Fred Meyer from WPShout gave this really good talk on writing for technical knowledge at WordCamp US earlier this month. It really resonated with me. I work with a bunch of really smart people everyday who are savvy with technology. Some of the concepts Fred talks about seem like common sense, but are so often overlooked (even by myself from time-to-time).
In one particular example, Fred calls out the language in the WordPress installer itself. Currently, once the installation is successful you see a message:
WordPress has been installed. Were you expecting more steps? Sorry to disappoint.
This could be interpreted many different ways, but the potential to sound flippant or snarky during the initial steps of an interaction with your software is a bad idea. Not to mention, not all software installations go as smoothly as planned. The individual using your program could be at their wit’s end; frustrated.
I was inspired by Fred’s talk and took action. WordPress is open-source, right? So I did what all folks should do, I submitted a patch to change the wording.
WordPress has been installed. Thank you, and enjoy!’
+1
Cool! +1
I think the change in the wording is a good idea. Another idea would be to add suggested next steps, like “Write a post” or “Choose a theme.”