Re: Displays vs. Appears

[Lou Quillio <quillio -at- gmail -dot- com>]

<jayaseelan -dot- pannirselvam -at- ite -dot- com -dot- au> wrote:

> "When you click the Home page icon, the Techwhirler Home page
> displays"

"Click the home page icon to display the Techwhirler home page."

or

"Click the home page icon to view the Techwhirler home page."

Eleven words versus thirteen, active verb first, no ambiguity.  And
the second one cuts [out] a syllable.  ;)

"Open" is okay, but you'll probably need it elsewhere to describe a
different action, like "opening" a file for editing.  If you've used
"open" to mean both "view" and "open" -- and the references are close
together -- some folks are thrown-off ...

... or their misunderstandings perpetuate.  It's astonishing how many
consumers misunderstand basic UI metaphors, especially in a network
context.  There are still folks who say "My website is
`lousajerk -at- example -dot- com`", or "I'm on Netscape.  What are you on?"
(this before there was a branded Netscape ISP service:  they equated
their browser software choice with their network connection).  Similar
misapprehensions are still out there, and we rarely know it.

Luckily we don't have to define "click" any more.  "Right-click" is
another story.

LQ

ps.  Coupla ten-dollar words in there, for kicks.

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