Re: Pre-Installation heading

Subject: Re: Pre-Installation heading
From: Kathleen MacDowell <kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "Martinek, Carla" <CMartinek -at- zebra -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 14:24:54 -0500

Does it have to be in that specific format?

When I documented a similar situation, I would put the "What Do I Call
This" step as step 1, with a description of the alternatives (if A then B,
if C then D), and added a decision tree to illustrate. Then I wrote the
other steps out linearly. Each step would have a reminder about which
situation it applied to, e.g., if they were in situation X then they should
skip this step and go to step Y.

It took quite a few iterations before I found what I thought was good
explanation, but the real problem was the way the processes were set up
originally.

You could do the same thing by just setting up separate procedures for each
set of situations; Then each one would be prefaced by whatever content
defined the situation.

Kathleen


On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 10:43 AM, Martinek, Carla <CMartinek -at- zebra -dot- com>wrote:

> Looking for some feedback on the text for a heading in many of our
> installation procedures for our products. They are written in the
> imperative format (except for the first one, Parts List).
>
> ___Parts List
>
> ___Remove Part A
> ___Remove Part B
> ___Remove Part C
>
> ___Reinstall Part C
> ___Reinstall Part B
> ___Reinstall Part A
>
> My issue is that there are times where we need to have a heading prior to
> Remove Part A ... often it includes a decision table along the lines of
> "which option do you need to remove/replace?" and they jump to Remove Part
> B or Remove Part C and skip the ones before it. Or, it could be something
> such as removing power from the system and removing supplies inside the
> machine.
>
> Looking for some suggestions on what to call this heading. We've had a
> heading that we're not happy with, but we can't seem to come up with
> something we do like, so I thought I'd get ideas from the list and see if
> someone else has a better idea.
>
> ___Parts List
>
> ___WHAT DO I CALL THIS?
>
> ___Remove Part A
> ___Remove Part B
> ___Remove Part C
>
>
> Thx
> Carla
>
>
> - CONFIDENTIAL-
>
> This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may
> also be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you may
> not review, use, copy, or distribute this message. If you receive this
> email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and
> then delete this email.
>
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -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
>



--
Kathleen MacDowell
kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -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


References:
Pre-Installation heading: From: Martinek, Carla

Previous by Author: On writing
Next by Author: Re: icon to indicate a feature is different on different products
Previous by Thread: Re: Pre-Installation heading
Next by Thread: tableT woes (was RE: Using tables for content


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads