TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Online or print for SDK material? From:"Sean Brierley" <sbri -at- haestad -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 30 Dec 2002 16:17:39 -0500
If your product is subject to change, patches, updates, and is generally
not long-haul stable, ship only online documentation that can be updated
by a download or as part of a product patch.
Otherwise, if the SDK is going to be stable for a good while, and noting
that your user base doesn't have a strong opinion, then ship only the
online stuff. Firstly, SDK folks are likely to be more comfortable with
online docs than most populations. Secondly, see if they scream, and if
so, how loud, before re-evaluating the need for print. And, if the wheel
don't squeak, don't grease it.
We're going to be doing our first SDK shortly. I'm going to try to pry a
preference out of the part of our user base we have access to, but
they're not the most communicative bunch. While I gird for the struggle,
I was wondering if anyone here had experience that would back up or
destroy my gut feeling that users of this material will primarily do so
online? Lots of reference stuff, code samples, the kitchen sink....
In either case I would like to provide both formats but there may be
design considerations that get more thought given one vs. the other.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!
Order RoboHelp X3 in December and receive $100 mail in rebate, FREE WebHelp
Merge Module and the new RoboPDF - add powerful PDF output functionality
to RoboHelp X3. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
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.
