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.
I disagree with your use of "screens". I'd say "dialogs" or views or use some app-specific / plug-in-specific term, according to what is going on in whatever part of the visual real estate, but not "screens" if I could help it.
Most of the time, an application (webbish or otherwise) is presenting material for consumption - in which case I'd say "page" or "pdf" or "video" or "game" or "widget" (as you mentioned) or whatever seemed to fit - or it is asking for interaction in a dialog of some description (a simple one-or-two buttons, or a more complicated form of some kind).
As far as I'm concerned, "screen" - in the sense of what is displayed on the physical device - went out with monochrome terminals interacting with main-frame apps. When you finished filling fields, you hit [Enter] and the entire content of the display - a screenful - was replaced with whatever came next. There are other, better, more specific terms that fit the individual situation in modern apps and web pages.
If the wall-to-wall appearance changes, then "page" is a good term.
If much of the presentation remains static while a small portion is active, then window or frame or dialog or... or... but not "screen".
Of course, opinions are like _______s. Everybody's got one. :-)
And I've been wrong before. But not today, as it happens, so this might be my big shot at being wrong for the day.
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Despopoulos
Sent: January-21-13 8:10 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Page or screen?
Lots of interesting issues here...
First, I don't agree that MS Style Guide says this is a page:
=========
page
Refers to one of a collection of web documents that make up a website. Use page to refer to the page the user is on, that is, the particular document, or to a specific page such as the home page or start page.
Also, use page instead of screen to refer to an individual screen within a wizard.
=========
As the original question points out, the "page" (the web "document", or that which has a specific URL) *contains* the application, but the application has a series of different "screens" within it. When you change screens you don't change the URL (the container), and the browser doesn't store these screen changes in its history. I would say these widgets are whatever the application lexicon calls them... Views, tabs, or even screens. But they are NOT pages, and the *browser* lexicon doesn't apply, IMO.
What's interesting here is that the line between application and content is getting hazy. For technical writers this is a good thing. That this question comes up, and that (no matter who's right or wrong, or if there IS a right or wrong) you can argue completely different answers, says that the presentation side of an application is increasingly coming into the content domain... Literally, and not just figuratively.
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.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
See what's new in Doc-To-Help 2012 in a free webcast:
Read all about them: http://bit.ly/C1-webcast
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
