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Re: Re[2]: Conventions, Intros, Overviews, Help, etc.
Subject:Re: Re[2]: Conventions, Intros, Overviews, Help, etc. From:Nora Merhar <nmerhar -at- CHARLESINDUSTRIES -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 29 May 1998 10:48:42 -0500
> So, how would you handle explaining that "select File>Exit" means to
select
> the file command, then select the Exit command from the File command
> drop-down list? Would you just spell it out at each individual step
in the
> instructions (thereby making the steps seem long and unruly)? Or
just
> explain the convention once somewhere? And if you choose the latter
option,
> where would you do that?
I am not currently doing any software user guides, but when I was
doing them, I could assume a certain amount of knowledge on the part
of my audience--a familiarity with computers and software, and with
user guides--and I always simply wrote "Select File-->Exit" without
explaining the convention ANYWHERE.
I always included, at the beginning of the manual, a section that said
something like "The conventions in this document assume a basic
knowledge of Windows software, blah blah blah."
If you have *really* basic users, you would have to spell it out for
them everywhere anyway.
Nora Merhar
nmerhar -at- charlesindustries -dot- com
