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Subject:Documenting enabled/disabled items From:"Christina Tolliver" <christina_tolliver -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L -at- LISTS -dot- RAYCOMM -dot- COM Date:Mon, 13 Dec 1999 12:12:32 EST
Techwr-lers,
After procedure steps, do you document which fields are enabled and which
are disabled? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, or not?
My question pertains particularly to software that is not consistent in
appearance or behavior. In my company's software, fields with a white
background are not always editable, and fields with a gray background are
not always read-only. The current user documentation indicates when fields
become disabled or enabled. Here's an example.
2 Click the Add button.
The non-editable fields are disabled.
The editable fields are enabled.
Whether or not you would _word_ things this way, do you think such a
statement helps users? (Our users are familiar with Windows but are not
computer whizzes.) Would this example be more helpful if the specific field
names were listed? Then, the example might read this way.
2 Click the Add button.
The Host, Switch, and Equipment boxes are disabled.
The Calling Feature box is enabled.
If this kind of information is helpful to users, it's worth the maintenance
effort for us writers to keep up with what fields are enabled when. But if
this is just a case of stating the obvious, maybe it's not worth our effort.
What do you think?
Christina Tolliver
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