My article on “Using a wiki for technical documentation” appears in the October edition of Southern Communicator, the Australian and New Zealand journal of technical communication. Exciting! A big thank you to Janet Taylor and the journal’s editorial team, both for inviting me to contribute and for allowing me to publish a PDF extract of the journal on this blog. Another big thank you to Marian Newell, who kindly gave permission for me to include her article here too. You guys are stars! Click this link to download the PDF file containing the journal extract. Below is a…
Technical Writing
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ffeathers -- a technical writer's blog
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Article about Confluence wiki for technical documentation
20 Nov 2009 | 7:24 pm -
Gadgets on Confluence wiki pages – oh, and in JIRA and iGoogle
11 Nov 2009 | 6:16 pmA beta version of the next Confluence release is out. And guess what — it’s got gadgets. This is pretty cool, so I’m jumping the gun and telling you about it right now. It’s still just a beta release: Confluence 3.1 Open Beta. The announcement is on the Atlassian News Blog, along with an invitation to try it out. So I got myself a copy and put some gadgets onto a wiki page. Now, the gadgets I chose are perhaps not the most useful. The most usual business case would be to add gadgets published by other Atlassian applications. For example, you might want to add a gadget… -
Google Wave in Confluence wiki pages
31 Oct 2009 | 11:37 pmI’ve just come across a new plugin developed by 224 team. It provides a Confluence macro that lets you embed a Google Wave into a Confluence wiki page. I’ve just got back from holiday, so I haven’t played around with the plugin much yet. But I’m blogging about it so that more people can try it out too. It’s cool to see this sort of development happening and even to get involved in the early stages. A friendly warning: The plugin is pretty new, so it’s best to try it out on a test installation of Confluence. To install the plugin: Download the JAR file from… -
I got dragons and tweets in my documents
9 Oct 2009 | 8:51 pmYou may think you have problems, with the odd misplaced apostrophe or errant semi-colon in your documents. Well, there are dragons prowling around mine, and tweeting dragon slayers too! A few weeks ago some smart Atlassians had the idea of making it feel like fun to set up a number of our applications as an integrated Atlassian suite. (I work at Atlassian, makers of Confluence wiki, JIRA bug tracker, and other applications for software developers.) We’ve known for a while that it’s, uh, difficult to integrate our apps. In fact, people have used somewhat stronger words to describe… -
Yard table assemblage instructions
9 Oct 2009 | 4:57 pmThese “Yard table assemblage instructions” were included with a garden table we bought. Actually, the structure of the guide is good. There’s a list of parts and then the “how to”. It’s just the language that needs a bit of tender loving care. I love the way it degenerates towards the end, as if the poor author just gave up because it was too hard. Assemblage parts: 1.One piece of iron flower pattern glass (in midst have a hole). 2.Four table feet. 3.Two fixed stators. 4.Eight screws. 5.Eight screw caps. Assemblage method: 1.Use the screws and screw caps…
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just write click
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Talkin’ ’bout a revolution at the STC Summit 2010
20 Nov 2009 | 11:02 amI don’t know if it’ll sound like a whisper, but I am excited that my proposal was accepted for the 2010 STC Summit in Dallas! Here’s what I’ll be presenting: I’m participating in a Content Strategy Progression as described on the STC Content Strategy Special Interest Group blog entry on said progression. I’ll talk about content that is “Shareable, Searchable, Sociable, and Don’t Forget Syndicated.” That should be a fun session, and I’m just sad I won’t be able to wander around the room myself and soak in the Content Strategy… -
Trip report from Non Profit Bar Camp Austin
18 Nov 2009 | 2:04 pmI could only attend Non Profit Bar Camp Austin in the morning, but it was quite enjoyable. Bar Camp is definitely one of those meetings where the conversations had between the sessions can as informative as the actual sessions. I arrived and signed in and was standing in front of the board right when the orientation ended – and suddenly was surrounded by bar campers looking at the board with me. There was a good variety of topics – updated to add a link to the Flickr photo set with pictures of all the Post-it notes on the board and screenshot of the set. Austin –… -
Comparing RSS feeds to social networks
16 Nov 2009 | 7:16 pmJakob Nielson and his research group, Nielsen Norman Group, have done it again – letting us know how users are actively perceiving and using social software for different business tasks. This research is important as the social web evolves so that we, as web content creators, know the best ways to present and offer different types of information, especially for corporate sites. He pulls it all together in an Alertbox from October 12, 2009 titled Streams, Walls, and Feeds: Distributing Content Through Social Networks and RSS. What does this research mean for user assistance delivered… -
There’s no crying in Agile!
11 Nov 2009 | 1:12 pmI loved the line, as delivered by Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, “There’s no crying in baseball!” I know there are times when the crying must happen without delay. I don’t believe most workplaces actively encourage crying – at least not outside of acting careers. When I’ve read Agile practitioner reports that tell tales of times when technical writers have left meetings and fled to cry, I am not just surprised but a little dismayed.In A Tale of Two Writing Teams from an Agile conference three years ago, one anonymous writing team reported one writer in… -
Consistency and community-generated content
4 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pmI’ve been collecting examples of wildly inconsistent writing lately. I’m not sure why these have stuck out to me, but when I think of book sprints and community writing events, consistency is an important, though sometimes difficult, goal and outcome. Why consistency? You may not be a big fan, especially if you’re a creative type, because you appreciate when something interesting and new pops out at you. Unfortunately, you may be one of the few who appreciates something popping out while they’re trying to learn a task or evaluate a concept or analyze a pending…
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one man writes
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Information Strategy Pyramid
15 Nov 2009 | 3:36 pmThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. As such, it stands to reason that two monkeys would be able to produce the same volume of output, but are unlikely to write exactly the same thing. Add in a few more monkeys to the equation and suddenly you have lots of content, none of which really relates to anything else. I’ll stop with the monkey metaphor before I insult anyone. Consistency is an important part of… -
How soon is now?
10 Nov 2009 | 7:29 amHow early do you get involved in a project? At the start? Part way through once the scope has been set? Or once the design has been agreed? Or do you swoop in at the end and document whatever you find? One common complaint a lot of technical writers have is that they aren’t included early enough in lifecycle of a project. The downsides are that by the time work hits your desk you don’t have a full picture of who the customer is, why they want whatever it is you are building, and how they want it provided to them. All of which directly impacts the information being created. So how… -
On taking notes
4 Nov 2009 | 12:53 amI have been remiss at writing new content for this blog, and whilst this topic isn’t one that I said I’d post about (those posts are coming, I promise), it’s something I was discussing yesterday and so is at the forefront of my mind. Like many people I still use pen and paper when taking notes, and regardless of the type of meeting I stick with three basic categories. [] Actions either for me or my team to do. Includes things that need done immediately or things which it would be good to do in the future. ? Questions on things I want to learn more about, which relate to my… -
What next?
