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.
In response to a complaint that "a PDF document that explains how to set up
cross-references in a third-party application, so that our application can
query it for data" is too long. Debbi Crum asked for "suggestions on how to
make a document more compact, so I can get the same amount of information in
a smaller "package."
__________________________________________
Debbi:
Given that there is a lot of hopping back and forth between two different
applications, I think I'd try a landscape layout using a two-column table
with the steps involving your app in one column and the 3rd party app in the
other. This may result in some cells in both columns being blank, as the
steps shifted back and forth between the apps, but this will eliminate all
the verbiage telling the user to change apps, and might shorten the document
to fewer pages over all.. HTH
Margaret Cekis, Johns Creek GA
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork, communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1lRPd2l