Style guide and/or templates for Technical Instructions

[Paul Abbot <datapanix -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Hi,


I've been elected to create and maintain instructional documentation
for using various software development tools, like Visual Studio and
JBuilder.  Most of the instructions are of the form "open C++ --> go to
File --> Click New.. --> type filename.txt" with most of the steps
requiring a checkbox-like bullet so the person following can check off
each step.


I'd like to set up a common template to provide a unified look
throughout the documentation.  Is there a guideline, or templates,
available that can provide information about this.  Things like should
the font change to, say, courier if the user must type something in?
Or like should the text break when the instruction calls to click a
button or select a menu?


I've been told (not a directive, but a suggestion) that "less is more"
and to not throw 16 different fonts and typesizes in the document.  And
while I can agree with not overdoing it, I'm looking at a doc that I
have started that has *no* formatting, just plain text, and I find it
very hard to follow.  There is no distinction between the text that
says "do this" and the text that says what the user is actually
supposed to do.


I'm using MS Word, but I'm enough of a geek to be willing to dive into
more beefy stuff like latex.  Any insights would be most appreciated!
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