RE: "via" - why often verboten ?

Subject: RE: "via" - why often verboten ?
From: "David Artman" <david -at- davidartman -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L Writing" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2017 08:44:21 -0700

In that specific example, I think that "Share a Custom View using a
URL" is more clear and easier to translate.

Yes, that rewrite is still in passive voice; it could be "Use a URL to
send a Custom View". Also, gerunds can be a translation issue as well:
THREE reasons to go with "Use a URL to send a Custom View". ANNND that
works with the typical 'swing thought' for titling a task topic: the
title completes the phrase "How do I...?" But does the communication
method matter more to the reader than the goal? Perhaps "Send a Custom
View' is the actual ideal; and let the fact that a URL is the
communication method 'emerge' in the shortdesc/intro and in the body?

[RE the earlier post about weirdness in IBM Style Guide, they think
translation first and foremost (35 languages in my last post there).
You can get into all kinds of issues once right-to-left or vertical (or
both!) languages enter the mix. "Below" and "above", for instance, are
verboten.]

HTH;

David

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: "via" - why often verboten ?
From: Monique Semp <[1]monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net>
Date: Thu, August 03, 2017 10:50 am
To: Robert Lauriston <[2]robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>, Lauren
<[3]lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
Cc: TECHWR-L Writing <[4]techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
>On the rare occasions I use "via," it's precisely to emphasize the
way
>something is accessed. For example, you can do certain operations
on
>an object in the UI but others only via the command line.
>
Yes, exactly. I didn't include my text in the original post, so here it
is. It's a heading, "Share a Custom View via URL". The way the user
shares a custom view (in a web browser dashboard) is to set everything
up and then copy the resultant URL, which encodes all sorts of info
about what to show in the custom view. So the user is sharing by view
"by way of" sharing the resultant URL.
-Monique

References

1. mailto:monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net
2. mailto:robert -at- lauriston -dot- com
3. mailto:lauren -at- writeco -dot- net
4. mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
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