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Subject:RE: Using "Tip" and "Note" in procedure writing From:Steve Shepard <STEVES -at- YARDI -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 1 May 2001 08:53:36 -0700
> From: Christian Walters writes:
> We're still re-working our style guide around here, and we
> have a bunch of
> standards for "tips" and "notes" and "examples" and
> "important information"
> and "cautions" and "warnings," etc.
>
> My view is that the difference between the labels "tip" and "note" and
> "information," et al, might be too subtle to be meaningful
> for the average
> user. My solution is to not use those words at all, but
> replace it with a
> word or short phrase that is more descriptive of the actual
> information --
> such as "Prerequisite" or "Admins Only" or whatever.
>
> And, as usual, I am meeting resistance :)
Well, I don't have the Jared Spool proceedings or know of any particular
studies. But, I can tell you what we have done. I had created a font that we
used for bulleted text. It had note, tips, and warning symbols ("i" with a
circle around it, light bulb, and warning triangle). But recently, we have
ditched all but the warning. In almost all cases, the notes and tips were
really just part of the text and trying to make them stand out just muddied
the layout and we believed people just skipped over them. I know I skip over
these kinds of things in reading manuals. I think part of the reason is they
interrupt the flow of text I am trying to read, so I just skip over them to
keep with the flow.
We still you the warnings and emphasize at the beginning of the manuals that
these are important warnings.
_________________________________
Steven Shepard
Manager, Documentation Group
Yardi Systems, Inc.
819 Reddick Avenue
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
805/966-3822
steves -at- yardi -dot- com
www.yardi.com
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