8   Writing and Production Software

Most organizations use word processing software, rather than desktop publishing software, to prepare their manuals. While desktop publishing software is excellent for complex page layouts, you’ll find that its focus on the page rather than the document increases the amount of work required to subsequently revise sections.

The most commonly used word processing programs for personal computers are WordPerfect and Microsoft Word. These programs offer all the features required to produce most manuals. The primary disadvantage of these tools is they are not designed to handle large document files. However, if you divide your manual into a series of smaller files, you shouldn’t have many problems.

Many Web authoring software packages are available. They have different features and functions that may or may not be useful to you depending on what and how you want to publish. You can often download demo or beta copies of the authoring software to test them. Some require that you understand hypertext markup language (HTML), while others don’t. Make sure you’re comfortable with the software before you commit yourself to using it.

This section covers:

• using your word processor effectively
• working with styles and templates
• generating the table of contents, index, and cross-references
• formatting tips
• Web authoring software
• using other software
• organizing and protecting computer files

To successfully word process your manual, you’ll need a lot more information than is provided here. Producing a manual requires expert-level word processing skills, particularly if you are presenting information in a variety of ways, such as decision trees or playscript procedures. While they aren’t difficult once you learn how, producing a manual will test, and probably extend, your word processing abilities.

For more detailed information, refer to your word processor manual or help system. Both have all the information you’ll need. You can also buy a book on using your word processor. These are usually written by professional authors and are often more candid in revealing the problems you’ll encounter than the manuals that come with the software.

If you don’t think you’re up to the challenge, make sure you have someone available who is. Give the person the URL of this guidebook.

To make your job easier, and make sure you’re using a good template, download the template that comes with this guidebook. For information on how to use the templates, see Using the Manual Templates. Even if you’re using your own template, have a look at the template, particularly the way the styles work. You’ll probably get some good ideas on ways to improve and simplify the way you word process the manual. See Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1: When you open our template, it should look like this