Re: Installation Instructions & Screen Captures

[Jane Bergen <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM>]

On 20 Mar 97 at 10:49, Michael Barwick wrote:

> Item 1:
> I'm working on instructions for a piece of software.  What's the
> consensus about how thorough the installation instructions ought to
> be? I've been working on the assumption that every step of the

Our installations use Windows 95 wizards, so I do NOT document every
step. Each wizard page has complete instructions...anything I could
say would only be redundant. If I didn't use wizards, then I would
probably document more. I've seen lots of negative comments on this
list about documenting too many screen shots, but we've found our
users want and expect that. It gives them the warm fuzzies to be able
to look at a screen shot and know that this is indeed the right
screen/window/result, etc.

> Item 2:
> These instructions will be posted to a website and even if I cut
> down the level of detail, I'm still going to have to include some
> screen captures.  My supervisor has specified  that screen captures
> should keep to a width of 400.  My problem is that virtually all the

What are you using as your HTML editor? I have used Paint Shop Pro as
a graphics editor, then inserted the picture into Word and resized it
with fair results (not for HTML). I think your success here will
depend upon your editor, though.

Good luck.

Jane Bergen
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 "my opinions are my own..."
 Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
 janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
 AnswerSoft, Inc.   Dallas, TX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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