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I worked at a place where the philosophy was write once in one place, and link to the information where necessary. It meant that our readers had assimilate little bits of information from multiple places. We eventually found that they couldn't accomplish what they needed to using our information, surprise, surprise.
The reason we wrote that way was to reduce translation costs. We weren't able to reuse information in XML at that time. Not very customer service oriented.
And we all could learn about how to make our information more usable. Being defensive and saying it's the SMEs fault doesn't get us anywhere.
Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote: I don't disagree with all of the following:
"When you have to look in five different places to find the answer to
how to do one simple process, something's wrong. It's your tech
writers. No, I don't care if you've helpfully given another 5-10 links
in a Help topic or a reference in a manual to where one can find more;
that's stupid. It should be in the same spot. Computers are supposed to
be about efficiency, remember? Instead, use some of those much-vaunted
brains and hire some folks who are professionals at writing manuals and
textbooks, like college professors who've done similar and so on, and
have them write the manuals. People are going to have to buy a book
with actual step-by-step lessons, or take a class in how to do things
anyway, and you're idiots who are losing a ton of money by thinking
tech writing = normal people learning. No. It doesn't. "
I don't think the solution is to stop hiring technical writers, but
maybe it is to raise the bar on technical writer standards and the
struggle to get information from SMEs. Technical writing can clearly be
improved. Most manuals I read are somewhere from awful to mediocre. I
can't blame the profession, because that's like saying that all humans
are bad because some litter, maim, smoke menthols and cheat.
--- John Cook wrote:
> Let's test that. Convince your companies to hire college professors
> to
> write your Help and let's see how long that lasts.
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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