Re: Word 2003 User's Guide
From: Pat Garard (apgarardATbigpondDOTnetDOTau)
Date: 01/17/05
- Next message: joey: "recover deleted document. (recycle bin cleared)"
- Previous message: Doug Robbins: "Re: Is there a way"
- In reply to: Suzanne S. Barnhill: "Re: Word 2003 User's Guide"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 13:37:08 +1100
Hi Suzanne,
There is, I guess, one thing that most people would find
useful in this "incremental" world.
That would be a periodic re-assessment of where we
have arrived at.
A "once again" this is where we are at with Word.....
-- Regards, Pat Garard Australia _______________________ "Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill@mvps.org> wrote in message news:uDPM3WB$EHA.2580@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl... >> However Beginner Education (BE) is just as important >> to me as UA. > > I can recall when every new version of Word came with a tutorial disk or > book. I found these quite helpful. Now, except for its online articles, > Microsoft leaves this type of documentation to third parties, and quite a > few authors have made a lucrative business of it (think of Woody et al.). > Microsoft's assumption (which is valid to some extent) is that most users > of > new versions of Office are not new Office users. Most of us upgrade from > Word 2002 to 2003 (or 97 or 2000 to 2003) and already know how to do most > of > what we need to do. > > What I would really like to see is an extension of the "What's New in Word > xxxx" KB articles. There's usually one such for each version (though it > sometimes takes a while to come out), but it's mostly a list of the > features > with some marketing hype, not any explanation of why you might want to use > the features, much less how to implement them. It could be argued that if > you get a list of the new features and some of them sound interesting, you > can then investigate them in the Help file or in online articles; the > problem with that is that the Help is usually (a) mostly inherited from > previous versions and (b) prepared at the last minute when the feature set > is final and consequently doesn't always have adequate documentation of > new > features, and articles about them are often slow to appear because UA is > still figuring them out, too. (Presumably designers and developers, who > dream up these new features, are not qualified to write the > documentation.) > > Third-party books often focus on new features because the author has > almost > certainly participated in beta testing, which focuses on these new > features. > The problem here is that, given publishing deadlines (the goal is to have > the books hit the streets at the same time as the software), the > descriptions and instructions are often wrong, either because a feature > received last-minute tweaking or because it couldn't be made to work > reliably at all and was dropped. > > To get some idea what all these writers are up against, consider these > analogies: > > 1. Trying to write a newspaper description (on deadline) of a protean > beast > that keeps changing shape before your eyes. > > 2. Trying to make a fitted wedding dress for a bride who has gained or > lost > 10 or 15 pounds every time she comes in for a fitting. > > See also http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WheresTheManual.htm > > -- > Suzanne S. Barnhill > Microsoft MVP (Word) > Words into Type > Fairhope, Alabama USA > Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org > Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup > so > all may benefit. > > "Pat Garard" <apgarardATbigpondDOTnetDOTau> wrote in message > news:u86UO6A$EHA.3820@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl... >> G'Day Suzanne, >> >> I find your comments very informative - had no idea >> that MS had so dynamic an approach. >> >> However Beginner Education (BE) is just as important >> to me as UA. >> >> BE (for me) is a form of Product Description, >> covering topics like: >> Here is Word, its MAIN features are... >> It will do this.....if you...... >> As a start, the best way to........however you may also... >> >> (The first Book I bought on Word (v6 - Que?) ran to >> 1400 or 1600 pages and I never needed another.) >> >> UA (for me) covers topics like: >> When I try to use this feature.....this happens.....why? >> I am unable to......as advertised....why? >> I note that.....Word can.....I need more information. >> There seems to be a bug...... (and sometimes there is!) >> >> I strongly believe that the "Boxed" version of Office >> should include the PDF versions of... >> MS Press - Word xxxx Inside Out >> MS Press - Excel xxxx Inside Out >> MS Press - Outlook xxxx Inside Out >> : >> (Each Book includes a PDF copy of itself on the >> accompanying CD already.) >> >> As an example, Office 97 Pro came with a printed >> book "Developing Applications with Access 97". It >> covered (the then NEW) VBA in Access, and was a >> priceless guide to Access at that time. It used the >> two sample database apps as its basis, and would >> STILL give an excellent grounding in the product. >> There was an HTML version on the CD. I used it >> as a training resource for many years. >> >> I was refused permission to distribute it free to >> trainees then and recently - although it has never >> been offered for sale. >> -- >> Regards, >> Pat Garard >> Australia >> _______________________ >> >> "Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill@mvps.org> wrote in message >> news:uIA1Mj%23%23EHA.3840@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl... >> > The current thinking on what Microsoft calls User Assistance is that it >> > should be dynamic. For that reason, even the offline Help file is > somewhat >> > limited (and being increasingly pared down to the > most-often-searched-for >> > information. The rest is available online. If you have a persistent (or >> > even >> > convenient) connection to the Internet, this can be quite handy because >> > Microsoft is continuously adding new Help articles that will be found >> > by >> > searching online through your built in Help task pane. The UA people > meet >> > monthly with Word MVPs to determine the current "pain points" and FAQs > so >> > that they (and we) can write new articles to address them. >> > >> > If you don't have constant, easy, or fast access to the Internet (as we >> > keep >> > futilely emphasizing to MS is the case for many users), this can be a >> > bummer. One thing we have repeatedly suggested to MS is that the added >> > content be made available in the form of downloadable updates to the > Help >> > file. Perhaps this will be incorporated in a future version. >> > >> > -- >> > Suzanne S. Barnhill >> > Microsoft MVP (Word) >> > Words into Type >> > Fairhope, Alabama USA >> > Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org >> > Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the > newsgroup >> > so >> > all may benefit. >> > >> > "Terry Drewes" <tmdcad1NOSPAM@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message >> > news:O1HJwE4%23EHA.2608@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl... >> >> Hi TF! >> >> >> >> That's a bummer! :-( ...Just about every other software program gives >> >> you a PDF on the installation CD to view and print out a User's Guide. >> >> Oh well. >> >> >> >> Ciao! >> >> ~Terry >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> TF wrote: >> >> > Terry >> >> > >> >> > No manual comes with Word or Office - just a quick install guide. > There >> > are >> >> > many tutorials on line under Help - but even these aren't that easy > to >> > find. >> >> > >> > >> >> >
- Next message: joey: "recover deleted document. (recycle bin cleared)"
- Previous message: Doug Robbins: "Re: Is there a way"
- In reply to: Suzanne S. Barnhill: "Re: Word 2003 User's Guide"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Relevant Pages
|