29 Oct 2009 | 2:32 pmLast night, around 3am, I woke up. I lay there in bed wondering why I’d woken up and as my mind started to churn I realised I was very very awake. In flooded four things I’ve been thinking about for some time, all of which are related but I couldn’t quite make the connection. Last night I cracked it. Maybe. I’m still thinking it through but here are the four items in question: Single sourcing our documentation – and recent discussions with other areas of the company who could benefit from the same approach. Company Information Strategy – a simple pyramid… -
Author-it & Word
27 Oct 2009 | 4:54 amA teeny tiny gotcha that I thought I’d mention here. I can’t find explicit mention of it in the Author-it Knowledge Center and it’s tripped me up a bit. Quite simply, and I realise these will sound obvious, make sure everyone who is using Author-it is using the same version of Microsoft Word. My particular scenario has my laptop running Word 2007, making changes to the template, but when publishing from a machine running Word 2003, the footers weren’t being displayed despite the AutoText entry being available in the output Word document. Naturally I’m discovering…
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The Content Wrangler
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Translation Workspace Will Take Translators To Cloud 9
21 Nov 2009 | 12:15 pmThen I realized; he is in the cloud already!By Monica Brownell, Director of Operations, Western U.S. at Lionbridge My 11-year old son was preparing a PowerPoint presentation for school when I reminded him to save the presentation on a flash drive. He looked at me as if I was saying something surreal, and then I told him what a flash drive was and he said: “I know what a flash drive is, but why would I want to do that?” To take to school, I said (saying “duh” in my head). Then he gave that condescending look and explained: “Mom, I will send it to my Google account and I’ll be able… -
Writing for Translation: Internationalization Skills for Content Developers
20 Nov 2009 | 4:08 pmAaron SchliemBy Aaron Schliem, CEO, Glyph Language Services What’s wrong with this sentence: Some people prefer their coffee with cream and sugar, while others are straight, black coffee drinkers. Let’s look at this from the perspective of a translator who is not a native speaker of English but needs to transform this into a sentence that is accurate and stylistically correct in the target language. Unfortunately, to describe coffee that has no added sugar, milk, cream, etc. as “straight, black coffee” is not a universally understood noun phrase. If you were to provide this English… -
Unlocking the Special Powers of the English Language
17 Nov 2009 | 3:51 pmBy Jeff Deck, Founder, Typo Eradication Advancement League Jeff Deck, Founder, Typo Eradication Advancement LeagueSince I’m both an editor and a writer, it would be fair to say that I think about words a lot. It would, perhaps, be unfair to say that I obsess about them, but not necessarily inaccurate. Caring about good spelling and grammar is, at least for me, just a subset of appreciating English in all its Frankensteinian splendor, and I’d like to address that aspect more often. Rather than pedantry for the sake of pedantry, I view typo-hunting as cleaning the glass that… -
Best Practices and Worst Mistakes Businesses Make on their Global Websites
14 Nov 2009 | 1:04 pmTo make content available to 80 percent of the total online population holding 90 percent of the world online wallet now requires a minimum of 15 human languages.In 2009, 1.6 billion people crowd the internet seeking news, information, entertainment, goods, services, social interaction, and more. These individuals are located in over 200 countries and territories, speak hundreds of languages, and have a combined spending power, both online and off, of more than US$35.7 trillion per year. How do the most successful online brands succeed or fail in reaching out to international visitors? Market… -
Leading Content Agency Seeks Web Content Strategy Guru – Greensboro, NC (full-time)
13 Nov 2009 | 5:57 pmAre you a forward-thinking, experienced web content strategist looking for a great full-time opportunity (in Greensboro, NC) that will be rewarding and exciting? If so, drop me a line and let me know why you might make a good candidate for the job. Here’s a little bit about the gig from the company looking to fill the position: Our Clients Say: “We need to figure out a content strategy. We have existing customers we want to stay loyal and buy more stuff. We have a segmented customer base that we think we should reach with a combination of print, email and web content, but don’t…
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I Came, I Saw, I Learned...
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Acrobat 9: You Might Need an Acrobat Class, The Sequel
20 Nov 2009 | 6:29 amby David R. Mankin, the Acrobat Czar My first "You might need an Acrobat class" column went viral on Twitter. I had so much fun writing it and seeing it tweeted and re-tweeted, I decided to come up with a second installment. Enjoy--and please do sign up for an Acrobat class if this strikes a tone of reality to you. Acrobat is feature-rich, and more people need to know of the flexibility and depth that the PDF file format offers. If you think a bookmark is only made out of cardboard ... You might need an Acrobat class. If you think the Tasks Bar is in Cancun... You might need an… -
Adobe FrameMaker: Automatically Assigning Custom Master Pages
19 Nov 2009 | 6:25 amby Barbara Binder We talked last week about custom master pages. I use them in my FrameMaker documents to suppress page numbers on the opening page of a chapter or anytime I need a layout that differs from those of the default left and right master pages.Once you have set up your master pages, you can assign them manually by choosing Format > Page Layout > Master Page Usage. That's great, but is there a better way to apply a master page to a document page? Absolutely.In one of my publications, each new chapter starts on the next blank page (and not on the next right page, like… -
Adobe Captivate: Customize Accessibility Text for Slide Objects
18 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pmby Kevin SiegelYou can easily make your Captivate eLearning lessons Section 508 compliant by choosing Edit > Preferences. In the Category panel, expand Project and select Publish Settings. Then select Enable Accessibility.Your published project will be 508 compliant for navigation. However, you will also want to ensure that slide objects are compliant so that screen readers (assistive software) can "read" elements on the screen to visually impaired customers. You can easily add accessible text to individual objects on a Captivate slide. When the object appears on the screen, the… -
Acrobat 9: Need a Quick PDF? What a Drag!
