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.
Subject:FW: NON-DELIVERY of: Trigger From:"Sandy, Corinne" <CHS8 -at- CPSOD1 -dot- EM -dot- CDC -dot- GOV> Date:Thu, 29 Dec 1994 09:33:00 EST
----------
Rosie wrote: "Toolbar [sic] buttons allow you to select the commands you
may use
most frequently without having to go through the menus."
I prefer the rewrite. My documentation would probably contain this type of
statement: Selecting functions through a toolbar is an efficient
alternative to navigating through menu options. As a point of style, you
have "you" in your sentence twice, which lengthens it considerably. It
needs tightening (e.g., Use toolbar buttons, instead of menu options, to
select commands (or something like that) 20 words v 10 )
I refer to the "commands" on the toolbars as "functions." The GUI
Standards indicate refer to the "commands" as "tasks." (i.e., "Provide a
utility for allowing a user to assign icons to frequently used tasks and
thus customize the tool bar.")