http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1985 OVERVIEWA good User Document includes sections on how to set up, use, and care for the product. However, to create a great User Document , the technical writer should use the Persona, generated in the analysis of the User/Reader, to create the topics for the most useful section of the User Document. This article describes this procedure.THE MOST USEFUL SECTION OF A USER DOCUMENTThe most useful section of a User Document is the one that helps the User get what he... Sun, 24 May 2009 11:59:35 PST en-us http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1985 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1985 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:59:35 PST As a writer for hire, do you accept every job that comes along or do you have definitive and concrete standards? http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1273 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1273 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:20:17 PST OVERVIEWPeople are visual creatures. They look at your product, and see, for example, a button or display. They want to find out about that control or indicator. A Visual Index is a simple but powerful document access tool that enables your Readers to find the information that they want.This article describes the Visual Index concept and tells how to create one for your document.A VISUAL INDEXA Visual Index is a picture of your product or process with links to... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1408 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1408 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:03 PST OVERVIEWFor small companies, creating their product's User Documentation in-house, provides benefits to the company, to (idle) staff, and to the product. This article describes the benefits and some downsides of producing User Documents in-house.THREE OPTIONSIf you have no in-house writing staff you have three options:1. No User Document for the product. This is NOT a valid option. Every product needs User Documentation. It completes your product package, an... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1452 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1452 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:04 PST OverviewIncomplete User Documents disappoint your Readers. Two attitudes of many Technical Writers result in incomplete User Documents. These two attitudes are:. "Everyone Knows That", and. "The User Can Figure It Out"This article describes these attitudes and presents methods for overcoming them. The result is more effective User Documents and more satisfied Users.1. "Everyone Knows That"The "Everyone Knows That" attitude makes assumptions about your ... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1556 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1556 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OverviewYour editor should be an integral part of your writing team. Do not think of him/her as a judge, but rather as a resource to help you in all phases of the writing project. This article will help you overcome any fear of your editor, and how to effectively use your editor during the writing process.Beware of Your EditorSome of the changes that an editor might suggest could make the User Document more difficult for your Reader to understand.Improving You... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1557 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1557 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OVERVIEWSearches in User Documents (manuals, etc.) often fail because the Reader uses different words for a concept than the author uses. Since the Reader's words do not appear in the document, the document search mechanism cannot find them, resulting in frustration. This article describes a User-friendly technique for improving searches, without having to change the Users' behavior or the search software.YOUR READERS' WORDSPeople use the words that they know whe... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1558 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1558 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OVERVIEWStop confusing your Reader with the words you use. Your Reader is trying his/her best to understand how your product works without having to figure out your writing. Here are some writing guidelines to help you stop baffling your Reader.SAME CONCEPT: SAME WORDSUser Documents are not meant to be entertaining. Do not try to be creative, especially by using synonyms for specific concepts in your product. When you talk about a topic use the exact same wording ... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1700 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1700 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:10 PST The User-Product Life Cycle (U-PLC) is a powerful tool for the User Document writer. Use the U-PLC to generate the high-level topics for your User Document.THE USER-PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE (U-PLC)Usually, when we think of a Product Life Cycle, we think in terms of the development and production of the Product itself. When writing User Documentation, consider the U-PLC to help you generate all the topics necessary for a complete document. User Documentation should support y... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1835 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1835 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:13 PST OVERVIEWMany organizations produce in-house tools or modify commercially-available tools for their own use. These tools should get documented so they are of use to others in the organization.If this documentation is not created or is poorly written, it costs you twice:* The first cost (attributed to any poor user document) is the cost of answering the Users' questions (technical support).* The second cost, arises from the lost time of your employees trying to... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1892 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1892 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:14 PST OVERVIEWLost or garbled information is a terrible waste. Especially if it's the information you gathered from an interview and must now write into your User Document. Here's how to prevent that waste.THE SITUATIONYou had an interview with a Subject Matter Expert (SME, someone who has the information that you need) for your product. He/she told you all that you needed to know. However, by the time you got to write the material into the User Document, you have f... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/2001 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/2001 Sun, 24 May 2009 12:03:12 PST