I'm all for giving our users as many tools as possible to find the information that they're looking for. A table of contents (TOC) may work in some situations, such as for very short manuals. It doesn't in others, especially for longer manuals with a lot of topics. An index sorts topics alphabetically, which a TOC doesn't. It typically also provides more topics to look under than just the headings. If your headings are long enough to give me all of the possible index entries, then I probably won't want to read your manual.
I use an index about 95% of the time when I'm looking for information, and I only go to the TOC if I can't find what I'm looking for using the index or if there isn't an index at all. As a user, I look down on anything that makes me resort to wading through a TOC, trying to figure out if what I'm looking for is in that manual. Creating an index isn't as hard as some people seem to think it is. Think of what topics your users would look under to find certain information, and put index entries for that. It's all very logical. Donna - CONFIDENTIAL- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may also be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, use, copy, or distribute this message. If you receive this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and then delete this email. ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
