Re: Preferred Sentence Structure

[Bernd Hutschenreuther <hutschi -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Hi, I think it may depend on the type of document.But usually I would prefer option A, too.
During my work we used the Microsoft style guide as reference. It had a lot of editions, I found one free in the internet.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/style-guide/procedures-instructions/describing-interactions-with-ui


Example:   
   - To open the document in Outline view, selectÂView > Outline.
If the context is clear, you do not need to write it.
In some cases they use option B;   
   - SelectÂUsers + groupsÂto open the blade.
We usually added a third level: Result.
So in the internal style guide of the user guide we had a kind of:
Topic (main topic in the head line)Explanation of the topic (plain text)
(steps)
1. to do... click ...
 ÂThe ... screen opens.
2. Enter the name,

  The system checks whether the name is valid.
3. Click Save to save the values and close the window.

  The system saves the record or rejects the values if they are not valid.


This is just a kind of hypothetical procedure.If the context is clear, you do not need to write it in the first place. ("Click save" explains itself, if you want to read more details, you can read the rest.)

It is possible to write "To save the record, click 'Save' ". But I think here it is better to write using option B.
The base stucture is:
context, step, result.
There is a contradiction you havve to solve:Often the context is the result. But it comes behind the handling.
I would use a kind of time driven style.And I would use a hierarchy, including head lines.
Best regardsBernd    Am Samstag, 29. Dezember 2018, 01:47:24 MEZ hat Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> Folgendes geschrieben:  
 
 This lands squarely in the bin I call "pick one you like and stick with it."

Gene Kim-Eng


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