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Subject:writing online documentation From:Gary Beason <bubba -at- EXPERT -dot- CC -dot- PURDUE -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 20 Aug 1993 02:20:48 EST
I have a question about writing online documentation, about how to--or
whether to--handle trouble shooting.
While helping a friend with a terminal application, we had problems
with the size of the screen and tried to use the online help to solve
our problem. Unfortunately, the help only discussed what the options
were for the screen (and even these were minimal).
And I've noticed that few online documentation systems have a trouble
shooting guide. Thinking about it, I figured, well, would a trouble
shooting guide cast the software in a negative light? Would
documentation that was even partly organized by possible problems make
the software look unattractive and difficult? (I thought particularly
with pc applications that might be competing with the Macintosh
environment.) It struck me as a marketing or sales decision *not* to
include problem-oriented online documentation.
First, does this seem like a viable reason? Second, how would y'all
handle this conflict?
--Gary Beason
---Purdue University
----bubba -at- mace -dot- cc -dot- purdue -dot- edu
