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take up a lot of (white) space too. Or maybe just otherwise empty space!
Sometimes we (my boss and the pres and I) have wondered how much time I
should really spend on them. But they really fatten up the manual
; > )
and make me look like I'm working harder! (Plus, installation is certainly
the EASIEST part to document.)
Our professional attitude is that you shouldn't be installing our software,
anyway, if you don't know the simple answers to the questions our installer
asks you during installation. Yet we also know that there are (lots of)
times when people get put in the position of being system administrators,
just because they know their way around their *own* little computer... and
way more than the boss does (who just fired the $75,000-a-year *real*
system administrator who wasn't accomplishing that much, anyway).
We have a sardonic saying around here: "Nobody reads the documentation,
anyway." But hey, at least I have a job! And I KNOW they read the
documentation, coz believe me, if something is missing, I hear about it.
There is a direct correlation between documentation and tech support calls.
The whole (well, maybe not quite) point of documentation is to lessen the
need for tech support.
And I've always thought white space made reading gentler on your eyes. Are
you seriously telling me that you are told to cram as much stuff onto the
pages with no graphics and no white space? (Oh, were you being facetious?)
BTW, I never meant to refer to the space after a period as white space.
duh (But could those "rivers" be considered white space? hehe)
Well, I hope I sunnied up your day! All you east coast people start WAY
too early for this west coast girl.
I promise not to burden the list with any more comments or questions about
white space, fonts, and doc design.
(Anybody know of a good list for doc design?)
Mea culpa,
Bev Lockhart, Doc Editor
Be careful of what you wish for, coz you just might get it!
Bev Lockhart
Documentation Editor
Seattle Lab, Inc. PHONE: (425) 825-7012
11730-118th Ave. NE FAX: (425) 825-7013
Ste. 400
Kirkland, WA 98034-7120
