SUMMARY: Spelling out acronyms at first mention

[Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. The consensus seems to be
to define the acronym in a glossary, and provide numerous cross references
to the glossary item.   I didn't mention it in my original post, but yes,
we already do this.

The cross-reference solution is ideal in WinHelp, because the definition
appears in a pop-up or "mouse-over", as several people suggested.

It's less effective in HTML format because HTML doesn't support pop-ups (as
far as I know - am I wrong?). So in HTML, when you click on the acronym,
you jump to the item on the glossary page. Then you have to jump back to
the previous page to continue reading.

So, I guess we'll just continue with the status quo. A couple of good rules
of thumb from Sandy Harris and Katie Kearns:

"Have a glossary with an explanation of all such terms. Link to it often.
Max of one link to same term per paragraph."

"We make it the first mention of any page. Sure, it's repetitive, but it's
better than them being lost!"

Thanks, everyone.

Gilda Spitz
Manager, Documentation
Longview Solutions Inc.