http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles http://tc.eserver.org/35759.html http://tc.eserver.org/35759.html This screencast will give you insight into HTML5 and CSS3 to help ease the pain that comes with transitioning to a slightly different syntax. http://tc.eserver.org/35760.html http://tc.eserver.org/35760.html Today, marketing students also need to know basic HTML, design software such as the Adobe Suite, how to run a Google adwords campaign, how to optimize a Web site for search engines, how to analyze Web analytics data, develop a keyword strategy, and manage e-mail marketing campaigns. A basic knowledge of how social media including sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Twitter can be used to leverage a marketing message isn't optional—it's a requirement. http://tc.eserver.org/35761.html http://tc.eserver.org/35761.html Internet Explorer 6 is always a hot subject of debate. We’ve talked about it here many many times. The forums are full of folks trying to troubleshoot it. The CSS support is problematic and the JavaScript support is proprietary nonsense. The conversation is heating up a little hotter than usual lately, as major companies are starting to pull support for it. I thought I would start the conversation by covering the reasons I think people still use this browser. http://tc.eserver.org/35762.html http://tc.eserver.org/35762.html The popular JavaScript library jQuery is an amazing way to extend the design possibilities of your site beyond what CSS can do. But luckily, if you are already comfortable with CSS, you have a huge head start in jQuery! This is a very basic introduction to including jQuery on your web page and getting started writing a few functions. http://tc.eserver.org/35763.html http://tc.eserver.org/35763.html Starting off where we left off last time, we continue exploring the possibilities of jQuery. We revisit some of the old functions and make them do some smarter things. We explore a simple variable and an IF/ELSE statement. Then we look at the AJAX-y .load() function, the CSS function, and then finish off by writing out own custom function and going over how that layer of abstraction can help us keep our code clean. Semantics counts in JavaScript too! http://tc.eserver.org/35764.html http://tc.eserver.org/35764.html This video focuses on taking an already existing idea and code and turning it into a jQuery plugin. In this case it helps keep our code as semantic as it can be, and with JavaScript off, degrades nicely. We cover the syntax of creating a plugin, show off the cool chain-ability of jQuery, and show how to make the plugin versatile and expandable. http://tc.eserver.org/35765.html http://tc.eserver.org/35765.html Let’s examine a few trends and remember that Apple beat its competitors in the education market twenty years ago by having a rabid fan base along with compelling intuitive software. Microsoft Live’s community had 60 million users last time I checked. Working within the existing Live framework will be critical for any Learning Management Systems (LMS) play that Microsoft chooses to do in the future. http://tc.eserver.org/35766.html http://tc.eserver.org/35766.html Recently I looked at how Adobe is reworking Flash in preparation for the coming battle with Microsoft over the Rich Internet Application (RIA) space and, with it, the likely future of computer-based design. In this article we finally get to see just what forces Microsoft has assembled – and its three staged launches at the MIX 07 conference in Las Vegas effectively amounted to a declaration of all-out war. http://tc.eserver.org/35772.html http://tc.eserver.org/35772.html Given the pressures on firms to provide increased value at lower costs, it’s imperative that they find ways to reduce the costs of creating and managing documents and increase their value to clients and personnel. Microsoft SharePoint provides a range of features to make your firm’s documents “smarter,” from capturing rich metadata to automating workflows to intelligent search. As applied, these features can transform passive documents into active, reusable resources. In this article I’ll describe some of the ways that SharePoint can reduce the effort to create, manage and retrieve documents and increase their value, as smart documents, to both your firm and its clients. http://tc.eserver.org/35773.html http://tc.eserver.org/35773.html The SharePoint 2010 Managed Metadata feature has been my favourite topic since coming back from the SharePoint conference. I get excited about this kind of thing because metadata is a big part of all of the software we build. But some people are probably saying "Why should we get so excited about new metadata features in SharePoint? The new UI and improved capacity are really the neat things about SharePoint 2010." http://tc.eserver.org/35774.html http://tc.eserver.org/35774.html Having seen Microsoft SharePoint in action at a central government department they could see the potential around records management and enabling the delivery of other business outcomes through ensuring the right information (records) were available to the right audience, at the right time in an appropriate manner. This meant exposing information securely to their clients, internally on their intranet and to the wider citizen audience, something their current IT platforms wouldn’t support in a simple, cost effective manner. http://tc.eserver.org/35775.html http://tc.eserver.org/35775.html Many 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. http://tc.eserver.org/35776.html http://tc.eserver.org/35776.html One 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. http://tc.eserver.org/35735.html http://tc.eserver.org/35735.html For professional communicators, social media is like a new, wild river born from the converging streams of public relations and marketing. A good social media campaign requires the traditional PR skills of telling engaging stories and building positive relationships with constituents, and a marketer’s knack for knowing and finding “the buyer.” http://tc.eserver.org/35736.html http://tc.eserver.org/35736.html The age-old public relations tool, once crafted as fodder for print journalists, is now being applied more to the online world. A recent study