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Subject:Re: Active versus passive From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 20 Dec 2000 07:53:08 -0800 (PST)
Hi, Michael...
These are Help Topics. The topic that this might go under would be
called:
Create a Report
The step below might be one of 2, 3, 7, or more steps, starting with
what variables you would need to set to create the right report. I
know that taking it out of context makes it hard to visualize, but
trust me, if the user didn't know what what was going to happen when
they clicked the button, we've got worse problems that
active/passive.
--- Michael West <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com> wrote:
> John Posada wrote:
>
> > Click the Report button. The report is generated.
> >
> > Is this also unclear?
>
> It is only somewhat unclear, but worse, it is not
> as helpful as it could be.
How is it somewhat unclear? "Do an action. This is the result."
Besides...as I explained to someone else last night, while this
example is somewhat simplistic, it gives the model that I follow.
The action part might be one or two sentences. The result part might
be multiple sentences, might be a screen shot, might be anything.
However, by following this model, I can structure any complex set of
instructions into a series of steps, showing the action and the
result. At least the reader knows what to expect each time, and when
explaining a very complex process, I think consistancy is as/more
important than the structure opf an individual step.
> "To generate the report, click the Report button"
> is better because it tells me the result BEFORE
> I perform the action. After I've clicked it, who cares?
> It's too late.
>
> A lot of fretting over "rules" of usage turns out to be
> chasing red herrings. Focus on clarity, directness,
> and helpfulness instead of "rules", and you'll be
> right. And being right is much better than being
> "correct."
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