Style, format etc

[Damien Braniff <Damien_Braniff -at- PAC -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

I'm currently trying to put together some sort of proposal for a "company
style guide".  Currently manuals for a product tend to be consistent but
can vary quite a bit from project to project and a standard should make it
easier to check/edit documents.  Has any work/studies etc been done? Best
practice?  What I hope to do is (hard-copy and on-line) :

   Standardise on font, size etc.  To this end I printed out some sample
   paras and circulated for comment - what did people find easy to read.
   All the research I've seen says serif is easier to read and virtually
   everyone so far prefers Swis721 ExBt 10pt - sans serif!

   Lists/bullets - indented or not etc.

   Headings - numbered? differentiated by font/size etc

You know the sort of thing.  I don't want to provide too many different
options - it'll only confuse them.  I thought of doing a "model chapter" as
I would like it, float it for comments and give some of the major options.
All ideas/suggestions welcome.



Damien Braniff

Technical Author, PAC International

And to finish, a quote from Gaius Petronius (AD66):

"We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form
up into teams we would be re-organised. I was to learn later in life that
we tend to meet any new situation by re-organising, and a wonderful method
it can be for creatign the illusion of progress, while producing confusion,
inefficiency and demoralisation"

Sound familiar to anyone?!!

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