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FWIW, in the books I've worked on for Pearson Education (Sams and QUE
Publishing), they strictly enforce these image rules: The description of
what the figure is/shows comes first, with no "above or below" reference
(since the page layout may throw a figure anywhere), followed by the image
with a numbered caption (Chapter.Figure), but with additional information.
Thus, something like this (actual example):
The installer asks what type of web server you are running and how PHP
should relate to it. Choose the Apache 2.2.x Module (as shown in Figure
16.1) and click Next.
Figure 16.1 Connect your new PHP installation with the Apache server.
So I don't think numbered captions are that dated.
Mike McCallister
In stores now: 2nd Edition of "WordPress in Depth" (with Bud Smith)
Notes from the Metaverse: http://metaverse.wordpress.com
On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 2:30 PM, Combs, Richard
<richard -dot- combs -at- polycom -dot- com>wrote:
> Kay A. Pentecost wrote:
>
> > As for clicking the link, the users reading this will probably have a
> > paper copy. Old-fashioned, I know, but that's how it works here.
>
> In that case, by all means ignore the people who don't like numbered
> captions (or nouns, for Pete's sake). Use cross-references along the lines
> of "see Figure x on page y" and put a List of Figures in the frontmatter
> after the Table of Contents.
>
> "Know your audience and purpose."
>
> Richard G. Combs
> Senior Technical Writer
> Polycom, Inc.
> richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
> 303-223-5111
> ------
> rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
> 303-903-6372
> ------
>
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