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Re: Documentation by FAQ (was: Question marks in titles?)

Subject: Re: Documentation by FAQ (was: Question marks in titles?)
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 09:29:57 -0800


Lisa Wright wrote:

Information is buried two or three levels deep; sometimes the user has
to identify the category the question might be in before they can see the questions. On the surface, it *appears* to be task-oriented because the questions supposedly answer the user's need to *do* something. In reality, it inhibits the user's ability to find out how to do anything. (Part of this is the larger structure of our site, as well.)

Might I suggest that this is the key sentence in your posting? Perhaps the problem isn't with the FAQ format as such, but in the lack of structure in the existing one. With some rearranging and organization of the FAQ into new sections, perhaps it would be adequate.

One way to view FAQs is as the rough stuff of manuals. At a certain point, there are enough questions and enough sections that a manual can emerge.

--
Bruce Byfield
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

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References:
Documentation by FAQ (was: Question marks in titles?): From: Lisa Wright

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