RE: How many levels of indents and heads are reasonable?

["Van Laan, Krista" <KVanlaan -at- verisign -dot- com>]

Responding to Geoff Hart's posting, although I am taking all responses
into account:

> Krista Van Laan wondered: <<Are there any guidelines anywhere for  
> what is a reasonable number of headers and indents?>>

I should have said "heading levels" here, not "headers." :^) 

> 
> No definitive guidelines, but the "magic number 7" may be 
> appropriate  
> here. 

Interesting thought and my personal reaction is that it seems like an
awful lot. We do not number our headings, so we depend on visual cues
such as size, left-alignment, and font to show what the level is. I can
see that one could get away with many more levels if headings are
numbered because the user wouldn't have to learn so many different
visual cues, and there isn't as much of a risk of many changing fonts
and sizes.

<snipped some more stuff about heading hierarchies>

> 
> Nonetheless, it's clear to me that fewer levels is better than more  
> levels, and I've always worked hard to keep my hierarchies to 3  
> levels, with a maximum of around 4 levels if pressed. This may not  
> always be possible if you're working with a really complex body of  
> information, but there are all kinds of tricks you can use to do  
> this. 

I feel this way, too. I am proposing to cut out levels 5-8 in a template
and was asked to reconsider and give the template fair consideration. 

I realize that my objections to many levels of headings and many
indentations may be really subjective. I have a visual objection -- I
think a large number of heading levels and indents causes too much
zigzagging and is unpleasant visually, as well as creating too much work
for the user. I also object to a huge list of tags in FrameMaker or
Word, because I don't think it's an efficient way to work. The writer
has to comb through many tags to find the one he or she wants, and can
end up applying a new tag to every line in some cases.  

I wanted to consider all points of view before making decisions about a
template that will be shared across teams and an issue that is very
important to some writers, so thought it would be good to discuss with
TECHWR-L.

> 
> <<This layout will show up in online help and PDF documents.>>
> 
> That introduces a further complication: in print, it's easier 
> to flip  
> pages without losing your place if you want to review where you are  
> in a hierarchy. I have seen some evidence that more complex  
> hierarchies can be comprehended on paper than is possible on the  
> screen. But I'd have to do some serious digging to find the articles  
> that demonstrate this.
> 
>
If you ever can think of where you may have heard this, let me know! I'd
love to learn more about that. 

Thanks, everyone,

 Krista
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.