How Apple Write Setup
Guides
Seth Godin believes that
everything reflects what you stand for—right down to your technical
documents.
Looking for inspiration?
Well, this puppy has been
looking for inspiration recently. I'm writing a series of
Setup Guide templates and wanted to see how others approach this area. It’s not the most
glamorous area in the world, to be honest.
Most Setup Guides I found
were dull and duller.
I felt I was being crushed
by mono-chrome guides that punished me for reading them in the first
place.
What's wrong with these
setup guides?
Technical documents are a
sales tool. You might not think of it like that, but they are. If you
enjoy (that’s right, enjoy) reading user guides and setup manuals, then
you're bound to feel more positive about the company.
This is great, you think.
I can actually install this myself, I understand how it works and I
didn’t end up screaming at the walls/kids/pets/friends in frustration.
I’m sure you’ve been
there. Which brings us to Apple.
What I like about Apple’s
Setup Guides?
What I like about Apple's
Setup Guides
I came across these when
trawling. Actually, type Setup Guide into Google and Apple comes up
first. Interesting in itself.
Color coordination – the
documents use two colors only. Blue and white. While this may seem a
limitation, it works to their advantage. The documents look crisp, fresh
and trendy. How often can you say that about a Setup Guide?
 v
Warnings – it front loads
the warnings at the start. Instead of burying this at the end of the
document or in some obscure footnote, there it is in the first page. You
know where you stand from the start.
Important – in the same
vein, it flags the most important information on the same page.
Tip: it places this inside
a box with a single-pixel border. This calls you eye to this text and
re-enforces that this is IMPORTANT text. You can’t help but read it.
Bullet lists — it places
these outside the margin of the text; usually, these are flushed to the
left or indented. At first I found this irritating but now I'm in two
minds.
Does it improve the
readability of the document?
It does help in finding
the steps faster as they are ‘pulled out’ and not hidden in the text.
Bullet list part 2— the
Setup Guide uses a bullet list for one item. I’d have re-phrased the
text or removed the bullet as I was thought (right or wrong?) that you
should not have a list with only 1 item.
What do you think?
Hyperlinks — this may have
been an accident (or deliberate) but the hyperlinks in the document are
not active. I think this is an error as it forces the reader to manually
type the URL into the browser.
If it’s intentional, then why?
Illustrations — in the top
left diagram, the Status Light text is positioned above the product,
which means that arrow has to cross the product to reach the port.
I’d have positioned the
text under the product to avoid this, i.e. so that the line/arrow did
not obscure the product in any way.
Download the
Apple Setup Guide here
What tips do you have for
writing Setup Guide? Do you think Apple’s minimal approach works? Other
Setup Guides uses photos of the product instead of line drawing. Which
do you think works best?
Setup Guide Templates!
If you want to create a
Setup Guide
in a few easy steps, then this template will tell you how to do it. This
template includes sample instructions on how to setup an application,
product or system, including sections on registering the software,
adding troubleshooting tips and providing FAQs.
The first few pages of
most Setup Guide templates
include boiler.
Download Now for $7.99 - Buy
Here!
This Setup Guide step is described in detail and is
accompanied by practical tips and hints.
Click
here to download this
29 page template instantly.
You can use this Setup Guide template to:
-
Describe different installation types, for example,
single user or group installations
-
Identify the minimum system requirements
-
Highlight pre-requisites that must be installed
before the installation can start
-
Outline the contents of the Setup packages
-
Provide instructions on how to update, modify and
repair an existing application
-
Develop FAQs that help customers find the answer to
common queries and reduce the workload on your Technical Support
Dept
-
Encourage users to register the product
What is a Setup Guide?
A Setup Guide provides instructions for setting up and
installing a range of application, for example, your company’s software
applications, or other devices, such as printers, medical equipment,
hardware, or mobile solutions.
When do
I use a Setup Guide?
You use a Setup Guide after you have developed an
application and are now ready to hand it over to the users. In some
cases, the setup guide will be used by System Administrators, for
example, when setting up network, complex solutions or other detailed
installations, while in other cases, it will be the end user who sets up
the product, for example, setting up a Microsoft Office type
application, a video player, Wifi connection, or an MP3 player.
What's
included in a Setup Guide?
The following is generally included in a Setup Guide:
About the product, Key Benefits, System Requirements, Installing,
Starting Up, Activating, Uninstalling, Backing Up, Registering and
Frequently Asked Questions.
Sample Screenshots
Chapter 1, Introduction
Chapter 1.3, System Requirements
Chapter 2, Single-User Installation
How to select different options
How to Install from a CD on the Windows Platform
Table
of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Solution Overview
1.2 Installation Types
1.3 System Requirements
1.4 Contents Of The Download Setup Packages
1.5 Contents Of The Installation CD
1.6 Before You Install From a CD
1.7 Before You Install From a Downloaded Set
1.8 Updating an Existing Installation
2 Single-User Installation
2.1 Installation Requirements
2.2 Starting The Installation
2.3 Setup Procedure
2.4 Verifying The Installation
2.5 Starting The [System]
2.6 Uninstalling The [System]
3 Multi-User and Network Installation
3.1 Server Installation
3.2 Workstation Installation
4 Modifying an Existing Installation
4.1 Modify
4.2 Repair
4.3 Remove
5 Registering the Software
6 FAQs
7 Appendix A: Acronyms, Abbreviations & Definitions
8 Appendix B: Related Documentation
What's included in the template pack
The template is in Microsoft Word format and can be downloaded online for only $7.99.
|
Setup Guide Template |
29 pages |
 |
Download Now for $7.99 - Buy
Here!
~~~
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Supports
Microsoft Word 97-2003, Word 2007 and Apple Macintosh. 
I'm Ivan Walsh, the person behind this site. I help people improve how they write, publish and extend their business assets.