17 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pmby David R. Mankin, the Acrobat Czar You have a file that needs to be converted to PDF format. You're in a hurry, and the thought of waiting for your document's native application to load and convert the file to PDF is making you crazy under your rushed deadline.Here's a very cool trick that is extremely handy. Create a shortcut on your desktop of the Acrobat 9 executable (acrobat.exe).After creating the shortcut, all you need to do to convert a file to PDF is simply drag the file's icon over the Acrobat.exe shortcut and drop the file.The file will be converted to a PDF, and… -
Adobe FrameMaker: Custom Master Pages
11 Nov 2009 | 3:21 pmby Barbara Binder New FrameMaker documents have default Master Pages. Single-sided documents have one, called "Right," and double-sided documents have two, called "Left" and "Right."We use these pages to place the objects we want to repeat on all the Body Pages, things like our running heads, page numbers and repeating graphics.But what do you do when you need a different look for a Body Page, on a repeating basis? For example, no page number on the opening page of each chapter? You set up a custom master page. Here's how: Choose View > Master Pages.
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I'd Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson
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Contingent Senior Technical Writer Opening at LDS Church’s ICS Department in Riverton, Utah
20 Nov 2009 | 10:55 pmWe’re looking for a contingent senior technical writer to join our User Education team, part of the LDS Church’s Information and Communications System department in Riverton, Utah. This is an opportunity to work in an agile environment with about 600+ talented IT professionals. As a member of our team, you’ll also get to work with Gryphon Mountain, Doc Guy, other cool people, and me. The job has a few requirements you should be aware of. You have to live near the Riverton area (or be willing to move there), you must be a temple worthy member of the LDS Church, and you need… -
What I’m Presenting on at the Dallas Summit
20 Nov 2009 | 4:28 amAt the STC Summit in Dallas this year (May 2-5), I’ll be giving a presentation titled “Developing a Personal Voice in Audio.” I’m moving in the direction of screencasts, focusing on the audio component in this presentation. Here’s the presentation description: Narrated video tutorials — both scripted and spontaneous — are a powerful tool tech writers can employ to help users learn software. But the audio component of a video tutorial can be challenging. Both the audio processing and personal delivery pose challenges for tech writers, whose strength… -
Embedding Videos into Madcap Flare
19 Nov 2009 | 7:44 amOne of Flare’s shortcomings is the inability to easily embed video files. However, if you use the Camtasia Studio’s Express Show format as your video format (and you choose the SWF option), you can insert the video into Flare by inserting the video as if it were a picture. Here’s a two-minute screencast showing the processing for inserting a video into Flare. You can also put the video in a drop-down hotspot. Blog Sponsors Webworks Dr.Explain Scriptorium Localization World Adobe Technical Communication Suite Doc-to-Help Microtype Alma Loveland, Designer Snagit from TechSmith… -
Podcast about the Podcast Poll
18 Nov 2009 | 12:42 amDownload MP3 Length: 15 min. In this brief podcast, I discuss the results of the podcast poll that I published on my site earlier this week. I mostly wanted an opportunity to try out my new Behringer mixer/preamp, and the results of the poll served as perfect fodder for a podcast. In this 15 minutes of audio, I explain the direction that I plan to take my podcast based on the votes and feedback. Polls, surveys, and feedback are always a good thing. They help me understand not only what my audience values, but what I value too. Thanks for participating. Blog Sponsors Webworks Dr.Explain… -
Combining Cinema with Screencasting
16 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pmHarry Miller is a multimedia enthusiast who brings his expertise with film and audio to the screencasting world at his job at Microsoft. The following three videos are some of the most creative, mesmerizing video tutorials on Visio I’ve ever seen. Create an Office Layout Create an organization chart using video Create a Network Diagram These video tutorials don’t just teach you how to create various charts in Visio. They make you want to be as cool as Harrison Clarity is with Visio. More about Harry Miller Harry Miller Media Harry Miller’s blog Blog Sponsors Webworks…
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Your Writing Dept Blog
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Quick Reference Guides are more useful than a 150-page user doc
11 Nov 2009 | 4:39 pmBy Ron Creel Tom Johnson’s blog, I’d Rather Be Writing, posted Minimizing Documentation not a moment too soon. I’m working on a project to boil a 150-page software user document down to a one-page reference guide that can be tacked to a CSR’s cube wall. Our goal with the one-page reference guide is to give the CSR [...] -
More InfoPorn: Our new favorite site
21 Oct 2009 | 9:07 pmI’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love InfoPorn. This is what we consider the presentation of what could be considered dull information in interesting and fascinating presentations. Trust me, these are not your typical MS Excel bar charts. The site Information is Beautiful seems to have it all for the infoporn addicted. [...] -
Technical Writing Jobs: Salary Information
8 Oct 2009 | 10:25 amInteresting reading: United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) (free and available to the public) about how technical writers are paid. This provides some interesting reading for anyone wishing to determine where their state ranks regarding salaries or job availability. There’s a lot of information available, so explore the site and [...] -
Where To Go To Become a Tech Writer or To Find One To Hire?
5 Oct 2009 | 9:28 pmBy Tom Guarnera Related posts… How Do I Become a Technical Writer? What Are the Characteristics of a Good Technical Writer? Finding a single place to learn about Technical Writing is not the easiest task. Because of this, it is even trickier to find a good source for locating potential candidates for the job. Many writers seem to be [...] -
What Are the Characteristics of a Good Technical Writer?
30 Sep 2009 | 7:37 pmBy Tom Guarnera Related posts… How Do I Become a Technical Writer? Where To Go To Become a Tech Writer or To Find One To Hire? In my previous post, I started to address the question, “How Do I Become a Technical Writer?” I concluded that most writers do not set out to go into this field, but more [...]
