[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
[Author Index (this month)][Thread Index (this month)][Top of Archive]

Re: Word Headings

Subject: Re: Word Headings
From: "Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
To: "Tech Writers" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:01:23 -0400

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 23:07:11 -0400, Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:

I don't understand the problem. Just don't use them. Or am I missing something?

As far as I can tell, the difficulty, not seen by many of the participants in a multi-contributor documentation effort, is separation of standard presentation from content. If the style requires: "Use no more than two levels of header, H1 and H2," then someone STILL is going to use H3 and H4. Enforcement becomes then a task that has to be performed at the very last minute, rather than something that occurs naturally as part of the writing process.

The best enforcement of style I ever encountered was in a Unix shop that used troff--it's a markup tool, not a wysiwyg--and every markup command was taken from an official set of troff macros defined by a team we might call STYLECOMM. Writers and developers could not add anything or use raw troff. Need another kind of heading? Put in a formal request! IIRC, STYLECOMM was just two people, an editor and a troff guru. The decisions were local, not "Made in Redmond."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and more.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/12LyN2z

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives

Previous by Author: Re: Hiring TW without a test
Next by Author: An interview question
Previous by Thread: Re: Word Headings
Next by Thread: Re: LinkedIn

[Top of Archive] | [Author Index (this month)] | [Thread Index (this month)]

What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:

Sponsored Ads