TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Planning and Designing a Website From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 27 Jan 2003 07:35:43 -0800 (PST)
--- jsokohl -at- mac -dot- com wrote:
>
> This is NOT something to be done in just a few hours of browsing!!!!
I agree that it takes more than a few hours to become an expert in web design. If
one only has a few hours, one can at best survey some resources and do the best one
can to come up with a task list and a set of objectives.
> The request by the _boss_ is stupid,
I would respectfully disagree with this characterization. The boss may be ignorant
of what is involved in web design and in how much the writer may already know about
it. Ignorance only becomes stupidity when one is confronted with the opportunity to
learn and doesn't take it. I see this as an opportunity for the writer both to
educate himself and to educate his boss as to what is involved. Not necessarily in
all the gory details but at least in the scope of the project. That may be all that
the boss is really looking for at this point. How big a bread basket is it?
Speaking as one who does web design, it's not rocket science. It is organization of
content, which TWs do all the time. In this case, it is organization of content in a
medium the writer hasn't worked in before. There is a first time for everything, and
there is a first time for everyone. We start with what we know, and we build on
that.
I would suggest that the writer not worry about font selection, which was mentioned
in the original post, because users can select their own fonts and override the
writer's choice. Focus instead on analyzing the information for logical break points
or categories and design the site around navigating from one chunk of information to
another and back and sideways and up and down.
If the writer has experience doing document design, that experience will serve the
writer well in designing documentation in a web space. Others have pointed out, very
well, both resources that will help and special considerations to be taken into
account. Still, this is a job the writer can do.
1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. It's ALL small stuff.
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A new book on Single Sourcing has been released by William Andrew
Publishing: _Single Sourcing: Building Modular Documentation_
is now available at: http://www.williamandrew.com/titles/1491.html.
Help Authoring Seminar 2003, coming soon to a city near you! Attend this
educational and affordable one-day seminar covering existing and emerging
trends in Help authoring technology. See http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l2.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
