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Subject:Online-only documents From:Betsy Perry <betsyp -at- VNET -dot- NET> Date:Wed, 14 Aug 1996 11:06:25 -0400
Katharine Woods gave a sensible list of online-only documentation issues.
Her list included:
--
1) Where are customers going to get their installation info from?
2) What about background info - is there anything they need to know/
have ready before they install?
3) Can you supply the documentation on the disk in a form that is
readable before they install the product?
--
A corollary to (3) is "Will the online documentation be available if
the product is crashed or unavailable?" If you're documenting a
product, like an operating system or any piece of computer hardware,
that can fail and leave the computer unusable, it is vital to supply
troubleshooting information in non-computer-dependent form.
A customer with a crashed system is already angry; s/he becomes
angrier still if the only explanation of how to recover from a crash
is trapped inside the silent system.
I prefer always to make diagnostic and repair information available on
paper as well as online; this has the side-effect of encouraging the
customer to think about disaster recovery before the disaster strikes.
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