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Gryphon Mountain Journals
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Five Skills for Managing Documentation Projects in an Agile Environment
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amSometimes, the Agile software development methodology seems like it could be renamed the “Fly by the Seat of Your Pants” methodology. But really, it means that you need a somewhat different set of project management skills for your documentation. I could certainly improve in these skills, but here are a few I rely on in an Agile environment. Skill 1: Topic-Based Writing Before I describe this one, I need to point out that yes, writing isn’t exactly planning; writing is what a technical writer does after planning. Writing is a rubber-meets-the-road activity. True, but the… -
Why I Wasn’t Sold on Single Sourcing (and Why I’m Changing My Mind)
17 Nov 2009 | 4:43 pmI mentioned in my last post that one of my technical writing colleagues showed the user education team a spreadsheet where he had taken types of information, such as concepts, tasks, and frequently asked questions and indicated what types of deliverables it made sense to use them in. Historically, I haven’t been a big fan of single sourcing content because I hate it when the content of the manual is exactly the same as the online help. I particularly remember trying to learn the basics of FrameMaker 7.2 in college, only to find that the lack of answers in the online help was duplicated… -
Reviewing Projects and Deliverables as a User Education Team
16 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amTom Johnson and Paul Pehrson posted recently about our team design reviews. These have started to turn into what we might call project reviews. In our team meetings, we usually brief each other on what we’re working on. In these project reviews, a couple of team members will go into more detail about their projects. Going beyond the design review idea, where we would demonstrate our deliverables and get feedback, we also talk about the challenges we’re facing and receive suggestions for managing those challenges. The Design Side of the Review A few weeks ago, I showed a quick… -
Post on STC’s Dues Increase at Intermountain-STC.org
9 Nov 2009 | 7:29 pmOver the weekend, I posted my thoughts on the STC dues increase that was announced in October. On a related note, Tom Johnson posted the results to date of a brief survey we’ve done with the chapter. If our chapter is a microcosm as Tom wonders in this post, then more challenges await STC in 2010. No related posts. -
Clear, Common Language Leads to User Success
5 Nov 2009 | 4:27 pmA huge problem for projects is the lack of a common language between the developers and the users. When my colleague and I were preparing a presentation for an internal conference on this subject, he said something that has stuck with me. He said, “The goal of the project is to make the user successful.” I added to that: It’s not to write code or validate code. It’s not even to ship a product or make money (of course, this last one is especially true in a non-profit organization). At least, it shouldn’t be these things. The goal of a project is to make the user…
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HelpScribe
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The 10 technical writing books everyone should own
14 Nov 2009 | 3:07 pmHere is a list of essential technical writing books. Are they on your shelves? Technical Communication: A Practical Approach (7th Edition) (William Pfeiffer and Kaye Adkins) Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content (Alan Pringle) Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors (2nd Edition) (Multiple authors) Technical Editing: The Practical Guide For Editors And Writers (Hewlett-Packard Press) (Judith Tarutz) Effective onscreen editing: new tools for an old profession (Geoff Hart) Conversation and Community: The Social… -
When minimalist documentation stinks like old cheese
10 Nov 2009 | 4:27 amToday I'm staring at an assortment of new brake parts for my car. My caliper pins are gunked up, so I have to fix them, or continue listening to the awful grinding noise they make when I hit the brakes. I know what to do with most of these parts. You see, my dad was a certified brake mechanic, so I've learned a trick or two. However, one tiny detail is outside of my current realm of knowledge. How do those bushings and O-rings fit together so that they don't allow brake dust to build up inside the pin mechanism? To solve the bushing and O-ring mystery, I'll be consulting my Haynes repair… -
Links roundup
9 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmHere are some recent posts from the technical writing community that you won't want to miss... Clear, common language leads to user success: Ben Minson writes about empowering users through clear terminology and how the entire development team can succeed by putting users first. Intellectual Property Responsibilities of Content Developers: Paul Pehrson shares tips for using non-original content without getting into hot water. He also includes some advice on using material covered by a Creative Commons license. Sometimes, you've got to break the rules: Scott Nesbitt explains why a well-crafted… -
Adding screenshots in help topics
9 Nov 2009 | 4:43 pmHere are a few tips for adding screenshots to your help topics. Use contrast Use a high-contrast color for callouts, arrows, and other elements that reference screenshots. Avoid any color that is heavily used in the screenshot. I often see black callouts over screenshots with black interface elements. Such visual elements are hard to see because they blend in with the screenshot. If your callouts require black text, consider using a background color with some alpha transparency applied. Crop for improved focus Use the crop tool in your image editor to focus the screenshot on the elements… -
White paper writing | Strategies for success
29 Oct 2009 | 3:51 pmWhite papers are a fundamental part of your marketing arsenal. And if you think technical writers don't need to worry about marketing, read on to see why white paper writing is an essential skill, and how to turn a ho-hum paper into a killer communications tool. If you are a freelance or contract technical writer, a strong white paper can help you land new clients. The primary difference between contractors who succeed and those who fail is that the winners are better at selling their services. Sure, you're a highly skilled technical writer. But if you can't explain to clients why your…
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technically speaking
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Halloween Demo Day
30 Oct 2009 | 9:46 amIt’s a tradition: Every year on Halloween (or as close to it as the work week will allow), tons of LabVIEW developers set up shop at their desks and demonstrate features or products they’ve been working on to all comers. The email goes out to the entire company (in Austin, anyway) and for two hours, (most) work stops as people come by to check out what we’ve been working on. Today’s that -
Preview of LabVIEW 1.0, 1986
26 Oct 2009 | 9:53 amIn the comments on my last post, Yair pointed me towards this preview of the LabVIEW 1.0 beta, all the way back in 1986. Enjoy! -
Interesting Articles
26 Oct 2009 | 8:02 amHere’s a review of the original Macintosh, done in 1984. It’s amazing to read this now with 25 years of perspective and realize both how different it was and how similarly things still work today. But even back then some people seemed to “get it”. When LabVIEW was first released in 1986, it was for the Mac, because that was the dominant graphical platform of the day, and LabVIEW is -
Interesting Articles
23 Oct 2009 | 1:59 pmI find myself reading a lot of tech news sites. I sometimes email these links out to developers or other technical writers if they are interesting or have applications to LabVIEW/NI, but I figured, why not share them with the world?Here's are a few things I came across lately:Don't offer preferences to users if you don't have to. I think about this sometimes as we design software here ... -
Leica & LabVIEW
13 Oct 2009 | 11:46 amLeica makes some of the highest-quality, precision-engineered cameras in the world. WIRED magazine recently caught up with them and took a tour of their facility in Solms, Germany. In one of the shots, you can see a LabVIEW application (designed by Ramitek GmbH) being used to test the M9, Leica's newest camera. It's kind of awesome to see LabVIEW being used to help control tolerances as fine as
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CyberText Newsletter
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Sketch out your car accident
20 Nov 2009 | 1:54 pmIf you’ve been involved in a car accident, my sympathies. You have quite a bit of running around and inconvenience ahead of you, to say nothing of recovery from injuries. One of the tasks you have to do is complete a police report and possibly one or more insurance claim forms. In my state, you get a tiny space on the police form to sketch out what happened and to which car. But with AccidentSketch.com, a free, web-based sketching tool you can drag and drop all the elements onto a drawing ready to save and print out. (From what I can make out, the site’s designers are German,… -
What is it about time pickers?
