- Readers Like You!
- Mark/Space, Inc.
- Fetch Softworks
- Bare Bones Software
- Microsoft
- VMware
- Web Crossing
Most Popular Articles
- Send SMS for Free via AIM on iPhone (13 Jul 2008)
- How to Protect Yourself from the New Mac OS X Trojans (25 Jun 2008)
- Firefox 3 Bounds Forward (22 Jun 2008)
- First Impressions of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 (14 Jul 2008)
Recent TidBITS Talk Discussions
- New Mac threats? (77 messages)
- Hands Off iPhone Talking in my Car (4 messages)
- iPhone 3G: On the Line in Seattle (1 message)
- Using a GSM cell phone as a modem (3 messages)
Shopping for a new digital camera? In "Take Control of Buying a Digital Camera," pro photographer Larry Chen helps you pick out the right camera and accessories for your needs and budget. This book is loaded with tips on using your camera, pointers to the best review sites, and more!
Other articles in the series ReadMe Rules
- To Read or not to Read (27 May 96)
- ReadMe Files? Read This Follow-up! (05 Jun 95)
Published in TidBITS 279. Subscribe today to receive TidBITS in email every Monday.
- Administrivia
- Updated Updater
- Decency's in the Eye of the Beholder
- PC Setup 1.0.6 Yanked
- Ross Brown
- BBEdit 3.1.1 Goes IC-, Kodex-, and GX-Savvy
- PowerTalk to the Rescue?
- Frontier Justice
| ReadMe Files? Read This!
by Tonya Engst 
Lately I've spent a lot of time sorting through shareware and freeware utilities for a number of projects, trying to find basic facts for each utility, such as what the utility does, who wrote it (first and last name), how I should pay if I like it, and how I can reach the author by email. Surprisingly, these facts are often omitted, tucked away in odd places, or poorly explained. So, here's some complaining and some advice for ReadMe file writers.
Make an Elevator Statement -- I once read an excellent book called "The High Tech Marketing Companion," by Dee Kiamy (Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-62666-7), which suggests that every product needs an elevator statement. An elevator statement conveys what a product is and what's cool about it, in the time it takes to ride an elevator from the lobby to the top floor of an office building. The idea is that you may only have that much time to explain your product to a venture capitalist riding the elevator with you. Whether or not you're bucking for venture capital, every utility's ReadMe file should have such an elevator statement, along with the price of the software, the name of the author, and the author's contact information.
Make it Open -- ReadMe files are often set up as SimpleText read-only documents, so you cannot copy text from them. This makes it more difficult to be certain you get email addresses, names, and so on correct, should you be attempting to review the software or drop an author a note in email. In addition, if you want to copy the author's snail mail address to send in your shareware payment, such read-only documents get in the way even more. Read-only documents are used to prevent people from changing them, but I don't think this is a significant concern.
Make it Legible -- My final bone to pick concerns legibility. Many authors format ReadMe file text in a tiny size with no white space between paragraphs. Some authors assume I'm going to print out the ReadMe: a poor assumption, since until I can figure out what the application does, I'm unlikely to turn on my printer, and in general, I don't print, and nor should I, given that the documentation already exists online where I can file it neatly with the application.
If you create a ReadMe file, please consider the people who will read it. Make the characters large enough to be legible, accommodate people who want to read it online, explain what your product does and who you are, and remember that the quality of your ReadMe may influence not only how many people use your product, but also how many people figure out how to send you friendly messages, registration forms, chocolates, site license fees, and so on. If you've got a great application, be it freeware or shareware, don't saddle it with a lousy ReadMe.
Microsoft's MacBU: Supporting Mac users with Office 2008.Straighten up your Office with the latest updates to Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage. Update today at Mactopia!
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx>