[FM Discuss] [Discuss] tips doc from andy oram

[adam hyde]

On Wed, 2007-07-25 at 07:55 +1000, Mr. Snow wrote:
> hey congratulations and a big pat on the back ! ( or was it a tap on  
> the shoulder, i always get those two confused ) .

i think its a pat for us all and congrats all round


> 
> i like it . throughout it though, i was thinking of the parts that i  
> have started writing, and how, because of the nature of our aims, it  
> mayn't be possible to 'background' . for example, to create discrete  
> manuals, and chapters within, i take a project that i am working on  
> and cut it into pieces . which fragments the background .
> 

...yeah interesting...i also think its not always possible...for
example, backgrounding 'opening a doc' in openoffice? a necessary
starting chapter for openoffice but providing a background which is more
than a few lines when the chapter itself is short is not sooo
interesting...there ar some things that just can be heated up to look
exciting...however, the backgrounding of how to use free codecs to
stream could be made quite enticing

sooo...i think the modular and discrete nature of the chapters we write
might not always fit this method, but I think there is a really
interesting conversation that could follow from this doc about what _is_
the craft in writing modular docs. What are the key ingredients to make
them remixable, readable, useful, and enticing

this resource is also interesting:
http://www.asktog.com/columns/017ManualWriting.html

Its an old doc from the apple os9 world, but amazing how this advice is
still not followed in many docs such as "Make it enjoyable to read"

it would be good to talk about what makes a good fm manual structure,
and what makes a good fm chapter... 

adam






> however, i'd like to try it, and see if it can be applied to our  
> situation .
> 
> 
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adam hyde
floss manuals

free manuals for free software
http://www.flossmanuals.net

mobile : + 31 6 154 22770 (Netherlands mobile)
email : adam at flossmanuals.net