RE: Step structure (was RE: a question about verb tense/is or was?)

["Steve Hudson" <steve -at- wright -dot- com -dot- au>]

The problem I find with this is it isnt actually telling you to do anything.

Its merely stating that action a will lead to result a. I prefer to tell the
user what to do.


Steve Hudson
Lead Technical Writer
Wright Technologies (Aus)
steve -at- www -dot- wright -dot- com -dot- au
(612) 9518-1822
The best way to predict the future... is to create it!



-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-62124 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-62124 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Sharon
Burton-Hardin
Sent: Friday, 23 March 2001 04:00
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Step structure (was RE: a question about verb tense/is or
was?)


Except it tells the user WHY they want to do it, which may be/usually is
very important info. I have seen users just glance at the instructions, see
the first part of the sentence and do it. Then they wonder why this is
happening.

To delete your file, click Delete.
To delete your entire database, click Delete All.

The reason you are doing these is important to know BEFORE you do it.

sharon


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems 
Available 4/30/01 at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15.  http://ieeepcs.org/2001/

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.