19 Nov 2009 | 1:53 pmI’ve come across a couple of ‘interesting’ time pickers recently. I don’t know the best solution for one of these widgets, but I’m pretty sure none of the ones below are it. Of course, one of the dilemmas with a time picker is catering for users familiar with either analog and digital time displays (or both), as well as AM/PM, 12 or 24-hour clocks, and perhaps time zones and daylight saving/summer time. And do you allow text entry, with the potential for typos and other human error? If you allow text entry, then what sort of validation do you have to have on the… -
Product labels: 2
18 Nov 2009 | 1:59 pmI ranted a bit about the labeling on a tube of bath gel the other day. Today it’s the turn of labeling masquerading as marketing spin. Or is it marketing spin masquerading as product labeling? Bring on the shampoo! You’re standing in a supermarket aisle, looking at the vast array of shampoos. How do you choose? Do you always go for what you’ve used before, or is it time to try something new? Let’s assume you want to try something new. How do you go about determining which shampoo will be the best for your hair? For many people, the information on the product label… -
Install multiple free applications at once
17 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pmYou’ve had to reformat your computer, you’ve upgraded your existing one, or you’ve got a new one. Now you have to install all the applications (apps) you use on a daily basis, including downloading the latest and greatest of the freebies you use all the time, like Firefox, iTunes or Skype. Be prepared to add several hours to your installation time — finding the apps’ websites, determining which is the latest version, waiting for them to download, installing them… There has to be an easier way! And there is. Enter Ninite (http://www.ninite.com). You choose… -
Product labels: 1
16 Nov 2009 | 1:49 pmI’ve always read pretty much everything in front of me, and that goes for labels on jars, bottles, tubes, etc. When I was a kid, I’d read every word on the cereal box and milk carton (I’m old enough to remember milk bottles but they didn’t have much in the way of writing on them, so when milk cartons came in, I was happy!). So because I continue to read labels, I get exposed to all sorts of pseudo-chemical and marketing stuff in my daily life. Sometimes a product’s labeling really stands out, but not because it’s good — because it’s so bad or…
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A Tech Writer's World
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Un-super Size Me
19 Nov 2009 | 10:50 amIt's astounding that the very people whose job it is to write concise information fail to be concise on their most important document: their resume. I plead guilty to this word-crime.After consulting with an expert, I reduced my resume from 650 words to 300. How? By cutting out the crap that had accumulated over the years, and then simplifying the remnants.My resume is now a page and a half and can be read in 20 seconds. Considering the mountains of lengthy resumes employers must sift through, a short and concise one is a breath of fresh air.You may ask: isn't this rather extreme editing? You… -
Introducing the New & Improved Citizens Guide!
17 Nov 2009 | 7:01 amThe Canadian government recently updated their guide for new Canadian citizens: Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Apparently, the last release had a few omissions. In the current version, there's more information on Canada's history, and a greater discussion on our nebulous "Canadian values".As an former immigrant myself (my family came over from England in the 1970s), I appreciate the handy new information in this guide. Apparently, it's important to have a job, and the guide even makes a suggestion for this. It says joining the army is: "a noble way to… -
Remembering The Wall
13 Nov 2009 | 7:40 amTwenty years ago, the wall came a-tumblin' down in Berlin. Bewildered East Berliners flowed into the west, marvelled at the material delights, then returned to their drab homes. About a year later, in the greatest act of single-sourcing in history, East and West Germany were merged into a single entity.I was lucky enough to have seen the wall only three years earlier, in 1986. Berlin was one of the many stops of my grand tour of Europe: 22 countries in 60 days. I remember scrambling to the top of an observational platform near the wall. I, along with about 20 other insane college students,… -
How Long is a Piece of String Theory?
10 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am"If you need to get some string, get this string. It's the greatest string in the world. It's almost rope."You can't get more deadpan than the brilliant observational comedian Steven Wright, who is imagining the ultimate ad to sell strings. Strings are as commonplace as cellphones these days. In addition to the plain old strings Wright describes, you can have:stringed instrumentspearls on a stringa string of islandsdrawstringsa string of ideasstring beansYou can pull strings, be strung out, string a person along, be second string, string lights, and keep someone on a string. When it comes to… -
H1N1 A1 Confusion
2 Nov 2009 | 11:18 amThe media's endless drive for ratings has us all convinced we're about two minutes away from certain death. To be sure, the H1N1 virus (the artist-virus formerly known as "Swine Flu") can be lethal. But let's have some perspective: more people will die from the regular flu than this nasty variant. More will also die from car accidents, obesity, alcohol, smoking and many other plagues, but why let relevant comparisons get in the way of a juicy news story?To Save Your Life, Please Take a NumberThe latest news concerns the vaccine production problems. Contrary to earlier reports where the…
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UAX (User Assistance Experience)
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Editor Fight!
20 Nov 2009 | 10:11 amClick cartoon to enlargeClick cartoon to enlarge -
Reverse Engineering SIGs
17 Nov 2009 | 11:18 amThis blog is very STC centric (as it seems a lot of my life is these days). I just got off a strategic planning call where we were discussing ideas for expanding our income base. I noticed that several of the areas that had been identified involved taking what we already have, e.g., webinars and training, and marketing them into other professions. Part of an action item I was assigned was to help -
Dip Management
16 Nov 2009 | 4:53 amMake sure the chip is thick enough to scoop the density of...oh wait, it's not about that kind of dip. Today's blog is about managing technology acceptance and the negative dip in user performance and proficiency that occurs when the user must learn a new tool or new technology.The figure below illustrates a phenomenon known as the "j-curve." Dotted line "x" represents the user's current state of -
Edit my Wiki, please!
13 Nov 2009 | 5:31 amClick cartoon to enlarge.Click cartoon to enlarge. -
Comic Relief
12 Nov 2009 | 4:25 amAs part of a project I'm working on, we are going to develop a comic-style collection of user scenarios to help communicate best practices around a security service we are offering. This is just experimental at this stage, mainly doing a concept piece to see 1) will it work and 2) will stakeholders buy into it. The model I am using is Google's Chrome's Googlebook for web app developers.There can
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Cherryleaf Technical Authors Blog
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Questions to ask yourself before hiring a technical communicator - Camtasia test
20 Nov 2009 | 6:40 am[[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Six reasons why your wiki isn’t working
19 Nov 2009 | 2:21 amWikis are a great way to create and publish documentation online, but there are many wikis that haven’t worked. They comprise just a few pages of incomplete, out of date information. Why is... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Moving technical authors from institutional thinking to network thinking
18 Nov 2009 | 7:52 amIn this video clip, Ecademy’s Thomas Power talks about how business leaders will have to switch between “institutional thinking” (closed, selective and controlling)... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Find, Follow, Finesse, Feed: The future for technical authors?
