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Subject:One Doc or Multiple Docs? From:"Dawson McKnight" <dawson_mcknight -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 02 Nov 2000 09:28:27 EST
All,
How "consolidated" is your documentation set? Do you provide installation,
administration, configuration, and troubleshooting guidance in a single
document (e.g., an "Administrator's Guide"), or do you provide each of these
kinds of instructions in a different document? Without a substantial user
base, how can I determine how consolidated my documentation set should be?
I am planning the next set of documentation for a software product that has
a very small user base right now, but whose users are for the most part
administrators. As I look at the existing documentation set (five documents
total, 50-70 pages each), I feel that it should be consolidated into a
single document, perhaps an "Administrator's Guide". Part of what motivates
me to think this is the description of an "Administrator's Guide" in the
_Microsoft Manual of Style_: "Task-oriented information about configuring,
installing, and managing a product."
Here is how our documentation looks now:
* Installation guide
* Overview: Describes the product's architecture, functions, and features
* Administration guide: Setting up security policies using an
administration GUI (e.g., creating users, determining what they should have
access to, etc.)
* Configuration guide: Configuring the various components (servers) to
communicate with each other in a distributed environment
* Troubleshooting guide
In terms of user analysis, my opinion is that, although the product may be
used in large organizations that require distributed administration, most
users will want to look at a single document for most of their questions
about the software. We are distributing the documents electronically, so
physical access to a book isn't a problem, either.
Thanks in advance for your insights!
Dawson
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