OT: Use of please in technical documentation and messages on screen
Hi Once I learned that you shouln't use the word please in technical documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on the screen of our user interface? We are updating the result list, please wait Best regards, Verner Radiometer Medical ApS Akandevej 21 2700 Bronshoj Denmark Phone: +45 38 27 38 27 CVR: 27 50 91 85 Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy or re-transmit this email. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by email by replying to the sender and by telephone (call us collect at +1 202-828-0850) and delete this message and any attachments. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. In addition, Danaher and its subsidiaries disclaim that the content of this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, any contract or agreement or any amendment thereto; provided that the foregoing disclaimer does not invalidate the binding effect of any digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is included in any attachment to this email. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: OT: Use of please in technical documentation and messages on screen
I say this from my North American English-speaker perspective... I prefer to take the Strunk and White approach to omit needless words. Please is needless. As a user, I find the use of please patronizing. Personally, I would reword the message to say Wait while the result list is updated. Nadine Andersen, Verner Engell VEA wrote: Hi Once I learned that you shouln't use the word please in technical documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on the screen of our user interface? We are updating the result list, please wait Best regards, Verner Radiometer Medical ApS Akandevej 21 2700 Bronshoj Denmark Phone: +45 38 27 38 27 CVR: 27 50 91 85 Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy or re-transmit this email. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by email by replying to the sender and by telephone (call us collect at +1 202-828-0850) and delete this message and any attachments. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. In addition, Danaher and its subsidiaries disclaim that the content of this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, any contract or agreement or any amendment thereto; provided that the foregoing disclaimer does not invalidate the binding effect of any digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is included in any attachment to this email. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as generic...@yahoo.ca. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/generic668%40yahoo.ca Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: OT: Use of please in technical documentation and messages on screen
On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:30 AM, Andersen, Verner Engell VEAverner.ander...@radiometer.dk wrote: Once I learned that you shouln't use the word please in technical documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. I've just opened the Windows Help and Support Center (XP), did a search for please, and found 15 articles (full-text search results); each article contains at least one instance. Looking at the first few, none of them make me feel as though Microsoft were asking me for a favour. You could repeat this experiment with other help systems available to you. -- Milan Davidovic http://altmilan.blogspot.com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: OT: Use of please in technical documentation and messages on screen
I don't think that I'd write that, but it doesn't bother me at all. Better, I think, would be a message that says Results are being updated... Ideally with a spinning cursor or hourglass or bar graph line to show the progress. Art Campbell art.campb...@gmail.com ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:30 AM, Andersen, Verner Engell VEAverner.ander...@radiometer.dk wrote: Hi Once I learned that you shouln't use the word please in technical documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on the screen of our user interface? We are updating the result list, please wait Best regards, Verner Radiometer Medical ApS Akandevej 21 2700 Bronshoj Denmark Phone: +45 38 27 38 27 CVR: 27 50 91 85 Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy or re-transmit this email. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by email by replying to the sender and by telephone (call us collect at +1 202-828-0850) and delete this message and any attachments. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. In addition, Danaher and its subsidiaries disclaim that the content of this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, any contract or agreement or any amendment thereto; provided that the foregoing disclaimer does not invalidate the binding effect of any digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is included in any attachment to this email. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campb...@gmail.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: OT: Use of please in technical documentation and messages on screen
We've recently been reading some E.B. White books to our kids (Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan) and I note that White has no practical respect for his own rules. I avoid Please in instructional documentation. The reader knows what to expect -- you're telling him or her how to make the product go, and the writer can venture forth from the indicative-mood explanations to imperative-mood commands without fear of offense. Cookbooks, for example, aren't lousy with please, and would look downright weird if they were. I would not dismiss such small courtesies out of hand for user interfaces, however, because users and readers have different expectations. In an instruction from documentation, the writer is not burdening the reader, and the word please just lards up the sentence. When a computer application burns a few billion cycles and a few read-writes to disk working on a problem, however, it introduces a delay that importunes the user. Because the application is begging the user's indulgence while it does its work, it is in no position to bark out orders. In this instance, manners, even robotically generated ones, are entirely appropriate. --William Andersen, Verner Engell VEA wrote: Hi Once I learned that you shouln't use the word please in technical documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on the screen of our user interface? We are updating the result list, please wait Best regards, Verner ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
OT: Use of "please" in technical documentation and messages on screen
Hi Once I learned that you shouln't use the word "please" in technical documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on the screen of our user interface? "We are updating the result list, please wait" Best regards, Verner Radiometer Medical ApS Akandevej 21 2700 Bronshoj Denmark Phone: +45 38 27 38 27 CVR: 27 50 91 85 Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy or re-transmit this email. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by email by replying to the sender and by telephone (call us collect at +1 202-828-0850) and delete this message and any attachments. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. In addition, Danaher and its subsidiaries disclaim that the content of this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, any contract or agreement or any amendment thereto; provided that the foregoing disclaimer does not invalidate the binding effect of any digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is included in any attachment to this email.
