Components of a Technical Document
Here are the various ingredients of the components of a technical document which may or may NOT be all present for the component in question.
Front Cover
TITLE of the document.
TITLE of the software (if it’s a software document).
VERSION of the software (if it’s a software document).
COPYRIGHT statement, date.
GRAPHIC or PRODUCT IMAGE.
CORPORATE LOGO.
Front Matter
NO page number.
COPYRIGHT statement, date and other proprietary Intellectual Property related text.
TRADEMARK statement for various brands mentioned in the document.
Company information.
Contact, web site etc. information.
DISCLAIMER text.
DISCLOSURE text.
Table of Contents (TOC)
Starts with PAGE NUMBER “iii” – lower-case Roman numeral “3.”
LIST OF FIGURES (if any) title, and page number.
LIST OF TABLE (if any) title, and page number.
OTHER LISTS (if any) title, and page number.
CHAPTER titles, and page numbers. (LEVEL 1)
Indented SECTION titles, and page numbers. (LEVEL 2)
Indented SUB-SECTION titles, and page numbers. (LEVEL 3)
Etc.
GLOSSARY titles, and page numbers.
ADDENDUM titles, and page numbers.
APPENDIX titles, and page numbers.
INDEX title, and page number.
List of FIGURES (LOF)
TITLE of figures and page numbers. Comes right after TOC.
List of TABLES (LOT)
TITLE of tables and page numbers. Comes right after LOF.
OTHER List(s)
TITLE of other document objects with markers (“Authors” for example) and page numbers.
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER TOC (optional)
CHAPTER Header (optional: Runner Headers)
CHAPTER Footer (optional: Runner Footers)
PAGE number.
DOCUMENT TITLE, NUMBER, DATE (optional).
… (followed by) other CHAPTERS …
GLOSSARY
A TABLE with 2 COLUMNS: “Item” and “Description.” This could be a Glossary of technical terms, acronyms, abbreviations, or a combination of all three.
APPENDICES and ADDENDUM
See CHAPTER…
INDEX
Index items presented alphabetically under LETTERS, preceded by NUMERIC entries.
Maximum of THREE levels of indentations.
BACK COVER
CORPORATE LOGO.
CORPORATE address, fax and phone numbers, web address.
COPYRIGHT statement, date.