12 Nov 2009 | 12:11 amA number of commentators have suggested that, in the near future, content curation will play a key role in technical communication. As more content is generated by users, there needs to be someone... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Microsoft Help Viewer - New Help System in Visual Studio 2010
6 Nov 2009 | 1:18 amIn this video, Ryan Linton, a Senior Program Manager on the Library Experience Team, describes the new Help system in Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2. [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]]
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Communications from DMN
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Weekly links roundup
20 Nov 2009 | 3:03 amAlan J. Porter discusses wikis in the workplace Using Twitter for whitepapers? Why not! The importance of documentation Some good advice on how to find time for everything Don’t write bad error messages Ben Minson explains that clear, common language leads to user success Gordon McLean talks about when a tech writer should get involved in a project How DITA changed the tech comm landscape -
A few posts you may have missed
18 Nov 2009 | 2:35 amOr might just want to read again: How much prior knowledge should we expect or assume? The Twitter Book and tech comm Why FAQs are the tech writer’s secret weapons Can you switch niches? Mentoring another writer Can lightweight markup languages be used for documentation? Usability and taking chances Becoming a technical communicator -
LaTeX, content, and structure
16 Nov 2009 | 2:43 amOver the last little while, I’ve been slowly (very slowly) chipping away at a fair-sized personal writing project. I have a number of applications — both commercial and Open Source — at my disposal, but I chose to work on the project using LaTeX. LaTeX (pronounced lay-tek) is a document markup and preparation system that has a long history in academia and scientific research. But it has a number of other uses, too. Including my project. While I’ve been using LaTeX on and off for quite a few years, it’s been a while since I’ve been immersed in it. To put it… -
Weekly links roundup
13 Nov 2009 | 3:04 amFive tips for documenting code Technical communication: design or content? How to explain user experience research to clients Structured collaboration, wikis, and getting the job done Are you a doc whisperer? Maybe you should be Minimizing complexity in user interfaces Open Source technical writing: the time is now Writing Web content that works -
Top Open Source technical writers on the Web
11 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amA while back, Ivan Walsh put together a list of the top 50 tech writers on the Web. That list was an interesting mix of people we’d heard of and regularly read and a few new names. Then, Jim Campbell pointed out that no Open Source technical writers were mentioned. This is our attempt at rectifying the situation. Here we go (in no particular order): Janet Swisher Jim Campbell Emma Jane Hogbin Lana Brindley Paul Cutler Addison Berry Milo Cassagrande Jes Fraser Anne Gentle Edward Cherlin Mike McCallister Shaun McGance Anyone and everyone (at least, not mentioned above) involved…
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Core Dump
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Large Hadron Collider up close
21 Nov 2009 | 8:15 amThe Big Picture blog has a very impressive photo essay on the Large Hadron Collider, which resumed testing this week after a series of major problems. This is the world's largest machine, and probably the most complex -- if you doubt that just look at the pictures. -
What if the Earth had rings
20 Nov 2009 | 3:14 pmThis is a really cool animation of what the Earth would look like if it had a ring system like Saturn's. The views of the rings from Earth are striking and beautiful. Too bad we'd have to blow up the Moon to see it. -
Stephen Fearing coming to Pickering
20 Nov 2009 | 3:09 amFolksinger and member of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Stephen Fearing, will be playing down the street from me next Thursday night, September 26th, at the Waterfront Bistro. I picked up tickets for Nancy and me tonight. The Waterfront Bistro is a small venu, seating about 100, and just about a perfect place to see an act like Stephen Fearing or Colin Linden, who I saw there in September (along -
Wikipedia in your hand
19 Nov 2009 | 3:13 amSometime early in the 1980s or thereabouts, Byte columnist Jerry Pournelle said that by the end of the century everyone would have access to all of the world's knowledge (or something to that effect - I don't remember the exact quote). With the development of the Internet and World Wide Web, his prediction was pretty well true by 2000. Now you can hold a large fraction of the world's accumulated -
Russian cosmonaut's ISS blog
18 Nov 2009 | 3:38 pmRussian cosmonaut Maksim Suraev has been on the International Space Station since mid-October and has been blogging about it. You can read an English translation of his blog, Orbital Log, on the RussiaToday site. It's pretty cool, and he definitely has a lighter touch than most Western astronauts.he experiments were something unimaginable during the crew change. Medicine was my particular
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Tech Writer News (Elephant)
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Translatable but Debatable גורם
17 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmI was in the office of a hi-tech CEO some time ago when a phone call came in from a vendor of translation software. The CEO listened only a few seconds before interrupting the vendor: “How does it translate הגורם המבצע?” he asked. I was impressed that he had such a challenge at the ready. More... -
Being Proactive - Finding Freelance Technical Writing and Editing Opportunities
1 Nov 2009 | 1:56 pmProfessional conferences and workshops are great opportunities for freelance technical writers and copy editors. The presenters often need your professional services andMore... -
Resilience Tip - Control, Where is it always possible?
27 Oct 2009 | 12:16 pmHaving a sense of control is a critical part of responding resiliently. Humans tend not to like the feeling of being blown around by the winds of chanceMore... -
Job Fair - Date moved to December
27 Oct 2009 | 11:57 amPeople & Computers’ annual job fair for Israeli High Tech Professionals will be held at Airport City on December 8th 2009. This is useful for anyone looking for a high tech job in Israel, in particular people who are in:More... -
Call for Papers (SwSTE 2010 IEEE Conference)
24 Oct 2009 | 5:29 amSwSTE 2010 is a biennial International IEEE Conference held in Israel (Herzelia on June 15+16 2010). It is a very professional and prestige conference, which interests and draws approximately 300 participants from the Israeli Hi-Tech industry. Click here to download Call for Papers...More...
