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:Re: Pros or Cons of Section Numbering From:"Parks, Beverly L." <parksb -at- HUACHUCA-EMH7 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> Date:Fri, 30 Aug 1996 07:55:00 MST
----------
Susan W. Gallagher wrote:
>>
And the answer is...
It depends on the users!
But, you knew that, didn't you??? ;-)
In general, the more technical the audience, and the more technical
and cross-referenced the manual, the more "user-friendly" section
numbers become.
<snip>
<<
You hit on two reasons there: audience and material. I think the material
is the deciding factor, more so than the audience in this case.
If you use lots of subheadings and the text under those subheadings is
short (less than a full page), then it is simple just to refer to the
heading and page number; i.e., see Installing the Widget on page 2.
OTOH, if you have multiple pages of text underneath a single heading,
then paragraph numbering may be necessary. Having only numbered headings
won't be any more help than unnumbered headings in this case.
Bev Parks
parksb -at- huachuca-emh7 -dot- army -dot- mil
TECHWR-L List Information
To send a message about technical communication to 2500+ list readers,
E-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send administrative commands
ALL other questions or problems concerning the list
should go to the listowner, Eric Ray, at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-