Using button bitmaps in text

[Kirsty.Taylor at mincom.com]

Hi Ben,

Our standard used to be:
Click <button bitmap>.  If it was an icon (no words on it), then we would 
add the 'name' of the icon in angle brackets after its use. 

A few people had issues with this standard over the years, but we stuck to 
it.
A new manager with experience in translation, and the addition to the 
group of a bunch of experienced translation staff, has meant we're getting 
rid of this standard. Apparently, images in-line with text cause fewer 
text matches with translation memory tools like Trados. I'm not sure if 
we've decided how we're still going to keep the buttons/icons that are 
more obscure (the Commit icon is an engagement/wedding ring ...), but they 
won't be inline with text, they'll need to be in a separate glossary table 
or something like that. 

I would think that adding the bitmap after the hard return breaks up the 
bitmap from the text for your translation memory tool, and that's why 
having the bitmap at the end of the sentence is incorrect. 

Hope this helps,
KT

Kirsty Taylor 
Project Manager - Technical Writing 
 kirsty.taylor at mincom.com
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Ben <baj357 at gmail.com> 
Sent by: techwr-l-bounces+kirsty.taylor=mincom.com at lists.techwr-l.com
01/09/2007 07:14 AM
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Subject
Using button bitmaps in text






Hello Everyone. 
 
  Has anyone heard about the style guideline that suggests putting button 
bitmaps on a new line rather than in line? For example:
 
  Correct:
  Click the xyz button.
  <button bitmap>
 
  Incorrect:
  Click the xyz button. <button bitmap>
 
  I have not seen that guideline in the MSFT Style Guide and have no luck 
with Google. But, I have heard that this guideline makes translation 
easier, though I'm not sure how.
 
  Also, what if the sentence does not end with the button? For example:
 
  Click the xyz button
  <button bitmap>
  to open something.
 
  I know I can easily re-write it to put the button at the end, but would 
I do that every time?
 
  Thanks for your help!


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This transmission is for the intended addressee only and is confidential information. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender and delete the transmission. The contents of this e-mail are the opinion of the writer only and are not endorsed by the Mincom Group of companies unless expressly stated otherwise.
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