The software developer knows more than anybody what makes the software work, but that doesnt mean the developer should write the guide. Use the manuals for five minutes of gettoknowyou at the beginning of a recurring team meeting. General information section explains in general terms the system and the purpose for which it is intended. Ensure that the user manual can lie flat on a work surface when opened. Module development kit hardware user manual for more information about the compactrio. Tm module development kit user manual software user manual compactrio module development kit software manual november 2017 375951b01. To make that happen, this special type of template is necessary which makes your writing of the training stuff easy. In a previous article, i went over 14 examples of documentation mistakes you might be making. It was meant as an interim standard, to be in effect for about two years until a commercial standard was developed. Filling the inn pdf form the inn online application uses the adobe reader software as user interface. An operation manual template will contain relevant guidelines. Nov 22, 2019 software, computers, games, and devices require user manuals, guides that explain how to use the product and how not to. User manual template in the development of products, manufacturing and advertisement is not the only thing which company needs to do, a business may also require to prepare a user manual by using user manual template. In this example we will create 17 students that will get names.
Software manual template epri software development. Where can i find a good template for a software application. Figure 15 inn pdf document the yellow fields are the required information see figure 16 in order to start the. Our user guide templates can be used to create user guides, user manuals, getting started guides and other types of technical documents. Some documents have a more fluid structure with many internal links. Installation manual template is so much fun to use. This is important as it will help the consumers learn how to use the product correctly. This functionality is to create a lot of students in an efficient manner. We have gathered these user manual templates only for our users so that they will get a wide variety of user manual templates at one place only. Your online documentation will look great on desktops, tablets or phones. Technical writing for software documentation writers. The layout of your live manuals automatically adapts to any screen size. Core purpose of the document is to guide people about fruitful use of mentioned product, service or any other thing. The application enables you to save your report in its native format prnx.
Even more, customers will be glad to recommend your product, and leaders in your business niche will easily recommend your brand to other experts and their customers. When you write a great help manual you do two things help customers find and use appropriate solutions easily and slash your business customer support costs significantly. The lcd monitor display examples may be different from actual display screens. Introduction to this sample documentthis document is an example of a usermanual for an online classroom. You can user these templates to create an effective user manual for the product or software for your customers. So we can say that manual is actually a written piece of booklet that prepared and send by manufacture along with software application. Required software the following software is required to use the compactrio module development kit. The configuration software is available for download at. A user guide explains how to use a software application in language that a nontechnical person can understand. Caution caution this indicates important notices and restrictions for. Download the instruction manual template, learn about useful tools. It contains a pointer to a callback function that is executed when the command is parsed, an opaque pointer, a help string and a list of tokens in a nullterminated table. A user guide is an online or printed book that describes how to use a software application.
This is why writing a great help manual is one of the. Choose the file with the user instruction manual template on your device and click open. It contains sample documents, worksheets and checklists to help writers work smarter and faster. The examples i show are examples of what makes great end user. About this book about manuals about software products about this book purpose this book was written to. Experience says that such users will rarely consult a manual. A user guide includes written and visual information such as diagrams or screen shots to assist the user in completing tasks associated with the product or. The assumption was that the users are notvery technically savvy, so both the application and the user. Mar 03, 2015 therefore, use adobe illustrator and adobe photoshop for photos and illustrations, while adobe indesign and adobe pagemaker for the lay out and design of manuals. Part 3exhibits contains useful sample documents, checklists and worksheets. Some indication of the kind of software youre writing would help. A user guide can be very brieffor example, only 10 or 20 pages or it can be a fulllength book of 200 pages or more. User manual template and guide to create your own manual in. The template is a microsoft word template and operates on machines using office 98 software or higher.
The template is designed to facilitate and standardize software manual formatting through the use of word styles. How to create a personal user manual for work atlassian. Refer to the compactrio module development kit hardware user manual for more information about the compactrio module development kit. Consider whether the user needs to hold the user manual and work at the same time. For example, when you purchase a special software or computer application from a company, they may send you user guide in cd of the software or as soft file that you can open in your computer easily to get instructions about software installation and its legal uses. Make sure your imported template is chosen highlighted and press export. Whenever you bring on a new team member, provide them with this template and ask them to share their details with the team. How to write a great help manual help authoring software. This guide uses the following symbols and conventions. Milstd498 militarystandard498 was a united states military standard whose purpose was to establish uniform requirements for software development and documentation.
Inn data management integrated system user manual 3. This is a most common example of a manual in any organization. Examples andor non examples to illustrate the explanation. It is important to implement the information within this manual in order move your clients to optimal levels of. Consider whether the user manual needs to resist water, oil, dirt, grease etc. Software instructions manual template comes with computer program, application and virtual design app is called software manual. Documentation read and download thermocalc installation guides, user guides, examples, release notes, tutorials and more. The thermocalc and diffusion module dictra documentation sets include several individual guides that help you get started with your software. Software, computers, games, and devices require user manuals, guides that explain how to use the product and how not to. The purpose of this manual is to guide instructional designers on how to create effective training manuals. How to write user documentation techscribe technical writing. Software instructions manual template free manual templates. It is a vital thing to have enough information and howknow about a particular system, thing or device to operate it efficiently to get preferred outcomes. General information, system summary, getting started, using the system, and reporting.
