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Re: Document Revision History - Front or Back of the Doc?
Subject:Re: Document Revision History - Front or Back of the Doc? From:Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Ron Hearn <rhearn -at- central1 -dot- com>, "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 20 Jul 2012 23:53:35 -0700 (PDT)
My take is, why bother having it at all? Why, really, would anyone care how many changes the doc has gone through, and exactly what changes have been made? What does a revision history tell the reader beyond the fact that you didn't get it right the first time?
What a reader wants to know most of all is that the doc is complete and accurate NOW. Having a long document history is contraindicated if you really want customer confidence. I figure the longer your revision history, the more likely people are to wonder why did you make so many mistakes and why did you have to go through so many redesigns to get it right? And the more entries there are in the revision history, the more likely they are to wonder if you really *have* finally gotten it right.
________________________________
From: Ron Hearn <rhearn -at- central1 -dot- com>
To: "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 12:52 PM
Subject: Document Revision History - Front or Back of the Doc?
Hi folks,
I have been placing the document revision history for a document as part of the preface in my documentation. Someone suggested that it should be located at the end of the document. I am just wondering where other TWs place this part of the document.
Regards,
Ron Hearn
Documentation Specialist
Central 1 Credit Union
1441 Creekside Drive
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
V6J 4S7
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