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STC AccessAbility SIG
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New Togs for the STC AccessAbility Blog
17 Nov 2009 | 6:31 amWhoa! This site has a new look! What’s the story? Well, we have been having some issues on the back-end. Despite the love for a WordPress theme that was accessible from Day 1 (Sea Beast by the talented Mike Cherim, we had to admit it was a bit old in the code, which required a bit [...] -
World Usability Day 2009: Sustainability and Accessibility
12 Nov 2009 | 4:04 pmToday marks another World Usability Day with the theme of “Sustainability”. What is World Usability Day? World Usability Day was founded to ensure that the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use. Each year, it has a specific focus and is honored around the world on the second Thursday [...] -
2010 – renewing membership in STC and the SIG
11 Nov 2009 | 4:30 amIt’s renewal time for STC members. After a turbulent summer with financial worries, our STC president, Cindy Currie has news about the dues and the effort to find an appropriate solution for all of us. Her complete announcement is on the STC Notebook blog. Please read the complete story, including the fees, over there. This [...] -
Communicating with Everyone – Coming Soon from XML Press!
30 Sep 2009 | 6:00 pmWe received great news from SIG member, Brenda Huettner – she’s writing a new book on the topic of… wait… drum roll…. accessibility! Here’s what she tells us: Some of you may remember a couple of years ago when the STC Press was going to publish a book I was writing about accessibility across multiple forms of [...] -
Deadline for proposals for STC 2010 conference is October 5
30 Sep 2009 | 2:39 pmMoments ago, it was August 26, and we announced the call for proposals for the STC 2010 conference. Now, the October 5th deadline for submitting your proposals is rapidly approaching. This post is a copy of the reminder mail that Caroline Jarrett, Track Manager for Usability/Accessibility at the conference, sent out on our discussion list. This [...]
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User Assistance
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Editor Fight!
20 Nov 2009 | 10:11 amClick cartoon to enlargeClick cartoon to enlarge -
Reverse Engineering SIGs
17 Nov 2009 | 11:18 amThis blog is very STC centric (as it seems a lot of my life is these days). I just got off a strategic planning call where we were discussing ideas for expanding our income base. I noticed that several of the areas that had been identified involved taking what we already have, e.g., webinars and training, and marketing them into other professions. Part of an action item I was assigned was to help -
Dip Management
16 Nov 2009 | 4:53 amMake sure the chip is thick enough to scoop the density of...oh wait, it's not about that kind of dip. Today's blog is about managing technology acceptance and the negative dip in user performance and proficiency that occurs when the user must learn a new tool or new technology.The figure below illustrates a phenomenon known as the "j-curve." Dotted line "x" represents the user's current state of -
Edit my Wiki, please!
13 Nov 2009 | 5:31 amClick cartoon to enlarge.Click cartoon to enlarge. -
Comic Relief
12 Nov 2009 | 4:25 amAs part of a project I'm working on, we are going to develop a comic-style collection of user scenarios to help communicate best practices around a security service we are offering. This is just experimental at this stage, mainly doing a concept piece to see 1) will it work and 2) will stakeholders buy into it. The model I am using is Google's Chrome's Googlebook for web app developers.There can
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Writer River
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How to Display Smaller Videos and Leverage the Full Size Viewing Option
18 Nov 2009 | 11:05 am -
Recording the Spoken Word: Expert Tips on Producing Voice-Overs | How to Produce Voice-Overs in Your Personal Studio | Advice on voice-over production
17 Nov 2009 | 3:31 pmLots of solid info here about voiceovers and recording. -
Trends: The Death of Taxonomies, revisited
17 Nov 2009 | 9:24 amAs knowledge and information piles up around us, how can we categorize and manage it all? This is an interesting article for anyone who comes anywhere near taxonomies. I'm intrigued by the author's suggestion to drop the title "taxonomist" and use "information cartographer" or "metadata architect" instead. -
Constant Transformation Is the New Normal
16 Nov 2009 | 4:38 amThis is a message that could be hung up on office walls throughout the world. If you follow discussions about content strategy, you have probably noticed discussions about technical writers who need to redefine or reshape their current job because it *is* changing. Change sounds so simple, but it is so painful and difficult for many people. That is why the message needs repeating. Not to threatened and cajole, but to encourage and support (the process). Read and share! -
Two Voices: Humility and the Effective Leader
16 Nov 2009 | 4:19 amThis is a good article for everyone to read. After all, even if you aren't a leader of a team of employees, aren't you a leader of your own life? Consider how humility plays or can play a role in the collaboration you do.
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EServer TC Writing
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Easy Fixes for Microsoft Word Formatting in InDesign
21 Nov 2009 | 10:56 amTwo free and easy-to-use scripts convert Word's local formatting to InDesign's character styles. Two more retain InDesign formatting when you export text formatted with automatically applied character styles. Concepcion, Anne-Marie -
Alfresco Share for Streamlining Project Management And Collaboration
21 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amAlfresco integrates easily with existing behaviors, is nimble enough to be adapted to fluid processes, facilitates project communication, and proactively provides the right information to the right people. Toub, Joshua and Josh McJilton -
Alfresco As SharePoint Alternative: An Architecture Overview
21 Nov 2009 | 6:26 amProvides an overview of Alfresco, an open-source alternative to Microsoft's SharePoint content management system. Barmash, Jean -
How to Replace the Learning Management System with SharePoint
20 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pmOne of the main reasons I chose to dedicate so much of my professional time on SharePoint is because it gave me the possibility to own the very site where I post and work. As a knowledge manager and trainer I have the constant need to keep materials updated. I also need to keep my end user engaged. Working within the constraints of enterprise learning and publishing structures means you have to send materials out to teams that then in turn publish the materials out, not always swiftly. Hinckley, Michael -
SharePoint: A Case Study in Content Organization
20 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pmMany doctors across the country want to perform research and trials. As a result, there’s more than a little competition for that government funding. This is where my company and SharePoint enter the picture. The fundamental idea is that a master organization will recruit other doctors across the country and enlist those doctors’ practices in a particular research study. Galvin, Paul
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Shanghai Tech Writer
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The Commute Gets Longer and Longer…
15 Nov 2009 | 6:41 pmThe Commute Gets Longer and Longer… is a post from: Shanghai Tech Writer My first job in Shanghai was teaching at a bilingual school across the street from where I lived. My commute was a 5 minutes walk to school. When I worked at National Instruments China R&D, my commute was either a 5 minutes taxi ride or a 10 minutes bike ride to work. I biked to work almost every day, except on rainy days or days when I had other plans after work. When I started working at Google, I started at the Mountain View headquarters. I was staying at the corporate apartment and had a rental car, so… -
Five Google Offices in Three Months!