Briefly describe in general terms the systemapplication and the purpose for which it is intended, written in nontechnical terminology. Mar 07, 2019 a detailed document or small booklet that tells a user how to operate a product appropriately or how to install and use a particular computer software or application is named as user manual. Hp t1936aa digital sending software user manual 18 pages hp mfp digital sending software v. A user manual is a formal writing piece with a specific structure, and should be written by someone who is intimately familiar with the product such as a technical writer or the product designer. The software developer knows more than anybody what makes the software work, but that doesnt mean the developer should write the. They may be distributed either in print or electronically. This user guide presents an overview of the applications features and gives stepbystep. For example, a system administrator is usually an expert with software, but a data entry clerk can be an expert or a novice. Oct 23, 2018 installation manual template is so much fun to use. This user manual um provides the information necessary for to effectively use the. A task is a set of operations that is used to achieve a goal. User guide templates 5 ms word layouts my software templates.
As applicable, reference related processes and corresponding documentation you may want to create an ordered list of each workflow process to be covered. Part 2the sample project is a complete, stepbystep example of creating. The first step in writing a good user manual is to get the actual writing process as far away from the engineers as possible. Every single person will be failed to use it effectively if heshe is totally unfamiliar to handle or operate a product, device or a system. A user guide is essentially a booklength document containing instructions on installing, using, or troubleshooting a hardware or software product. Online manual software for creating online user manuals. All of this procedure for user instruction manual creation is quite simple and does not take long to complete.
System summary section provides a general overview of the system. User manual template and guide to create your own manual in 15. In 2015 we created a new online help system that users can access from within thermocalc. The benefit of learning this information is to create professional. Part 2the sample project is a complete, stepbystep example of creating a software manual from day one through postmortem1. Information about how to safely operate the device, or how to handle it effectively is provided in a user manual so that a user can use it safely without any. Template design software user guide handheld group. When a new person joins the team, include this exercise.
If your software, for example, is like microsoft word, then it would be easy to suggest a user guide template. Download the cc2520 software examples zip file swrc090a. So for them the bulk of the user guide information has to be available on line, supported by a good indexing system and ideally some diagnostic wizards. Consider the environment of use and if necessary provide a robust user manual. The user guide aka user manual provides the information and instructions needed to set up and use a product. A detailed document or small booklet that tells a user how to operate a product appropriately or how to install and use a particular computer software or application is named as user manual. User manual may contain written instructions or step by step guide in visual format. Jul 09, 2009 our user guide templates can be used to create user guides, user manuals, getting started guides and other types of technical documents. While this definition assumes computers, a user guide can provide operating instructions on practically anythinglawnmowers. Collect the user manuals under a parent page in your teams confluence space, or in a dedicated network folder. You can give your existing team members a chance to discuss any recent updates to their own user manual at that same time, so that people always have the most uptodate information about how to communicate and collaborate. Create a print template use the software to design print templates for the sp400x. While this definition assumes computers, a user guide can provide operating.
User manual is also known as user guide, user instruction manual and instruction manual etc. Generate pdf versions of your manuals and optionally offer downloadable pdf manuals to your readers. Be it an application, an operation, a support system or any other type of software, but each year a lot of softwares come to the market, and they all are released by. Provide a concise description of the overall processes managed by the software, and how the user interacts with the system. Sep 24, 2017 if you want to create a user manual for any product or machine then use these templates to ease your work to a certain extent.
The benefit of learning this information is to create professional looking educational tools that will serve your clients well. A user guide on paper is less likely to be useful to casual users who make only occasional use of the system. I should clarify that end user documentation does not serve the same. In this guide, still im ages, movies, and sounds are all referred to as images or files. All of this procedure for user instruction manual creation is. Most of companies send user manuals to their customers or users in pdf format. For information to help you understand the applications of thermocalc, such as webinars, presentations, scientific bibliographies and more, visit our resources page. A description of how to operate each software example is found in section 4 of this guide. Besides the primary goal of a user manual to assist a user, secondary goals could be creating a better user experience and. User manuals and user guides for most nontrivial software applications are booklike documents with contents similar to the above list.
Opening the pdf file, the user will see a pdf document in figure 15. The user manual manual how to research, write, test, edit and produce a software manual. Choose just one topic from the user manual, and go over each persons answers. Jun 04, 2007 ensure that the user manual can lie flat on a work surface when opened. The user manual manual is a guided tour through the entire process of creating a user manual from initial concept through writing, testing, editing and production to postmortem. A user manual can come with any technical device, machine or software to explain users and consumers about safe handling and operating the device or machine properly. If you like them or find them useful then please share with other people. In general, user guides are part of the documentation suite that comes with an application for example, data sheets, release notes, installation guides and system administration guides. Compactrio module development kit hardware user manual. A user guide includes written and visual information such as diagrams or screen shots to assist the user in completing tasks associated with the product or service, organized along functional or workflow lines. For example, based on the software, the sets include the thermocalc andor diffusion module user guides, command references, example guides, the data optimization and database manager user guides.