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Subject:Re: ILF... but is it, really? From:Nancy Allison <maker -at- verizon -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 21 Nov 2013 09:31:01 -0600 (CST)
Hi, Editor in Chief.
I have gotten very interested in your example and have gone to town on
it. Please take what you can use and disregard the rest.
When I find that I have a lot of notes, cautions, or warnings, I see if
I can promote the information to a section with a heading. In the case
of Warnings, I might have a heading like:
Critical Warnings-- Essential Safety Information
Once that heading is in place, readers will understand when they see a
lot of warnings interspersed with text. In fact, depending on your
industry, you may be able to dispense with the individual Warning
format and just use regular text, since the entire section is devoted
to warning information. YMMV.
In the case below, I think a heading would help clarify your concerns
immediately. How about
Avoiding Common Backup Errors
Then organize your information tightly and concisely. I would use
bolded type to introduce the discussion of each error type:
Restore data that has been deleted
Delete new data
Change people's passwords
Change people's Enabled or Disabled status
Provide a succinct explanation after each. The bolded type makes your
essential point jump out.
Finally, and this is just an aside since you didn't ask for it, I think
a flow chart or other graphic would help illustrate the relationships.
Again, I hope you don't mind that I went to town! I love a good
problem and you provided an interesting one!
--Nancy
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