Re: TECHWR-L Digest - 28 Feb 1997 to 1 Mar 1997

[Russ Shade <rshade -at- FAST -dot- NET>]

>Philip Brooke asks:
>
>>>
> What is the correct terminology for describing a menu selection?
>
> Is it:
>         Select Exit FROM the menu
>         Select Exit ON the menu
>         Select Exit IN the menu


I use  "Open the X Menu and choose Exit"

I don't use "select" because that term is also what Microsoft uses when it
means "highlight a selection."

I try to take MS's style suggestions with a grain of salt.  I've never
liked their documentation much, and
their style has some ambiguous features that turn me off.   For example, I
don't use "pulldown" (see the little guy living in the computer pull down
the menu).... if I want to identify a menu that opens up into a list, I
call it a "drop down" because that's what happens when I click on the menu
title.

What's more important, in my humble opinion, is that you use conventions
that are consistent throughout the document (or throughout ALL the
documents you write for a given employer).   And, if you write many
documents for your employer, you have just stumbled on a valuable reason
for writing a style guide.


Russ Shade
Technical Writer
Users, Incorporated
Valley Forge, PA
rshade -at- fast -dot- net

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html