User guide

keyboard car and truck operating manual A user guide, user manual, owner's manual or instruction manual is intended to assist users in using a particular product, service or application. It is usually written by a technician, product developer, or a company's customer service staff. Most user guides contain both a written guide and associated images. In the case of computer applications, it is usual to include screenshots of the human-machine interface(s), and hardware manuals often include clear, simplified diagrams. The language used is matched to the intended audience, with jargon kept to a minimum or explained thoroughly. Until the last decade or two of the twentieth century it was common for an owner's manual to include detailed repair information, such as a circuit diagram; however as products became more complex this information was gradually relegated to specialized service manuals, or dispensed with entirely, as devices became too inexpensive to be economically repaired. Owner's manuals for simpler devices are often multilingual so that the same boxed product can be sold in many different markets. Sometimes the same manual is shipped with a range of related products so the manual will contain a number of sections that apply only to some particular model in the product range.…

keyboard]] car and truck operating manual]] A user guide, user manual, owner's manual or instruction manual is intended to assist users in using a particular product, service or application. It is usually written by a technician, product developer, or a company's customer service staff. Most user guides contain both a written guide and associated images. In the case of computer applications, it is usual to include screenshots of the human-machine interface(s), and hardware manuals often include clear, simplified diagrams. The language used is matched to the intended audience, with jargon kept to a minimum or explained thoroughly. Until the last decade or two of the twentieth century it was common for an owner's manual to include detailed repair information, such as a circuit diagram; however as products became more complex this information was gradually relegated to specialized service manuals, or dispensed with entirely, as devices became too inexpensive to be economically repaired. Owner's manuals for simpler devices are often multilingual so that the same boxed product can be sold in many different markets. Sometimes the same manual is shipped with a range of related products so the manual will contain a number of sections that apply only to some particular model in the product range. With the increasing complexity of modern devices, many owner's manuals have become so large that a separate quickstart guide is provided. Some owner's manuals for computer equipment are supplied on CD-ROM to cut down on manufacturing costs, since the owner is assumed to have a computer able to read the CD-ROM. Another trend is to supply instructional video material with the product, such as a videotape or DVD, along with the owner's manual. Many businesses offer PDF copies of manuals that can be accessed or downloaded free of charge from their websites. ==Contents of a user manual== Information contained in the owner's manual typically includes: Safety instructions; for liability reasons these can be extensive, often including warnings against performing operations that are ill-advised for product longevity or overall user safety reasons. Assembly instructions; for products that arrive in pieces for easier shipping. Installation instructions; for products that need to be installed in a home or workplace. Setup instructions; that detail what steps to take to prepare the item for usage. Instructions for normal or intended operations. Programming instructions; for microprocessor controlled products such as VCRs, programmable calculators, and synthesizers. Maintenance instructions. Troubleshooting instructions; for when the product does not work as expected. Service locations; for when the product requires repair by a factory authorized technician. Regulatory code compliance information; for example with respect to safety or electromagnetic interference. Product technical specifications. Warranty information; sometimes provided as a separate sheet. ==Computer software manuals and guides== Before Unix, for example, GCOS, mainframe documentation were printed pages, available on-premise to users (staff, students...), organized into steel binders (in one monolithic steel reading rack), bolted to a table or counter, with pages organized for modular information updates, replacement, errata, and addenda. User manuals and user guides for most non-trivial PC and browser software applications are book-like documents with contents similar to the above list. They may be distributed either in print or electronically. Some documents have a more fluid structure with many internal links. The Google Earth User Guide is an example of this format. The term guide is often applied to a document that addresses a specific aspect of a software product. Some usages are Installation Guide, Getting Started Guide, and various How to guides. An example is the Picasa Getting Started Guide. In some business software applications, where groups of users have access to only a sub-set of the application's full functionality, a user guide may be prepared for each group. An example of this approach is the Autodesk Topobase 2010 Help document, which contains separate Administrator Guides, User Guides, and a Developer's Guide. ==References==

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