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Generically speaking, please *PLEASE* avoid manually formatting a doc with things like Ctrl+B to apply bold, Ctrl+I to apply italics, and Ctrl+U to apply underline, and soft returns. Set up a specific style for the appearance you want. Any time you want to do manual formatting, think about the overhead of manually maintaining that formatting and verifying that your soft returns didn't throw off your pagination. Additionally, think about the Tech Writer who is going to get your manuals after you're gone. Do you want to leave them a mess with a bunch of manually applied styles and soft returns to control formatting? Better, do you want to inherit a mess from someone else?
I can speak from my personal experience. I inherited a mess nearly a decade ago. The mess included soft page returns, Ctrl+B/I/U for bold/italics/underline, section breaks for no reason, manually typing the TOC and using hyperlinks, bookmarks, and cross-references instead of using styles... Define styles in a template.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Susan W Gallagher
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 11:41 AM
To: Shannon Wade
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Hard vs. Soft return
Generally speaking, you'd use a soft return any time you want individual
lines of text to be treated as a single paragraph. For example, if you're
writing a formal letter, you'd use soft returns within the inside address.
-Sue Gallagher
On 6/30/08, Shannon Wade <SWade -at- daktronics -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Random question that I'm sure will generate some heated debate.
>
> I'm using Word 2007 for manuals. I know. Throw things at me later. My
> question is:
>
> Disregarding software manuals, would there be a reason, other than avoiding
> leaving a single word on a line, to use a soft return? I write only product
> manuals (e.g. Insert tab A into slot B for honziwiggle products.) I know
> that there are benefits to using soft returns for software manuals, but,
> again, I don't write software manuals. Please help settle this debate.
>
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Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
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