I was explaining something this morning that I thought all could benefit from. I want to convince writers to avoid using screenshots. What do you think of this? Here are the reasons: * They are hard to translate. * They have to be redone every time there is a change in the UI (string or graphical change). - This comes from the rule, "Make certain what you tell/show the reader is 100% accurate to what they see on the screen, or the reader loses trust in you." - Changing text that refers to a UI is *much* easier to fix and translate than the same change in a screenshot. * They take up a lot of space on the screen/on paper. * They don't show anything more than the reader is already looking at in the application on their computer screen. * At most, they confirm for the reader, "Yes, I see the same thing in the documentation as I do on the screen, I am in the right place." This can be done with words alone. * A description of a screen takes up less space than a screenshot. * Since we do not want our documents to be a catalog of what can be done in a UI screen, we're never interested in everything visible to the reader. We're interested in only a subset of what is in the UI. Showing the entire UI in a screenshot is therefore distracting. * A screenshot is not the same as a diagram or other useful graphic. Okay, what are the advantages of using a screenshot? * Useful if the reader cannot read the language of the document; the screen shows them they are in the right place. * Useful if the reader believes they cannot follow a document without screenshots. * Nice for desktop tours, to show what applications look like. * Useful for when you need to define a specific term on the desktop, as in the FDUG where the elements of the desktop are explained with a graphic to show which piece it is. I would like to make this part of our guidelines. What do you all think? - Karsten -- Karsten Wade, RHCE, 108 Editor ^ Fedora Documentation Project Sr. Developer Relations Mgr. | fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject quaid.108.redhat.com | gpg key: AD0E0C41 ////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
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