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Johanne Cadorette wondered: <<When indexing interface elements in manuals...
I'm wondering, however, if it would be better to specify what the element
is. Is it a checkbox, setting, tab, window or even a report? This wasn't
really an issue in the past because not that many interface elements were
indexed, but as our product matures and new features are introduced or old
ones change names, we're finding it necessary to include more of them in the
index.>>
First off, congratulations for actually taking the time to think about user
needs--not only are you creating an index, but you're putting the kind of
information in it that readers will benefit from. I suspect that adding
specifiers will prove very useful to readers; I hate hitting the index only
to discover that I'll have to skim 23 pages to find out which one applies to
the specific field that's giving me grief (rather than the dialog box,
button, checkbox, etc. with an identical name). If you have the time to be
this specific, by all means do it. Readers will love you for it.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
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