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.
RE: Online help for GUI/web-based config app of HW telecom products
Subject:RE: Online help for GUI/web-based config app of HW telecom products From:Erika Yanovich <ERIKA_y -at- rad -dot- com> To:Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com> Date:Sun, 1 May 2016 06:48:33 +0000
I agree with you. The funny thing is that when the config app is detached from the product, they are OK with Help (already delivering). They fail to see the value when in the "client-server configuration utility with the server running on the appliance".
Erika
-----Original Message-----
Seems like a cultural shift that they're failing to make. They're used to command-line setup with PDF docs, and don't understand why a GUI makes a difference.
If the GUI is just a wrapper around a CLI output and input, then PDF-only still makes sense. If the GUI is the client in a client-server configuration utility with the server running on the appliance, then it would be weird not to have online help.
When I've written / maintained such docs, we always distributed as PDF as well, so service techs and customers could look at them when the device was offline or unreachable.
On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 9:14 PM, Erika Yanovich <ERIKA_y -at- rad -dot- com> wrote:
> ... business equipment bought by large service providers, deployed in their networks. Our target audience is techs who install and configure such equipment, usually via CLI, but sometimes via GUI. ..
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | http://techwhirl.com