“Click Save button” vs “Click Save” [closed]
I have a user help document where a user is presented with a form. This form has a Save and Cancel button. I am wondering what would be the best way to explain what happens when a user hits Save button. Which one of these would be correct?
- Click Save button to save your data.
- Click Save to save your.
Since Save and Cancel are technically buttons, which you click I tend to think that it is better to specify that it is a button. Some others argue that the word "button" is superfluous here.
Your first sentence is not grammatically correct. Identified items take a definite article:
Click the Save button to save your data.
The second is grammatically correct.
"Save" is the name of something, and there is no need to say what kind of thing it is unless there could be confusion. We write
Read 'War and Peace' to understand Russian culture.
We don't write "Read the book 'War and Peace'..." unless there is a danger that the reader might not understand that War and Peace is a book.
Readers will mostly understand that "Save" is a button so your second is probably the best. It is normal to indicate that "Save" is a name by using quotes, italic or bold.
Click "Save" to save your data.
Click Save to save your data.
Click Save to save your data.
Honestly, I don't think there's any benefit here to being so prescriptive. If the button is identifiable in your documentation by just the words "Save button", then I would argue that it's totally unnecessary.
Save your data.
Let the user make this pitifully small leap. Indicating that it's the action of "clicking" the "Save button" that will save the user's data is like telling someone that it's colouring with the red crayon that will colour the page red.