"Appears" vs. "will appear"

[Bryan Sherman]

One vote for "Appears" sans the "will". I agree that "will appears"
seems unclear on the timing and I'm always a fan of fewer words.

On a slight tangent, I would *love* to hear an argument for displays
over appears that doesn't involve knocking appears for being
"magical". I've never heard a user of my documentation make that
claim, only another Tech Writer. It would be interesting to track down
where the "magical appears" claim first surfaced.

On 5/3/07, Keith Hansen <KRH at weiland-wfg.com> wrote:
> I want to canvass your opinions here. Which do you prefer:
>
> No. 1: "Click the ABC button. The XYZ dialog box appears."
> No. 2: "Click the ABC button. The XYZ dialog box will appear."
>
> I prefer "appears." It's more concise (one word vs. two). Also, "will
> appear" sounds like a future prediction, rather than a statement of what
> occurs. Compare the following:
>
> "The clouds gather. It rains."
> "The clouds gather. It will rain."
>
> Please vote for No. 1 or No. 2. Give reasons for your preference.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Keith
>
> P.S. BTW, I had a colleague who abhorred the use of the word "appears"
> or "will appear." She said it made the process sound magical
> ("Abracadabra! It appears!") So she would write a sentence like this:
>
> "The XYZ dialog box is displayed by the software."
>
> But this is passive voice (if I'm not mistaken; the subject is acted
> upon, rather than acting). So the sentence was then rewritten like this:
>
> "The software displays the XYZ dialog box."
>
> However, the subject of our sentence (software) is not really the center
> of our attention here. The center of attention is actually the dialog
> box, which is now shoved to the end of the sentence.
>
> Personally, I can live with "appears"!