Re: Writing help at home

Subject: Re: Writing help at home
From: "Deb M." <dm -at- ptrail -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 12:38:48 -0500


Ditto here. It used to be so simple when I lived alone and my stereo system
only had Sony audio components. Now I need to consider the needs of a
non-techie, deal with a collection of components from different
manufacturers as well as a VCR, cable box, and DVD trying to coexist with a
"legacy" AV receiver.

So, to make life around here smooth and eliminate that frequent dead-air
noise, I have a short manual on the coffee table (in a basket with the six
remotes). The procedures are: To play a movie from the VCR, To play a movie
from the DVD, To tape a program on VHS, and To watch TV with/without
surround sound. They're very short and basically describe the order of
remote buttons to push.

An extra advantage to having these procedures is that I own them and don't
need to ask permission to use them as samples.

And I have to wonder...why don't the remote designers have access to UI
experts? Important buttons should be bigger than once-in-a blue-moon
buttons. (This means you, Panasonic!)


Cheers,
Debbie

---------------------------
The Paper Trail
Technical Documentation
www.ptrail.com
---------------------------



From: "Alex Silbajoris" <alsilba -at- hotmail -dot- com>
> I found myself doing this yesterday and had to laugh at myself.
>
> I've been messing around with a cable modem, trying to get it to work
> through an ethernet connection into a computer at home. It turns out that
> the secret is to unplug the modem (not just turn it off) for at least 20
> seconds.
>
> I spent some time with the help people at the broadband provider, and they
> walked me through the fix.
>
> After I finished the call, I thought, why not write up that procedure in
> case I need to do it again? So I put together a little 2-page help
document
> with numbered steps and screen captures. That's when it hit me - I'm
> writing help documents for home use without even thinking about it.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Order RoboHelp X3 and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, plus FREE
RoboScreenCapture, WebHelp Merge Module and iMarkupSoftware, for a total
giveaway value of $473! Order here: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....

---
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.



References:
Writing help at home: From: Alex Silbajoris

Previous by Author: Re: Creating Colored Text in Frame 6.0/7.0
Next by Author: Re: Common approach to documentation
Previous by Thread: Writing help at home
Next by Thread: Re: Writing help at home


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads