Referring to options

[mbakeranalecta]

Currently when the docs want to say that a particular feature is controlled by a particular option setting, they tend to say, "To configure X, open the preferences dialog and go to ..."

This is cumbersome, and most users won't need to be instructed how to change a setting. All they need to know is:

• That this behavior is configurable.
• Where the setting is.

It would be less cumbersome, and would meet these needs better, if we just pointed to the option. Fortunately, every option has a path which is clearly stated on each preferences page. Thus we could say:

X is controlled by the option Editor / Edit modes / Text / Diagram

Ideally, we would implement some form of soft linking so that these references are automatically linked to the appropriate preferences page, but in the interim we could assign a key matching the path to each preferences page and use key linking where we thought it appropriate.

Having a comfortable shorthand like this for each setting would make it easier to communicate with users about all issues related to configuration.

Thoughts?

[georgebina]

I agree, that will simplify many topics. If the user does not know how to change the option they can follow the link to the preferences page and that information will be either available there or at least there should be a related link on each preferences page to a topic that describes how to access the preferences.

Regards,
George