14 Nov 2009 | 2:48 amFive Google Offices in Three Months! is a post from: Shanghai Tech Writer The nice thing about working at Google is that I can work from any of the offices across the globe. Over the last few weeks, I’ve visited and worked in the Mountain View, San Francisco, New York, and Shanghai offices. I’ll be going to Taiwan next month, so the Taipei office in Taipei 101 will be the 5th Google office I’ve visited in a short span of three months! What’s really cool is that all Google offices and infrastructure are setup nearly the same. My employee badge grants me entry to all Google offices so… -
Two Months Later …
13 Nov 2009 | 3:13 amTwo Months Later … is a post from: Shanghai Tech Writer It has been more than two months since I’ve written a real post on this blog. The law of inertia states that the longer I don’t blog, the more difficult it is to pick up blogging. Back in the good old blogging days, I’d spend a few more hours after work blogging about work. People ask me where I find the time to blog? Well, the answer is, I had no life. Everyday was work, eat, blog, and sleep. Pretty boring, eh? Then again, all that blogging over the past two years served me well. It made me a better writer. It gave me first… -
Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-10-02
2 Oct 2009 | 3:00 amTwitter Updates for the Week of 2009-10-02 is a post from: Shanghai Tech Writer Learning to use Linux for the first time! # Another article about foreigners looking for work in China http://bit.ly/JPo5c # Who wants a Google Wave invite? No longer just dog food! http://bit.ly/exxW1 # I’ve got 5 #GoogleWave invites left! # Related Articles: Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-25 (0) Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-18 (0) Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-11 (0) Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-04 (0) Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-08-28 (0) Twitter Updates… -
Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-25
25 Sep 2009 | 3:00 amTwitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-25 is a post from: Shanghai Tech Writer Jetlagged! # Smell that clean air in San Francisco! # I’m a Noogler! (and it’s 3am in the morning) # Where to get good vietnamese sandwiches in Bay Area? # Officially a Googler! # Jetlag sucks big time! Haven’t been able to sleep at night. # Way behind on everything — sleep, blog, tweet, and life. Give me a few weeks. # Why can’t I sleep at night?! Jetlag really sucks! # Related Articles: Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-10-02 (1) Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-09-18 (0)…
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David Barnes @ Packt
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Oxford Word of the Year 2009: Unfriend
18 Nov 2009 | 2:33 amFrom the Oxford University Press blog: Without further ado, the 2009 Word of the Year is:unfriend. unfriend– verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook. As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.” Other new words recognized by the Oxford University language boffins include hashtag, intexticated, sexting, funemployed, deleb, and zombie bank. Many of these words a tech words, of course. Should a technical publisher coin new words in their books, when none of the existing ones… -
Why the free availability of Unity3D and Unreal Development Kit has me nostalgic for my childhood
6 Nov 2009 | 8:50 amLike many skinny boys my age, the first computer book I ever read looked something like this: Looking back, it's easy to be cynical about these titles. Each book contained a whole selection of games. You'd get a few pages of code (a lot to type on a ZX Spectrum keyboard at the age of 9), virtually no explanation, and a lavish watercolor picture supposed to illustrate the game play. When you'd got the whole game typed in, you'd run it and discover that the game consisted of a few lines of plain text. Most of them didn't even use color. One game I remember was called "Archery". I was excited to… -
Amazon Turns Twitter into a Marketplace - Are You Concerned? (I'm not)
4 Nov 2009 | 7:59 amIf you're an Amazon Affiliate that is. You can now "tweet" Amazon books and get an affiliate link posted to Twitter nice and easily. I guess you could already do this by shortening the affiliate URL yourself -- but Amazon's now made it that little bit easier. RRW isn't happy, uses words like "spam" here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/amazon_turns_twitter_into_a_marketplace.php -- seems a bit much when most people just get a bit of pocket money out of Affiliates. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Help $TYPE_OF_PERSON be awesome at $THING (via @kathysierra)
3 Nov 2009 | 2:52 amKathy taught me that if you can’t explain your mission in the form, “We help $TYPE_OF_PERSON be awesome at $THING,” you are not going to have passionate users. What’s your tagline? Can you fit it into that template? via joelonsoftware.com This is the perfect single-sentence pitch for any book or educational product. It captures the target audience and the goal of the book in a few short, compelling words. The trick is to define each of those variables in the most specific, vivid way that you can -- and then let that mission drive everything about the book's content and approach. Not… -
Ever struggle to understand grammar rules? Don't worry, the teachers don't get it either...
3 Nov 2009 | 2:43 amMore from Geoffrey Pullum's Language Log. Well known grammar and writing rules books often written by people with no clue about the rules of grammar. Looking for a job? How about one where you set your own hours, you don't have a boss, you have nothing to do but write at your own pace, you end up receiving fat royalty checks, and you don't have to know anything at all about the topic that you write about? The job is to write non-fiction (textbooks and handbooks), only it's OK if you don't have a clue about the subject matter. One word about your new career (and it's not…
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2moro Docs
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Minimal Procedure Content: Reasoning
13 Nov 2009 | 11:52 amThe procedure I wrote about creating a Twitter list uses abbreviated content. This post describes the reasoning behind and decisions made in writing the topic. Title Instead of using this: Create a Twitter List I opt for this construction: Twitter List: Create Reasons It puts the topic first. You don’t have to dig through the content to get to [...] -
Twitter List: Create
13 Nov 2009 | 10:11 amUse the Twitter list feature to categorize feeds of those you follow. Like putting files into separate folders, you can put feeds into different lists. You can: - Add a feed to multiple lists - Create lists before adding feeds, or as you add feeds to existing lists - Create public feeds for all to see or private ones [...] -
Open-Source Tech Writing: the Time is Now
16 Oct 2009 | 9:11 amRecently, I started working with WordPress. For those unfamiliar with WP, it’s an open-source platform used for blogging, websites, and the like. Development and maintenance is completed by a world-wide community. There’s an incredible energy and community that is part of it. Last month, I attended a WordCamp event. Along with the information I obtained, [...] -
Must-Follow Trends for Tech Writers
1 Oct 2009 | 12:59 pmTech writers have always needed to keep up with current technologies. That is the case today more than ever. I’ve been in the field for over 20 years, starting back before online help, back when you copied manuals to put in binders, back when you wrapped up docs weeks before a release because you had [...] -
Must-Follow Twitter Feeds for Tech Writers
21 Sep 2009 | 9:08 amThe purpose of my blog is to provide tech writers with information about changes and how said changes may impact documentation. That is also the purpose of my Twitter feed. I gather up as much information as I can and pass it on. I’ve found some excellent feeds to follow related to the various topics of [...]
