#30788
ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (formerly AECMA Simplified English) is a specification for writing aircraft documentation. The principles can be applied to all industry sectors. ASD-STE100 provides a set of writing rules and a dictionary of words and their meanings. It has a limited number of words; a limited number of clearly defined meanings for each word; a limited number of parts of speech for each word; a set of rules for writing text. This article outlines the standard, and shows how it helps to prevent ambiguity in text.
Unwalla, Mike. ISTC (2004). Articles>Writing>Minimalism>Controlled Vocabulary
#21298
Have you ever tried to create an index in Word? Were you dissatisfied with the options available in the dialogs? There are other features available that can provide you with a higher level of control over the structure of the index. This article gives you an overview of advanced indexing techniques; see Word’s online help for details. The menu sequences are for Word 2000; there are slight differences in Word 2002.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Indexing>Software>Microsoft Word
#31028
Case Study: Reaching New Markets Through Clear Documentation
Triangle is a systems integrator in the UK with about 150 employees. It extended the functionality of the InfoGenesis point of sale software onto hand-held terminals. To turn this into a commercial off-the-shelf product, Triangle needed clear documentation for resellers and for staff managers at customer sites. Triangle lacked the expertise needed to produce effective documentation, so it outsourced the documentation development. The new documentation enables Triangle to roll out the software internationally using resellers, and keeps Triangle's support costs to a minimum.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Case Studies
#21385
Comparison of Online Help Formats
This article lists the basic differences between WinHelp version 4, Microsoft compiled HTML help, WebHelp and pure HTML help. Samples are available.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Help
#30786
Creating Coloured Hyperlinks in an Index in a PDF File 
This article explains how to create coloured hyperlinks in an index in a PDF file, using Microsoft Word as the source document for the PDF file. Many authors create PDF files using Word as the source document. Most Word-to-PDF converters create a hyperlink in the PDF file if a hyperlink exists in the Word document. Unfortunately, Word does not create hyperlinked cross-references in an index, so no PDF creation tool can directly generate a hyperlinked index. The Sonar Bookends Activate plug-in for Acrobat creates hyperlinks for page numbers in indexes in PDF files. The plug-in does not change the colour of new hyperlinks, and it does not create visible rectangles for the hyperlinks. This article explains how to colour the hyperlinks in the Word source document using macro.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2006). Articles>Indexing>User Interface>Adobe Acrobat
#21389
Using an extended example, this article shows how it is possible to reduce the number of words in a text and at the same time increase readability.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Minimalism
#21308
These workshop notes list many of the things that you will need to consider if you intend to become a freelance technical communicator in the UK. The main topics are: your motivation; getting help with your business; legal and administrative issues; business infrastructure; working practices; advertising and publicity; office environment. The workshop was presented at the ISTC Conference, Bosworth, 2002.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2002). Careers>Freelance>Regional>United Kingdom
#21302
For practical purposes, we may say that a tender is 'an offer to do work.' This article discusses quotations for work, standard terms and conditions and letters of agreement. The article is written within the context of UK legislation. It originally appeared in Communicator 7:1, Spring 2001.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2001). Careers>Writing>Business Communication>Contracts
#21301
How do you write an effective email that your recipient finds clear and easy to understand? There's more to it than just typing a few words and clicking the Send button. These notes give you some guidelines on the following: technical issues, document structure, the importance of knowing your audience, language issues and layout and visual design.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2002). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#21299
These guidelines are written primarily for people who are not technical writers. If you are new to technical writing, you will probably find these instructions useful.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#21380
If a document contains the information that a reader needs, but if the reader cannot find that information, then the document is useless. Worse than useless, it’s a hindrance. If I know that some information is not available, I won’t waste my time looking for it. However, if I think the information is available, and if I can’t find it after a period of fruitless searching, all I will have achieved is frustration.
