Re: "The dialog box will appear"

Subject: Re: "The dialog box will appear"
From: John Bell <jbell -at- PARAGREN -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 16:46:40 -0500

At 01:17 PM 3/21/97 -0600, Geoff Hart wrote:

> At the time, there was a slight majority in favor of
> "appears", but I'd like to revisit this debate and get some
> more feedback on the issue. Are we choosing one over the
> other based on urban legend, or based on established,
> successful techniques? I'm particularly interested in
> feedback based on usability studies or published cognitive
> psychology work... "facts", not just personal preferences.
> (Please provide references, if any!)


I get around the whole issue by saying "To display the XYZ dialog box, ....."
I have been told to always write in the present tense, thus "will appear" is
not allowed because it is future.
--- John Bell
jbell -at- paragren -dot- com

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


Previous by Author: Re: Getting the programmers to come to you
Next by Author: Chicago IE Workshop Announcement
Previous by Thread: Re: "The dialog box will appear"
Next by Thread: "The dialog box will appear"


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads