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.
Subject:Standard conventions for navigation From:Wm Blank <wmblank -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 10 Jul 1995 17:28:57 -0700
Hello all.
My team is about to begin work on a user guide for a new program. We're
wondering if there is a standard convention or style guide for common
actions one performs onscreen.
For examples, 1) does one "Click" or "Select" his/her choice?
Or 2) is there a standard way to say, "Click (or select) the little
arrow to the right of the combo box to pull down the list from which
you select, etc"?
Or, 3) what does one do with scroll bars? Scroll? Hold down the mouse
on the down arrow of the scroll bar until you see...
I don't want specific answers to these few examples. I want to know if
Microsoft (or anyone else) has evolved a style guide to describe the
common actions one performs at the user interface.