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Scott asks:
How far do you go with the idea of keeping to the present tense when
editing somebody
else's documentation.
Well, first I must confess that I'm a real stickler. I figure it's one of
the things that makes me a good editor. That said, though, it *is* a
preference, so I comment on the cover page that it's more readable to use
present tense -- then I make a tense mark nest to any future tense
construction, should the writer want to take my advice. On second review,
unless the author made some of the changes, I ignore future tense
constructions and simply look for consistency.
Any opinions on when it's ok. to use "you" in documentation?
I use it whenever possible because i think, again, that it makes the
document more readable. The reader is usually also the "doer" and it saves
a mental step if the document makes that assumption.
