Re: A tech editor seeks advice on which style guide to adopt

[Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM>]

praneeta p wrote:
>  
> Sunâs Read Me First 
> 
> Rationale is crisp.
> Size is manageable and compact.
> Healthy dose of writing style, mechanics, constructing sentences and mechanics without overkill.
> Tone provides leeway and is flexible.
> Some sections have received outstanding treatment:
> 
> Common redundancies and alternatives
> GUI Verbs
> Questionable terms and their alternatives.
> 
> Better than MSTP for client server as well as web-based applications.
> 7.       Section on Punctuation is nice and crisp.
> 8.       Chapter on Glossary and Indexing are detailed.
> 9.       Chapter on Writing for an International Audience has concrete dos and donâts and examples.
> 10.    Third edition has newer sections on:
> 
> Anthropomorphisms to Avoid
> Idioms and Colloquialisms to Avoid
> Phrasal Verbs to Avoid and Their Alternatives
> 
> The fourth edition has improved chapters on:
> 
> Writing For An International Audience
> Writing about GUIs
> Working with Technical Illustrations
> Guidelines for easing translation of documents.
>  

I'm glad that our style guide was the winner of
your review! However, a few small corrections:

There are only two current editions, and a third
one is scheduled to be released in print in early
November. (It's currently available online to
Safari subscribers.) There is no fourth edition.

The chapters that you mention as "improved" in the
"fourth" edition have been in the guide since the
beginning and have been improved to the extent
that all chapters have undergone continuing improvement
from edition to edition as we review and update them.

Besides the tables that you mention in your point 10
that are new for the third edition, it also features
new chapters on using wikis for documentation, creating
screencasts, and writing alternative text for non-text
elements (required by US Section 508 compliance).

Thanks for all the compliments and I hope you find
the third edition useful!

-- Janice Gelb
Project Lead, all editions of Read Me First

***********************************************************
Janice Gelb          | The only connection Sun has with
janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com  | this message is the return address

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