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When I write interface documentation (describing buttons, fields, etc.)
and procedural documentation, I have always been careful to match the
interface as closely as possible. This includes capitalization and the
like.
I am in an environment now where the developers can easily change the
text case for labels and have not been very worried about deciding how
they will be done for the upcoming release. So the test releases have
varied.
Am I overreacting to expect them to choose a style so that my docs can
match it? For example, for a while everything was all lower case, so I
wrote, for example:
"Click close to return to the Welcome page."
I use bold for button and other GUI object names, so they do stand out.
Should I just document them all title case (as a friend suggested) and
not worry about how they look in the interface?
My theory is that anything that provides for less confusion or
distraction is a good thing. I'd rather that the users are able to press
on with their work. So matching the interface as closely as possible is
good. However, I realize that maybe I (and other writers/editors) are
the only people who would notice the text case of the help or user guide
vs. the application interface. I don't want to have to change what I'm
doing because in HTML based help, it's clumsy to search through all the
individual topics.
Any thoughts?
Sue McKinney
703-313-5137
smckinney -at- eei1 -dot- com
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