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.
> Would you say that all the 3rd party software
> like firebird etc. should be in the manual for the sake of having a
> complete set-up manual, or not?
Not sure if your question refers to whether you should document how to
install a third party product or if you are including third party
documentation in your install guide.
If you are copying info from an external document - then you are likely
violating the other party's copyright. Obviously, that's a problem.
Even if you are writing new instructions - I would generally recommend
against this. There are certain liabilities and responsibilities involved
with what you document. Definitely discuss this with your legal
department. And be aware that your customers will believe that you are
responsible for the installation of an external product. If your customers
have problems with installing (or perhaps even working with) the 3rd party
product, your Help Desk will likely hear about it.
However, I would recommend providing unique information that users need to
know for them to successfully work with & install all products. (Install
product A before product B. After install, copy files to X directory,
etc.)
In a past position, we included third-party documentation (with
permission) on our CDs. You may be able to get permission to include a PDF
or to redistribute their docs.
ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
