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Re: What is best way to show submenus in a document?
Subject:Re: What is best way to show submenus in a document? From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 2 Jun 2001 07:29:17 -0700 (PDT)
Hi, Lisa
When I'm writing about a software capability that is found somewhere
on a menu, I ALWAYS direct the user on how to get to it starting from
the first level. It may be overkill, but those who need it like it
and those who don't ignore it. Also, forgetting if it is good GUI
design, I've also run into applications that used the same submenu
name for different purposes in more than one place and it helps to
avoid confusion.
I do this in printed documentation and in online help.
I use the following format:
File -> New -> Window
Maybe the -> has a different meaning when used in different context.
However, just like nobody comnplains about using a period at the end
of a sentence becuase it is also used in a file name, the key is
context.
--- Lisa Wright <liwright -at- qwest -dot- net> wrote:
> >Jim Schoen wrote:
> >We have a disagreement in our company about how to show submenus.
> Is there a standard that applies.
>
>
> I asked this question here about a year ago. There was the general
> agreement that there are no hard and fast rules. But one poster
> pointed out that the symbol I was using (can't honestly remember
> what it was now) had meaning in the UNIX world. So, the choice I
> made was to use an arrow from the Symbol font whenever I was
> directing users to a submenu. I doubt anyone but me noticed, but at
> least I know there's less ambiguity. I will say that the one
> convention I despise is to make the user work backward from the end
> of the sentence to find the top-level menu. "Select Replace from
> the Edit menu." Ugh.
=====
John Posada, Senior Technical Writer
"How to be happy in life: Never impose your beliefs
on anyone else and never fry bacon in the nude."
-- Anon mailto:john -at- tdandw -dot- com, 732-259-2874
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