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Subject:Re: Using MS-Word for TW From:Scott Turner <sturner -at- airmail -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 04 Dec 2000 09:05:37 -0600
Chris Knight wrote:
> <SNIP>
> Word is capable, cheap, and ubiquitous. The latter characteristic, however,
> means that it don't get no respect
> --especially from tool snobs and people who think Bill Gates is Satan.
> It also means that many people underestimate how much training writers need
> if they are to get a high level
> of performance and output quality from Word.
>
> With my current client, everybody other than the tech writers uses Word.
> In telecom, this is a big switch: up to 2-3 years ago, everyone used UNIX
> and FrameMaker thereon.
> Now, anyone not actually developing server-side applications (UNIX) uses a
> PC, and Word.
> Many have found the transistion frustrating, and I often have to help out.
> They use Word to produce proposals, design documents, test plans, etc.
> These documents require much the same degree of word processing skill that
> "real" tech writers
> need on their user guides, but management (despite their own difficulties
> making the switch), hasn't
> seen fit to provide any training on Word for these users.
<SNIP>
Having used Word from the time it was a DOS (ASCII) based program (and was
considered to be a third-rate program at the time), to its introduction into a
GUI, to the present day, I have to say that the design of Word has not
significantly changed from its original intent. That being to deliver short
documents that have formatting. The use of Word to produce long, complex, highly
involved formated structure is actually contrary to that design.
It can do limited formatting. It can do tables. It can do a lot of things. It
has significant limititations. You have to use it with that in mind. It is not a
panacea for what ails us, in fact, because of its marketing hype, and the
ubiquitousness of the program on PCs, it is actually part of the problem.
Because so many people do not have training on how to use its features, they
tend to misuse the program while accomplishing thier objectives.
That is not a crime, though some of us purists may wish to to "put them to the
question", it is an inconveinence and a roadblock. I hate to think of the hours
I have spent converting the individually formatted paragraphs of content
submitters, to the style sheets we have used to produce documentation.
The bottom line is always to use what is most condusive to you in producing your
documentation. Sometimes that means using what you are most comfortable with. In
that case, use the axe you think is sharpest.
Scott
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