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.
Keith Hansen wonders: <<The MS Manual of Style says the following:
"Do not use pop-up window as a synonym for dialog box.">>
Unusually, I find myself agreeing with them. I guess it had to happen
eventually! <g>
<<Well, as it happens, I have seen these two terms used
interchangeably sometimes. Can anyone clarify for me the exact
difference between the two? With examples of the proper use of each?>>
If I'm remembering correctly from my long-ago and increasingly vague
memories of programming, "pop-up window" is a programming-influenced
term, since pretty much anything that appears onscreen as a new
object in a GUI can be considered a window. (Anyone remember the
Pascal language? <g>) Thus, the wording focuses more on the technical
nature of the window than on what the window means from the user's
perspective, and that's only a good choice when you're writing for
programmers.
In contrast, "dialog box" focuses on things from the user's
perspective: it emphasizes that you're conducting a dialogue with the
computer (even if, in practice, the computer does what it wants to do
anyway and largely ignores your opinion on the matter). Thus, it's
generally the preferred term. Even then, it's better to focus on the
user's action where the context permits that.
I can see an argument for "pop-up window" for Web pages, but even
then, it's a weak argument. "New window" is generally clearer. In
fact, about the only place I've used "pop-up" is for those concealed
menus inside dialog boxes. Main menus (the ones at the top of the
screen) are just "menus", so I occasionally found it useful to say
"pop-up menu" to distinguish between the two. But even then, I was
never convinced this was an effective choice, and tried to focus on
the action ("click the tiny, nearly invisible triangle to display the
list of choices") rather than on the object ("display the pop-up menu
and choose...").
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList