Hello Jeff,
Thanks much for the advice. I did use the back button, but no copy displayed. I know nothing about emptying my browser's cache and doubt if 50% or more of the CLC members know this either.
I write instructions and also do ad copy for a major supplier of tools and equipment for the antique car restoration hobby and learned many years ago that if there is any way for customers to misinterpret anything, some will probably do so. When I first started the business, we had few customers and very sketchy instructions. As a result, I spent most all of my time on the phone troubleshooting the product and telling people how to work the equipment. As a result, I soon developed better instructions, but still got a lot of calls. About 15 years ago, we changed all of our instructions and ad copy to "8th grade level" and have saved thousands of dollars in phone calls, lost orders, etc. This is not to say that we have all the answers, but we have most. A few years ago, we had some very complicated issues in our instructions that needed work and at the time I asked the head of our advertising department if she worded everything in 8th grade level. Her reply was, "pre-school". The changes were just that and we have stayed with that program since. We even publish detailed troubleshooting charts for all of our equipment, providing step by step solutions to the common questions, as well as detailed "Safety First" information, which is of great importance.
People who develop instructions for computers normally feel that others are as familiar with the technology as they are, and as a result much is overlooked, and people are confused. I just bought a new router and installed it about a week ago. The instructions (on CD) were the best I had ever seen and step by step I was going through the process successfully. Then came Step 9 and a "password" was required. There was no password on the box, nor on the bottom of the router or anywhere else, so I had to call the help line, listen to recordings for about 10-15 minutes and finally hooked up with "Darwin" in India (12 hour time difference). He was good, but the process took another 20 minutes, simply because the CD Instructions had a fatal error in requiring a password that did not exist. He asked me to put in "admin" and it did not work, then some other simple passwords, which also did not work. Manually we finally reconfigured everything and got it up and running. As a result, none of the routers sold by this company will work, and many will be returned and others will waste a lot of time in getting them to work, with unhappy customers and huge loss of profits.
While your prompt reply and possible solution was greatly appreciated, it seems to me that changing the wording as I suggested might be more appropriate and in most cases, minimize the problem in the first place and make things simpler for the average user. Just a suggestion....
Thank you for an otherwise great and improved site,
Fred Zwicker
