Using document conventions from the MS Manual

Subject: Using document conventions from the MS Manual
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM>
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 20:16:59 -0500

Katherin King [SMTP:kking -at- BROOKTROUT -dot- COM] wrote:

>Do most TW's follow Microsoft's conventions?

I think most people use it as a starting point, not as Sacred Writ.

On the one hand, the MS Manual of Style can be very useful if you need
the name of a screen object. It also gives good advice; I believe it's
the source of my preference for "drop-down list" rather than "combo box"
in end-user documentation.

On the other hand, some of its suggestions are more idosyncratic, or
seem an attempt to create standardization. Like a dictionary that tries
to be more than descriptive, the MS Manual can safely be ignored in such
cases if you've got a way that's more suitable for the subject.

--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
(bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com) (604) 421-7189 or 687-2133 X. 269
http://www.axionet.com/outlawcommunications

"Then fareweel ye banks o' Sicily,
Fare ye weel ye valley an' shaw,
There's nae Jock will mourn the kyles o' ye,
Puir bluidie swaddies are weary."
- Hamish Henderson,
"The 51st Division's Farewell to Sicily"




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