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Organizing single user guide for multiple editions of software?
Subject:Organizing single user guide for multiple editions of software? From:"Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 16 Aug 2001 10:40:54 -0400
Jennifer Westerberg reports: <<The software being documented can be
purchased in either the "standard" edition or the "professional" edition
(the professional edition containing more features). For several reasons,
the user guide needs to contain information and instructions for both
editions. Presently, the instructions for professional features are
incorporated into the guide with the standard edition features, with a
notation that "XXX is available in Professional Editions only".>>
This sounds like quite reasonable design. If someone doesn't need to use a
feature (e.g., because they don't have it), they'll probably never see the
text that describes that feature; normal people (as opposed to us <g>)
rarely browse manuals looking for odd or unusual features. Conversely, if
they absolutely need a feature, they'll find information on how to do so,
and that how-to information may include "upgrade to the pro edition". As a
user, I'd also like to see information on how to accomplish a task if I
don't have the pro edition, even if it'll take me longer or be much more
painful; even if I can afford the pro version, I won't always have the
option of waiting for it to arrive in the mail.
<<My concern though is that when someone upgrades from standard to
professional, these instructions will be hard to find - I hate the thought
of the user having to reread the whole thing, just looking for those
notations.>>
If your index and table of contents are at all useful, this scenario should
never arise. When they need the instruction, all they do is turn to the
index to find out where you've placed it in the manual. One thing that would
be appropriate is what you called the "When You Upgrade appendix"; this is a
nice way to inform users what new features they now have available. You
might also consider shipping this as a "read me first" document that
accompanies the upgrade, since many users won't ever discover that the
Appendix exists. This document might simply refer to the existing appendix,
thereby minimizing its production cost.
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
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