Reviewers who don't review)

[Paul Hanson]

Two things I'd like to add to the discussion:

1) The software was changed to have a new user ID/password. One suggestion I
haven't seen <and I admit so skimming some posts> is how to avoid this in
the future: open the communication lines between programming/dev and the
writer so that, at some point in the future, a programmer comes over to the
writer and says, "Hey, we had a request from <so-and-so> to make the user ID
& password <whatever>. I thought you'd want to know in case you have that in
the doc." This open communication then would allow the writer to write the
doc and send a paragraph to the programmer for his review and for changes to
be made prior to the review copy being distributed to the person tha... <I
mean *who*> does not read the manual when presented with a review copy. I
admit this idea does not resolve the "reviewers who don't review" issue -
it's an idea that has helped me do my job over the last decade.

2) Personally, I'd like to read more about technical writers that have a
manual that includes the user ID/password in the documentation. I can
understand a demo/trial version of the software including this info in a
manual (or online Help), but the original post was about software used by
field reps, which I read as "not demo/trial" software. Is this a new trend?

Paul Hanson
Technical Writer
Adobe Community Expert - RoboHelp
http://www.macromedia.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/team_members/200.ht
ml
Quintrex Data Systems 
http://www.quintrex.com