Mike Unwalla. TechScribe (2004). Articles>Indexing>Technical Editing
#25876
Introduction to Styles in Microsoft Word 
You can increase your efficiency and at the same time, improve the appearance of your Microsoft® Word documents by using styles.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Style Sheets>Microsoft Word
#22365
Language Style Guide for Software Developers 
This style guide is designed to help software developers with the language aspects of screen design. It is not comprehensive, but it does cover the most common problems. For comprehensive style guidelines for documentation see the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications. TechScribe is based in the UK, and although we produce documentation for both the US and the UK markets, we have used British English in this guide. The document can be printed on both US Letter and A4 size paper.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Design>User Interface>Style Guides
#30785
LaTeX is a powerful typesetting system that is used for producing scientific and mathematical documents of high typographic quality. Unlike WYSIWYG tools such as FrameMaker and Word, it uses plain text files that contain formatting commands. It is big, open source, and used by many technical publishing companies. This article overviews LaTeX, and directs you to sources of information.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2006). Articles>Software>TeX>LaTeX
#21387
Paper and Online Documentation Trade-Offs
This article first describes the basic types of user. It then lists the advantages and disadvantages of typical paper and online documents and relates these to the various user types. Finally, there is a comparison of the paper and online formats with respect to usability criteria.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation
#21383
Experts from around the World are working on a new ISO standard for software documentation (Guidelines for the design and preparation of user documentation for application software). This article outlines how the standard is being produced, its current status and what it contains.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Standards
#22366
These tips will help you to avoid receiving junk email. They also give you some guidelines to ensure that you don't help its spread.
#21388
Relative Costs of Paper and Online Documentation
This article compares the costs of development, production and maintenance for paper and online documentation.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Management
#21384
Section 508, Documentation and the US Software Market
This article outlines how you can ensure that your software documentation conforms to the new accessibility legislation in the US.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Accessibility>Section 508
#21382
Software Usability and Documentation
This article shows how a user-centred approach to software design can reduce the requirement for documentation. It lists Jakob Nielsen's usability heuristics, and for each one, shows how following the heuristic can reduce the requirement for user documentation.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Software>Usability
#31670
A Structured Approach to Selling
High-value goods and services are not impulse purchases. Both the purchaser and vendor may need to invest significant time in the purchasing process. When I first started working for myself, I wasted much time. Now I make the process as efficient as possible, both for myself, and for enquirers.
Unwalla, Mike. IEEE PCS (2008). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration
#30790
Usability, Testing and Documentation
The three disciplines of usability, testing, and documentation are important to the success of hi-tech products. These three areas are often overlooked, but they have a profound affect on the end user's experience of a software product. As customers become more perceptive about IT, their expectations rise. Since customers now have more choice than ever, to be successful, a software product needs to stand out from the crowd. This article explains why the three disciplines are important to the overall success of a software solution. It concludes with recommendations for obtaining the best return on investment.
Unwalla, Mike, Andrew Swartz and Bill Matthews. TechScribe (2006). Articles>Usability>Testing>Documentation
#30789
Users' Documentation Preferences
At a user group meeting in 2007, TechScribe researched users' experiences of the software documentation that they receive. Do they prefer online or printed documentation? Do they read the manual, or do they call the help desk? How important is background information? Which is more useful, a 'how to' user guide or a reference manual? Do people prefer explanations using visuals, descriptions, or a combination? Read the survey to find the answers (we obtained 29 responses from 64 attendees).
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2007). Articles>Documentation>Audience Analysis>Technical Writing
#30787
Web Indexing: Extending the Functionality of HTML Indexer
HTML Indexer is a commercial stand-alone indexing tool that is designed solely for the indexing of web sites. This article shows how to extend the functionality of HTML Indexer by including special codes in the entries, then post-processing the generated HTML to obtain final HTML.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2006). Articles>Web Design>Indexing>Software
#21381
This article looks at web design issues from a technical writing perspective. It highlights aspects of poor design that can prevent your intended audience from receiving your message.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
