Are user manuals available as printed booklets or are they soft copies?
User manual specification depends on customer requirements. Generally, a hardware product has a printed booklet as a user manual while a software tool or application depends on a soft copy user manual.
Why are there different categories of user manuals?
User manuals have varied categories because:
Technical communicators use multiple tools. How is each tool different from the other?
Our technical communicators use numerous tools – totaling about a dozen – to meet different customer requirements. Here's a look at the most popular ones:
Tool | Description |
---|---|
Microsoft Word | - To create compact user manuals - Provides basic support for graphics - Provides 'styles' to enable consistent and easy formatting - Allows conversion to PDF and XPS file formats with the addition of third-party tools - Enables effective documentation review |
FrameMaker | - To create large documents - Output formats – PDF, XML, HTML - Provides rich media support |
RoboHelp | - To create online help systems - Output formats – HTML, CHM, PDF, Word, XML, Java Help, Oracle Help, Flash Help, Web Help, Win Help - Provides graphics and multimedia support - Provides pop-ups, image maps, and hyperlinks |
MS Visio | - To create top-class diagrams (flow charts, workflows, network
diagrams, database models, software diagrams) - Connects diagrams to data - Enables effective integration of Visio diagrams into other applications |
Adobe Photoshop | - To edit graphics/images - Supports a wide range of file formats – BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, etc. - Provides enhanced painting and drawing functionalities |
Arbortext Editor | - To create/edit/publish WYSIWIG SGML/XML files |
How many pages does a user manual have?
Most user manuals have between 50 and 300 pages. However, some user manuals could be more extensive.
What are the output formats for a user manual?
A user manual could be delivered in the following formats:
How do I integrate an online help file to a software application?
The procedure for integrating an online help file (HTML, CHM files) to an application varies according to the application development tool. Every programming language has a particular syntax for integration and a programmer can easily integrate the two.
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