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What information needs to be in a Technical Manual?
Subject:What information needs to be in a Technical Manual? From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 07 Jul 2004 10:40:32 -0400
Nadine Underwood wonders: <<I have been tasked with creating a
Technical Manual for a web hosted application. All of my experience is
in User Guides / System Admin Guides etc. I have little experience, if
any, in writing technical documentation for technical users. Does
anyone have any pointers on the topics it should contain etc>>
If the person who assigned the task hasn't explicitly and clearly
explained what they need, ask them. They're the only person who knows
what they want you to create, and since they're the one who will be
evaluating their work, you need to ensure that you'll satisfy them.
Of course, that's only part I of the job. Part II involves satisfying
the people who will actually use the manual. If you can't tell us who
these users are, we can't help you decide what they need to know. If
you know who they are, then ask them what must be included; they're the
experts on their needs, not us. If they can't express their needs
clearly (often the case), ask them to show you an example of what they
consider well-designed docs and an example of poorly designed docs. Aim
to produce something resembling the former rather than the latter.
Sorry if that sounds a little vague, but the answer is always to ask
your audience what they need. Not us.
--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
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