1. Document Design Principles WritePoint Ltd. www.writepoint.com

2. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Document Design Principles Working with Templates Working with Styles Consistent Terminology Adding a TOC Adding an Index WritePoint presents :

3. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Working with Templates Templates contain: A list of all styles: and their font, color, size and spacing definitions. Header and footer contents: placing of logos, copyright statements, page numbers, etc. Colors, side bars, page size definitions and more. Contents: some templates may contain sections that simply need to be completed, thereby making contents as well as the look and feel consistent.

4. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Working with Templates Templates help you: Create a consistent corporate look and feel for all documents or document types. Templates contain style definitions; header and footer requirements; spacing around text and style objects; colors and fonts that are used, etc. Companies may want one template for technical documents and another for marketing.

5. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Working with Templates With a template: All your corporate documents will look the same and easily offer a corporate branding (for example, logo in top left corner, copyright statement in footer, document name in top right corner, etc.). Without a template: Individually formatting documents (using styles) will not result in a consistent look and feel if the styles are not built into a template. Spacing may be off, even if you use the same colors or fonts. It is very easy to miss a style definition.

6. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Working with Styles Styles help you: Show the user the relative importance of information: –Headings stand out to group information. –Bulleted lists give a quick overview of topics main points. –Numbered lists show the sequential procedure for performing an operation. –Tables and definition lists help organize information. To define (and update) the look and feel of a document easily and consistently.

7. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Working with Styles Sample List of Styles for a User Manual: Headings: Heading 1 for chapter name; heading 2 for main headings; heading 3 for lower level headings; etc. Define: Enables you to present a term and its definition. Bullet: Enables you to present highlights or lists of items that are not sequential. Numbered lists : Enables you to present a sequential procedure, hierarchical list, etc. Body Text: standard or plain text in a manual. Normal style provided with Word should not be used.

8. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Working with Styles Sample List of Styles for a User Manual (cont): Emphasis: Character style for command buttons, menu options, etc. Typically bold or italics. Tabletext: Text in a table. TableHeader: Table header text. Note : Text that should stand out in some way ( bold, color, etc.). Additional styles as required by the document.

9. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Consistent Terminology and Style What styles and terminology you use is less important than the fact that you use them consistently. If you apply styles consistently, you can change them consistently. If your logo changes color, for example, using styles correctly means that changing the look and feel of the document will take minutes, rather than hours (and it will be done correctly). Headings should be phrased consistently (Creating a File or Create a File …but not a mixture of both). Bulleted lists should have periods after all items in the list (or none, depending on your preference and company style guide). You shouldnt have a numbered list consisting of 1 object – use a bullet instead.

10. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Adding a TOC A Table of Contents (TOC) offers the reader an overview of the manual and easy access to each topic. Manuals above 20-30 pages should offer a table of contents. Smaller documents: optional. Word enables you to automatically create and configure a TOC.

11. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Adding an Index An Index offers the reader a easy way to locate a relevant instance of a term, or important information within the manual. Manuals above 40 pages should offer an index. Smaller documents: optional. Word enables you to automatically create and configure an index.

12. © 1996 – 2005 WritePoint Ltd. Thank You At WritePoint…We Write to the Point…. For more information on the services we offer, please contact us at: info@writepoint.com or visit our website at: www.writepoint.com.info@writepoint.comwww.writepoint.com