> *grimace* I understand now. I myself am mostly apathetic > about it, though I do > prefer "displays". As Donna said, "appears" seems to be magical. > > Anyhow, thanks for the info! > > Best, > ~Tarage >
As long as "displays" has an object it makes no difference, although we found that it was clearer to readers (and to us) to say that a dialog box opens and closes, rather than either of the choices you asked about. And windows open and close; and a screen appears and displays content. And a dialog box can show as well as display. Or it can present. The less the word we use stands calls attention to itself, of course, the better. We figured that people really needed to know what should happen after they followed a step, so we told them this (buttons are bold): Click Do It Now. The Do It Now dialog box opens and shows the settings for doing it. .... Click OK. Very frankly, appears and displays could well have never been in our manuals at all. If you're documenting Windows applications, I would use the MMOS as a general guide and develop your own *house style guide* for items that you want to handle differently than MMOS does. It's not perfect, but its handling of Windows elements is good, in my opinion. Bonnie Granat http://www.GranatEdit.com _______________________________________________ Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com Your 3D Documentation Community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals To post a message to the list, send an email to [email protected] To find out more about the list, including archives and your account options, visit http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com If you need assistance with the list, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
