RE: Coordinating Field Defs and Procedural Info

["Patterson, Jan" <Jan -dot- Patterson -at- esph -dot- com>]

Okay, "Waddya say...throw a scribe a bone!" made me grin, and that's a
good thing.

The software products for which I currently write documentation are
fairly simple and straight forward. The user audiences are regular
working folks, probably not strongly computer literate -- know just
enough to get their jobs done.

For the documentation, some basic conceptual information is included in
preliminary paragraphs. The procedures themselves include just enough
information about the fields to answer most any question the end-user
may have when completing the fields. Cross-references are included, when
appropriate.

>From my perspective, the way information is handled depends on the type
and complexity of the product and the level of use and experience of the
user audiences. I've documented much more complex systems that required
a different approach than what I'm currently using. Hmmmmm, that boils
down to "it depends," but there it is. Hope the info helps.


jan.
jan e patterson
sr technical writer - environmental systems products - tucson, az

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jan -dot- patterson=esph -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jan -dot- patterson=esph -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Hickling, Lisa (TOR)
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 1:21 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Coordinating Field Defs and Procedural Info


C'mon guys...I'm fishing for some perspective here! I apologize if this
subject falls short of insightful but I *really* *could* use further
comment.

Undoubtedly, solutions to ethical dilemmas abound on "working-wounded"
sites; tool-specific suggestions flow freely from tool-focused forums;
and in any circle, clever musings are, by dozen, $0.02 in person and a
dime via email. However, where else can a whirler bask in the yummy
mechanics of structuring user documentation? 

Waddya say...throw a scribe a bone!

Lisa H.

-----Original Message-----
Do you describe fields directly in procedures as in "Enter the number of
units suggested by the XYW widgets in the _XYZ Amount_ field"-then
provide no further field descriptions as reference elsewhere in
documentation?

-or-

Do you provide a detailed description of fields in a central location
either per subject heading or perhaps in an appendix-then follow through
in procedures with an expedient "Enter an _XYZ Amount_" or "Enter a
value in the _XYZ Amount_ field", providing a hyperlink from the
procedure page to the field descriptions? 

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