TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
We sell an encryption appliance that is meant to live in a standard equipment rack in a server room.
In the maintenance section, I had this sentence, which must have seemed ok when I originally wrote it, but which now seems fishy.
"In normal operation , each power supply (back panel right corner, as you face the rear of the appliance) shows a green LED, indicating proper function."
I'm sure it can be critiqued for other reasons (go ahead...) but I'm interested in how best to refer to the orientation and location of parts on a piece of equipment.
Is it "standard" to locate stuff (like rooms and features of a house, or parts of an appliance) by referring to the overall item (equipment, building, etc.) as though the reader is facing it front on? Or should it matter, as long as you specify the point-of-view in the current situation?
In this case, I'm referring to basically exterior orientation and location. This is not the kind of huge and/or intricate equipment where you need a 3D co-ordinate system to guide a mechanic/tech into the bowels of the beast. Just a couple of power supplies and a trio of fans that are externally accessible and are hot-swappable. And loud... :-)
Anyway, my current deadlines are not frantically critical, so apparently I'm allowing myself the luxury of second-guessing myself.
Thanks,
Kevin McLauchlan
Senior Technical Writer
SafeNet, Inc.
--
The information contained in this electronic mail transmission
may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected
from disclosure. If you have received this communication in
error, please notify us immediately by replying to this
message and deleting it from your computer without copying
or disclosing it.
Gain access to everything you need to create and publish documentation,
manuals, and other information through multiple channels. Choose
authoring (and import) as well as virtually any output you may need. http://www.doctohelp.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
