TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: When is it too much information? From:Ryan Pollack <ryan -at- clicksecurity -dot- com> To:Debbie Hemstreet <D_Hemstreet -at- rambam -dot- health -dot- gov -dot- il> Date:Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:57:14 -0600
Ah, that is a really good idea. I second that! I do something similar in my
release notes. I have these sections:
- New
- a
- b
- c
- Changed
- d
- e
- f
- Fixed
- g
- h
- i
- Known Issues
- j
- k
- l
On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 12:36 AM, Debbie Hemstreet <
D_Hemstreet -at- rambam -dot- health -dot- gov -dot- il> wrote:
> I think you can best solve this problem by having a section:
>
> Deleted features:
>
> XXX information is no longer displayed in XXX location. The same
> information can be found XXXX.
>
> In the release notes I write for one of my clients we go for redundancy.
> Hence, for the above example, under NEW features, we would also have:
>
> XXX information is now accessible only via XXXX (and not in XXX location).
>
> So the user sees where to get the information but also knows that it is no
> longer displayed in a certain spot. If a user was relying on the displayed
> information, there will be a support call to find out where the heck the
> information went to and how do I get it now.
>
> If there is no way to get the information that is no longer displayed --
> bad move on the developers part and you need to point this out.
>
> Hope this contributes to the discussion
>
> Deborah
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+d_hemstreet=rambam -dot- health -dot- gov -dot- il -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com[mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+d_hemstreet=rambam -dot- health -dot- gov -dot- il -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of yehoshua paul
> Sent: Monday, 18 February, 2013 17:07 PM
> To: tech2wr-l
> Subject: When is it too much information?
>
> While reviewing the latest release notes that my company sends out every
> couple of weeks, one of the support guys suggested that I add the following
> words (or something similar) to one of the change descriptions: "The user
> does not need to do anything." What changed is information that was
> displayed in one area of the UI is no longer displayed. The support guy
> thought the users might think they need to do something, now that they no
> longer see this information.
>
> I told him, if the users needed to do something, I would write this in the
> release notes like I did with some of the other changes, and include the
> relevant steps, or the appropriate reference to the online help. If I
> didn't write anything, why would the users think they need to do something?
> His argument was that it doesn't hurt to add the sentence, and it may
> prevent confused customers from calling customer support.
>
> What do you guys think? Would adding a superfluous sentence (in my
> opinion) help or hinder users.
>
> Yehoshua
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips
> for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets,
> smartphones, and more.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/12LyN2z
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as
> d_hemstreet -at- rambam -dot- health -dot- gov -dot- il -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
>
>
>
> ************************************************************************************
> This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by PineApp
> Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals & computer viruses.
>
> ************************************************************************************
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ************************************************************************************
> This footnote confirms that this email message has been scanned by
> PineApp Mail-SeCure for the presence of malicious code, vandals & computer
> viruses.
>
> ************************************************************************************
>
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips
> for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets,
> smartphones, and more.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/12LyN2z
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as ryan -at- clicksecurity -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
--
Ryan Pollack
Senior Technical Writer | Click Security
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EPUB Webinar: Join STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel as she discusses tips for creating EPUB, the file format used for e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and more.