RE: paper documentation vs. online help
<SNIP>
Others on this list will tell you that you should only include theory of
operation and procedural documentation in the print manual and only include
reference documentation in the online help but I've got a fundamental
disagreement with that approach. I believe in providing complete
documentation in both print and online help, especially when you've got an
incredibly complex product. I've stated often on this list that I believe
users will look for information exactly once, and in the form of document
that they prefer to use, be it print or online help. If they can't find
what they're looking for in the first place they look for it, they'll pick
up the phone and call tech support.
Our objective as technical writers should be to provide what the customer
wants in whatever form we're able to provide it and hopefully, if we've
done our jobs right, the kids in tech support spend most of their days
playing Quake.
Of course, the downside of my approach is that you end up with a much
larger (and costlier) printed manual but I look at that as a cost of doing
business. Look at the price per seat for copies of your product... let's
say you charge your customers $1,000 a pop. If it costs you $10 per copy
for a printed manual, that's only 1% of the retail price of the product...
certainly not excessive if you ask me.
</SNIP>
Mike,
Well, I agree with your approach, but only to certain limit.
I still maintain that Help systems are that, HELP. Not online documentation. If you want an online book, make it a PDF file. If you want Help systems, then make it help the user with what they are doing. Tell them how to wind the watch, not how to build it, or any theories about time. Help systems should always be context-sensitive, they should always tell the user what, when where, how, and quantity for what the user is doing. They shouldn't have to guess.
But the content that goes into a printed manual, even if it is online, does not belong in a Help system.
They are different media. They answer diffenent needs. They should have different content, if only in amount and detail.
Scott
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