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So I can get my two pennies in before the week ends. Yes, sentence one is grammatically correct. Yes, context will indicate whether one would recommend or warn/caution and that would affect the structure of the statement. And, like Suzanne, I am accustomed to structuring the information differently. I'm accustomed to tagging the information as a note/caution/warning with formatting to call it out. I'm also used to providing the action and issue (removing the cover causes this particular problem), recommended action (don't do it), and recovery actions in case you didn't heed my hand waving. It may result in more text, but it provides the information the user needs to avoid a problem and recover from the problem if they are reading this information too late in the process.
Interestingly, I find this conversation ties back to the thread about the trends in tech writing where content can be migrating towards a quasi-robotic feel because of single-sourcing and minimalism. I can, and will, write an essay on this based on my experience with migrating content to DITA and increasing the single-sourcing capacity dramatically without destroying the quality of the writing and the users' experience. The writing actually improved during the transition; the variation in styles smoothed out and after the first complete round of documentation releases, the editing process also improved.
They can find this information in the index if they look. They can search for it. They can find it using the structure of the document.
And now, back to my business plan, my blog plans, and my weekend. I'm so happy to be back on this list.
wanda
wetcoastwriter -at- me -dot- com
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