Re: Footnotes - acceptable in technical documentation?

[Alec Chakenov <alec -dot- chakenov -at- gmail -dot- com>]

My opinion is that footnotes should not be used, they do distract users.


2013/11/8 Scott Bulloch <scott -dot- bulloch -at- gmail -dot- com>

> At my company, we don't use footnotes in regular instructional text. Our
> practice for stuff like that is to indent a note icon (like a light bulb
> for tips or a yield sign for cautions) and a paragraph or so of text.
>
> As far as tables go, I have seen table footnotes, but lately, the practice
> has been more toward putting such information in a Comments cell in the
> row.
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 8, 2013 at 9:10 AM, Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com
> >wrote:
>
> > Looking at the MS Manual of Style 4, there are a few references to
> > table footnotes, no mention of regular footnotes.
> >
> > There's also one reference that seems to presume the writer is using
> > Word to edit WinHelp source: "Also, cross-references (See and See
> > also) are limited to normal keywords that jump directly to the topic
> > that contains the K (keyword) footnote with that keyword."
> >
> >
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> > authoring.
> >
> > Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
> >
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> > You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as scott -dot- bulloch -at- gmail -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
> >
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as alec -dot- chakenov -at- gmail -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
>


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

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

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