Revision as of 14:21, 3 April 2008

Introduction

Audience

It's important to determine your audience before you begin writing. This will become aparent when you begin writing definitions for terms etc. You will often want to cater to multiple audiences of different technical backgrounds and different levels of knowlege on the topic.

Define Important Terms

Define important and terms and make their definitions accessible where they are needed (where the terms are used). This ties into knowing your audience, and knowing what terms need clarification.

Repeating Steps

Don't be afraid to repeat common steps (such as Click Tools > options) if they're relatively short. You don't want to force the reader to jump all over the place, following references to common steps. Even for web-based documentation where you can use hyperlinks, readers will get frustrated if they have to go back and forth.

On other hand you don't want fifty pages of documentation that could be written in ten pages. Tasks with a common set of initial steps can be grouped in the same section, with the initial steps described once at the beginning of the section.

Images

How extensively you use images depends on the type of documentation. Obviously, instructions on how to assemble a peice of furniture will strongly rely on images to convey the appropriate actions, whereas instructions on making good oral presentations won't require as many images.

Screenshots

It's important to consider context when inserting screenshots. Sometimes it's necesssary to show the entire screen, other times you will only want to show a small section of the screen where the user will be performing the required actions. Cropping unnecessary stuff saves space and allows the reader to just see what they care about. Sometimes you will need to show the entire screen to give context.

Resources

• Technical Writing Textbook