RE: Style Question

["Stevens, Ananda" <Ananda.Stevens@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> what character [do] you use to separate the multiple levels 
> of menu commands/options?

Someone here used to use "Select Format | Document | Numbering". 
But when I started writing, I used > instead of |, without really
thinking why. I suspect it's because the > seems more natural: 
 - submenus are generally indicated by a triangle pointing 
   to the right
 - submenus usually appear to the right of the main menu 
 - the > reinforces the parent > child relationship of the 
   main menu > submenu
 - the > indicates a redirect in UNIX, which isn't that far
   off the mark in a menu > submenu selection

>From my bookshelf, some of the manuals that use the 
menu > submenu convention:
 - FrameMaker
 - IXgen
 - Photoshop
 - Kai's Power Tools
 - Illustrator
 - GoLive
 - Visio

There is one book that does not use the > character, but it uses
an arrow dingbat character. 

> Should we bite the bullet and adopt the verbal approach of 
> describing how to navigate the menus? 

Definitely _not_. 

As a user, I can get the information much quicker from the 
"main menu > submenu" shorthand notation than from a full 
sentence of "select the menu and then select the submenu"! 
Also, if you are reading a manual written in another language,
the "menu > submenu" convention eliminates some confusion --
since some people will write "Select the submenu from the menu" 
rather than "select the menu and then the submenu". 
(Been there, done that with the kanji in the Japanese Windows9x
installation... navigation by pattern recognition, anyone? ;-)

HTH,
Ananda Stevens
ananda.stevens@windriver.com

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