Re: Can Someone Give Me a Quick and Dirty Outline for a Technical Manual

["Jane Bergen" <jbergen1 -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

Wouldn't this depend on what you are writing the manual for and what
kind of software you're documenting? Instead of trying to fit the
manual to a mold, consider making a new mold for the manual. In other
words, think first about who you want to write it for (not their
titles, such as "programmer," but their functions), and then what they
will do with your document (train others? configure software for
inhouse? for clients? troubleshoot? test the application?).

Then, once you understand why you are writing a manual, and once you
are certain you understand the technology (very important for a
technical manual), find some similar products and look at their
documentation.

----- Original Message -----
From: Leona Dupree <llmdupree -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 1:14 PM
Subject: Can Someone Give Me a Quick and Dirty Outline for a Technical
Manual


>Hi Listservers!  Can someone give me a quick and dirty outline for a
>Technical Manual that I am writing for a new software application my
>company is developing?
>I need to know what to put in my front matter, middle matter, and end
>matter.  Any suggestions other than table of contents, introduction,
>chapters, glossary, appendixes, and index?
>I need specific topics such as system requirements, design
>specifications, how to create source files, how to create library
>files, how to create batch files, and how to complete system and
>usability testing.
>Anyone and everyone who has written from a programmers point of view,
>please take a stab at this.  Thanks!
>