Documenting Large Projects
Being in IT, I see a lot of large projects that need to be documented.
A large documentation project is any project requiring more than one or two people and producing more than one volume of documentation.
In some instances, a documentation team may have hundreds of contributors and produce many volumes of documentation of many different types.
A large software development project might produce the following documents: * Management Plan * System Specifications or Requirements * Functional Specification * High-Level System Specification * Detailed System Specification * Hardware Specification * Database Specification * Test Plan * User Manual or Guides * Installation and Maintenance Guide Operations Guide or Online Help Thus, at the beginning of a large documentation project, the manager of the project should determine: * What types of documentation will be produced * Who will coordinate the documentation efforts * Who will actually produce the instructions or documentation (conducting the analysis and write the instructions) * What the deadlines will be * Who will be designated at technical and editorial reviewers * Who will maintain the documentation, correcting mistakes or updating the documentation In each case, the production of the documentation should follow the procedures of: * Analyzing audiences * Purposes * Tasks * Resources and constraints * Planning content and presentations * Writing and editing * Testing * Revising * Retesting In each case, the documents should generally be structured as follows: * Set up all documentation with a top-down, general to particular design * Provide an orientation at the beginning of each document which explains the function and purpose of the document * Break each document down into functional modules For each document, provide an explanation of how the sections and subsections function and describe the information flow through each section and subsection.
A large documentation project is any project requiring more than one or two people and producing more than one volume of documentation.
In some instances, a documentation team may have hundreds of contributors and produce many volumes of documentation of many different types.
A large software development project might produce the following documents: * Management Plan * System Specifications or Requirements * Functional Specification * High-Level System Specification * Detailed System Specification * Hardware Specification * Database Specification * Test Plan * User Manual or Guides * Installation and Maintenance Guide Operations Guide or Online Help Thus, at the beginning of a large documentation project, the manager of the project should determine: * What types of documentation will be produced * Who will coordinate the documentation efforts * Who will actually produce the instructions or documentation (conducting the analysis and write the instructions) * What the deadlines will be * Who will be designated at technical and editorial reviewers * Who will maintain the documentation, correcting mistakes or updating the documentation In each case, the production of the documentation should follow the procedures of: * Analyzing audiences * Purposes * Tasks * Resources and constraints * Planning content and presentations * Writing and editing * Testing * Revising * Retesting In each case, the documents should generally be structured as follows: * Set up all documentation with a top-down, general to particular design * Provide an orientation at the beginning of each document which explains the function and purpose of the document * Break each document down into functional modules For each document, provide an explanation of how the sections and subsections function and describe the information flow through each section and subsection.
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