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Subject:Re: One Doc or Multiple Docs? From:Dianne Blake <write-it -at- home -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 02 Nov 2000 09:06:27 -0800
Dawson McKnight wrote:
>
> 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?
>
> Here is how our documentation looks now:
> * Installation guide
> * Overview ...
> * Administration guide ...
> * Configuration guide ...
> * Troubleshooting guide
>
Dear Dawson,
I would base this decision upon how often each of the documents are
modified. If all of the documents are normally released/modified at the
same time, then it might be appropriate to create a single document. If
however, you find certain documents are always in flux, then you might
want to keep the documents that turn over more rapidly separate. This
will simplify your change history and allow users to better understand
when changes happen.
On the other hand, you may want to base the decision on the tool you are
using. If your documents have lots of screen shots and images, and you
are using Word, then keeping these documents separate will make your job
easier and keep Word from crashing when your end users read the
document.
Since most of these documents indeed seem to have an Administrator
audience you could combine them. However, if you need to address
additional audiences in the future (most probably the Overview document
would need to be viewed by other audiences) then you will have to
re-examine your strategy.
Hope this helps.
-Dianne Blake
Consultant, Writer, and Trainer
write-it -at- home -dot- com
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