Go to wwwDOTsampleurlDOTcom" rather than the more
> literal, "Enter wwwDOTsampleurlDOTcom into the address field of your
> internet browser."
>
> Above and beyond philological and philosophical considerations, one needs
> to consider audience. I totally agree with Ned. What you say depends "on who
> your users are. Find out who needs to do it, and that will tell you a lot
> about whether to give them the baby talk (go to) or the rich heritage
> version (ftp to, or connect to)."
>
>
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