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.
Obviously a user manual is about operating the user. Isn't that what tech
writing is all about?
It's genius really, write some instructions, user follows them -- and
incidentally they are now using whatever it is I want them to use. (evil
laughter). So yes, I am indeed operating users.
On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 11:02 AM, Kate Schneider
<kateschneider42 -at- gmail -dot- com>wrote:
> "But, I did put some research into the whole user-user's-users' thing, and
> manual vs. guide, and I liked the term guide more than manual -- and then I
> found this explanation: "User's Guide -- Because generally only one user
> has the guide in his hand at one time." <--- LOL. I appreciate this.
>
> So then, is a "user manual" a manual not about the software, but about how
> to operate the user? ;)
>
>
> On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 9:59 AM, Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com>wrote:
>
>> Haha. Nope. We only need one customer. ;) JK.
>>
>> But, I did put some research into the whole user-user's-users' thing, and
>> manual vs. guide, and I liked the term guide more than manual -- and then
>> I
>> found this explanation: "User's Guide -- Because generally only one user
>> has the guide in his hand at one time."
>>
>> And that settled the user-user's-users' decision for me. To each his own!
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 10:55 AM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > User's Guide?
>> >
>> > Hopefully there is more than one person who'll purchase/use your
>> company's
>> > SW. *;<)*
>>
>> >
>> > > Chris
>> >
>> > On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 3:09 PM, Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> >> @ Kate -- well, we have a lot of ESL engineers and programmers, so
>> >> everything..and I mean everything (every little prompt, warning, error
>> >> message) goes through me. Ha! But yes, I'm probably spoiled in the
>> amount
>> >> of control I have :) As far as the rest of the UI, we really only have
>> one
>> >> other wizard, and it's not well documented. Currently, we don't print
>> docs
>> >> for this program, since the User's Guide would be almost 500 8.5 x 11
>> >> pages. Instead, the programmers wrote an in-program "University" that
>> >> walks
>> >> them through everything (in case you're wondering, I write all of those
>> >> tutorials and interface tours too). And you're right, I did already do
>> the
>> >> hard work as far as writing out the text for this wizard!
>> >
>> >
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> Doc-To-Help 2014 v1 now available. SharePoint 2013 support, NetHelp
>> enhancements, and more. Read all about it.
>>
>> Learn more: http://bit.ly/NNcWqS
>>
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kateschneider42 -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
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Kate Schneider
> Cell: 402-214-4887
> Email: kateschneider42 -at- gmail -dot- com
> www.linkedin.com/in/kateschneider/
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doc-To-Help 2014 v1 now available. SharePoint 2013 support, NetHelp enhancements, and more. Read all about it.