OT: Use of "please" in technical documentation and messages on screen
I say this from my North American English-speaker perspective... I prefer to take the Strunk and White approach to "omit needless words". Please is needless. As a user, I find the use of "please" patronizing. Personally, I would reword the message to say "Wait while the result list is updated". Nadine Andersen, Verner Engell VEA wrote: > Hi > Once I learned that you shouln't use the word "please" in technical > documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. > > Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on > the screen of our user interface? > > "We are updating the result list, please wait" > > Best regards, > > Verner > > > > > Radiometer Medical ApS > Akandevej 21 > 2700 Bronshoj > Denmark > Phone: +45 38 27 38 27 > CVR: 27 50 91 85 > > > > Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. > If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy or > re-transmit this email. If you have received this email in error, > please notify us by email by replying to the sender and by telephone > (call us collect at +1 202-828-0850) and delete this message and any > attachments. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. > > In addition, Danaher and its subsidiaries disclaim that the content of > this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, > any > contract or agreement or any amendment thereto; provided that the > foregoing disclaimer does not invalidate the binding effect of any > digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is > included in any attachment to this email. > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as generic668 at yahoo.ca. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/generic668%40yahoo.ca > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > >
OT: Use of "please" in technical documentation and messages on screen
On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:30 AM, Andersen, Verner Engell VEA wrote: > Once I learned that you shouln't use the word "please" in technical > documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. I've just opened the Windows Help and Support Center (XP), did a search for "please", and found 15 articles (full-text search results); each article contains at least one instance. Looking at the first few, none of them make me feel as though Microsoft were asking me for a favour. You could repeat this experiment with other help systems available to you. -- Milan Davidovic http://altmilan.blogspot.com
OT: Use of "please" in technical documentation and messages on screen
I don't think that I'd write that, but it doesn't bother me at all. Better, I think, would be a message that says "Results are being updated..." Ideally with a spinning cursor or hourglass or bar graph line to show the progress. Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 4:30 AM, Andersen, Verner Engell VEA wrote: > Hi > Once I learned that you shouln't use the word "please" in technical > documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. > > Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on > the screen of our user interface? > > "We are updating the result list, please wait" > > Best regards, > > Verner > > > > > Radiometer Medical ApS > Akandevej 21 > 2700 Bronshoj > Denmark > Phone: +45 38 27 38 27 > CVR: 27 50 91 85 > > > > Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. > ?If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy or > re-transmit this email. ?If you have received this email in error, > please notify us by email by replying to the sender and by telephone > (call us collect at +1 202-828-0850) and delete this message and any > attachments. ?Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. > > In addition, Danaher and its subsidiaries disclaim that the content of > this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, > any > contract or agreement or any amendment thereto; provided that the > foregoing disclaimer does not invalidate the binding effect of any > digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is > included in any attachment to this email. > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campbell at gmail.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >
OT: Use of "please" in technical documentation and messages on screen
We've recently been reading some E.B. White books to our kids (Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan) and I note that White has no practical respect for his own rules. I avoid "Please" in instructional documentation. The reader knows what to expect -- you're telling him or her how to make the product go, and the writer can venture forth from the indicative-mood explanations to imperative-mood commands without fear of offense. Cookbooks, for example, aren't lousy with "please," and would look downright weird if they were. I would not dismiss such small courtesies out of hand for user interfaces, however, because users and readers have different expectations. In an instruction from documentation, the writer is not burdening the reader, and the word "please" just lards up the sentence. When a computer application burns a few billion cycles and a few read-writes to disk working on a problem, however, it introduces a delay that importunes the user. Because the application is begging the user's indulgence while it does its work, it is in no position to bark out orders. In this instance, manners, even robotically generated ones, are entirely appropriate. --William Andersen, Verner Engell VEA wrote: > Hi > Once I learned that you shouln't use the word "please" in technical > documentation - that it was like asking the reader to do you favor. > > Does this still hold true? Is it OK to have this message displayed on > the screen of our user interface? > > "We are updating the result list, please wait" > > Best regards, > > Verner
