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Subject:advice on writing tutorials From:"Jessica N. Lange" <jlange -at- OEE -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 5 Aug 1999 13:05:44 -0400
Current project: Reference manual.
The product has several modules, some fairly complex
for the user's ability. While they'll get human-being training
onsite (& phone support), not every task will be covered
in depth during training.
So, I'm going to include tutorials on a few of the more
obscure modules (ones I expect the trainer will gloss over
as something the user will never do. Never say never!)
Since I've never before written a tutorial, I'm
asking for any advice or tips anyone who has written
tutorials might care to share.
BTW---Output: _Paper_ only
An example of what I'm puzzling over is how much detail
I need to repeat. If in step 4, I detail all sub-steps, then if
step 5 starts out in a similar manner as step 4, can I
"short-cut" what I say? To explain further, in step 5 could
I say "Group the objects" if in step 4 explains how to do
that? To me it seems logical to do this, but it sure isn't
consistent!
If it helps, the tutorial is similar to showing how to create,
in MS Access, a form or report. Lots of steps, each one pretty
easy.
As always, thanks for any advice, tips, or comments!
Jessica
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Jessica N. Lange mailto:jlange -at- oee -dot- com
Technical Communicator, Ohio Electronic Engravers, Inc.
