Re: Technical writer dream

[Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- MARVIN -dot- ENG -dot- SUN -dot- COM>]

Alexia Prendergast said:
>
> Yes, but if you write a module of conceptual info,
> a module of reference info, and a module of procedural
> info, you can rearrange them as needed for docs
> and help -- no rewriting necessary. And, since less
> info goes into the help, you can just hide the extraneous
> info in each module as needed. There are quite a few
> different ways to do this. (Our audiences are sys
> admins, net admins, and programmers, so we have a
> healthy mix of procedures and reference info.)
>

Many help systems are set up so that the user asks specifically
for task and reference information, which is what I was referring
to below. In that case, reference or conceptual information that
is necessary to do the task would have to be in the task "module"
itself, and having it exist in a separate reference or conceptual
"module" wouldn't help -- you'd still have to slightly rewrite
the task, although the main information could, of course, be
reused. And not all tasks would require such information so
those task "modules" could be reused from print as is.
> >
> >I have found this to be true for task-oriented material, but even then
> >it may need to be rewritten to some extent. In book form, having the
> >concept, task, and reference information for one area (for example, a
> >mail tool) makes the most sense. For online help, however, the task
> >information is going to be entirely separate from the conceptual or
> >reference information, meaning you may have to add context to the task
> >that in the book was present in the preceding or following material.
> >Also, most online help doesn't provide much conceptual information, so
> >you may need to add some concepts to a task screen to orient the user.
>

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Janice Gelb                  | The only connection Sun has with this
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                                         -- Patrick Casey, AP (Oklahoma)

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