manuals w/almost identical content

Subject: manuals w/almost identical content
From: Debbie Figus <debbief -at- NETVISION -dot- NET -dot- IL>
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 16:00:47 +0300

I?d like your comments about this situation.

My company has a product line of over 60 interface boards. Each board is
shipped with a hardware and a software manual. Each board requires its own
hardware manual, which explains the details of each board?s unique
specifications. But the software drivers supplied with each board are often
used with more than one board. Sometimes one set of drivers works with ten
different boards.

So I?ve started grouping the software drivers manuals into "The XX Family"
manuals. On the first page of the "The XX Family" manual, I list the boards
with which the user can use that particular software. Then, throughout the
manual, I place notes by any driver functions that apply only to certain
boards.

The main reasons I do this are:
1. Better manual/revision maintenance. When a change needs to be made to
one set of drivers, I make the change in one place, rather than having to
go dig up every manual which includes that driver function, and then revise
all those other manuals as well.
2. Less manuals. With such an extensive product line, I think the less
manuals the better. There are simply a lot of manuals to manage.

Well, there?s another opinion in the company. This opinion says every
user/customer should get a manual named for *his* card. In most cases, the
"XX Family" name includes a part of every board?s product name, but in at
least one case it doesn?t. This opinion also says that too many notes
throughout a manual is confusing for the user ("This function is only for
users of boards A, B and C. If you have boards D and E, ignore this
function.")

Anybody want to offer their 2 cents?

Thanks,
Debbie Figus
Excalibur Systems
Jerusalem, Israel

From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=




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