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RE: Opinions, please: Document by the Component or by the Tab?
Subject:RE: Opinions, please: Document by the Component or by the Tab? From:"Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com> To:"Lin Sims" <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:15:36 -0600
Lin Sims wrote:
> I'm documenting a software product that has multiple components, each
> of which can be configured individually through an administration
> screen. The administration screen for the individual components is
> divided into tabs. Many of these tabs repeat over multiple components.
>
> >From a user's perspective, would it be better to document each
> component, repeating the information for the in-common tabs, or would
> it be better to document the tabs and list which components they are
> used in?
Put yourself in the user's place. Would you approach your job by
randomly picking a tab and then looking to see if it's needed for the
component you want to configure? I don't think so.
A list of components that a tab is used in is of virtually no use to
your users. They're going to approach this product from the standpoint
of "How/where do I configure the XYZ component?" -- not "What can I do
with the ABC tab?"
Richard
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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