by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) found that most releases now target consumers and customers directly, rather than through the filter of the news media. Enter the social media release (SMR). http://tc.eserver.org/35737.html http://tc.eserver.org/35737.html Don’t we all want to get the conversation going in a positive direction when it comes to representing the companies and clients we work for? And while there have, of course, always been incidents of deception in journalism and PR, somehow the advent of the Internet and social media has made this a much bigger issue. As PR representatives and journalists for individuals and companies learn more about the benefits of Twitter and other forms of social media, questions are arising about how—and how not—to present information. http://tc.eserver.org/35738.html http://tc.eserver.org/35738.html New opportunities have arisen from the advent of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. But professional communicators, in their effort to gain a better understanding of the medium, tend to make social media tools more complex than they really are. As a result, they miss out on the big breaks they need to achieve their goals. Below are tips to take the guesswork out of connecting social media with PR. Hopefully, these are steps you are already taking in your career. But if you are like me and need a friendly reminder, read on. http://tc.eserver.org/35739.html http://tc.eserver.org/35739.html Social media sites offer a range of new opportunities for communication, marketing and networking. But employees’ unfettered online engagement can be bad for business and potentially injurious to their employment and career prospects. Social media present a huge threat to organizations’ reputations, especially those that don’t inform and educate their staff about their online responsibilities. That’s why Web 2.0 education must become a priority for HR departments, who should collaborate with PR teams to brief employees about appropriate online engagement. The same Web 2.0 education must become part of new staff induction programs. http://tc.eserver.org/35740.html http://tc.eserver.org/35740.html As web workers, most of us are steeped in Web 2.0 throughout our working day (never mind that we can’t agree on what “Web 2.0″ means). Many of us have embraced online applications from Google, Yahoo, and elsewhere to do the bulk of our work, and we rely on a mishmash of social media sites to stay in touch with our peers and build our extended networks. But this connectivity comes at a cost: the internet is filled with bright, shiny distractions. http://tc.eserver.org/35741.html http://tc.eserver.org/35741.html I am working on a number of website projects right now. My mission is to banish ‘lorem ipsum’ by working text into page designs before development starts. I wanted to find a tool that would let me create page mockups quickly and try out different combinations of copy and layout. Eventually, I settled on Balsamiq Mockups, which is an awesome tool. The rest of this article describes the different alternatives I considered and concludes with a detailed review of Balsamiq. http://tc.eserver.org/35743.html http://tc.eserver.org/35743.html I was disappointed yesterday when, while cruising Facebook, I noticed a national pharmacy company’s request for me to “fan” them. I simply cannot agree to become a fan of a company that thinks turning nouns into verbs is hip and thereby will increase its customer base. If they had instead asked me to “become a fan”, I may have indeed considered it. http://tc.eserver.org/35745.html http://tc.eserver.org/35745.html What is flow? It’s kind of like a river of writing, it’s an uninterrupted stream of consciousness directly from the source of your creativity through your brain, into your nervous system, out your hands, into your computer. I like to think of it as zen writing meditation. There is some important prep work that needs to be done before you’re ready for some serious writing flow time. http://tc.eserver.org/35746.html http://tc.eserver.org/35746.html Are you prone to digital fiddling? I am. In fact, I’ve increased my skills of digital fiddling so much that I hardly notice that I’m putting off writing. There are three actions you need to take. http://tc.eserver.org/35747.html http://tc.eserver.org/35747.html A large number of us want people to be able to share ideas and communicate freely, without legal restrictions. And I’d go even further: we like it when creative people freely share their work with us, and allow us to use their work (or derivatives of it) in our own work. This is the Culture of Sharing that is growing on the Internet. http://tc.eserver.org/35748.html http://tc.eserver.org/35748.html I find it unbelievable that a common phrase (that was used way before it was the title of any book) can be trademarked. We’re not talking about the names of products … we’re talking about the English language. You know, the words many of us use for such things as … talking, and writing, and general communication? Perhaps I’m a little behind the times, but is it really possible to claim whole chunks of the language, and force people to get permission to use the language, just in everyday speech? http://tc.eserver.org/35749.html http://tc.eserver.org/35749.html One of the most common pieces of advice for bloggers is to find a niche that you can dominate — the smaller the niche, the better, because all of the bigger niches are already dominated by bigger blogs. This advice is fine if you’re trying to sell a product to a specific group of potential customers, but if you’re trying to grow a blog with as big a readership as possible, I think niche blogging is dead wrong. http://tc.eserver.org/35750.html http://tc.eserver.org/35750.html One of the most common pieces of advice for bloggers is to find a niche that you can dominate — the smaller the niche, the better, because all of the bigger niches are already dominated by bigger blogs. This advice is fine if you’re trying to sell a product to a specific group of potential customers, but if you’re trying to grow a blog with as big a readership as possible, I think niche blogging is dead wrong. http://tc.eserver.org/35751.html http://tc.eserver.org/35751.html Writers like to sprinkle their work with subordinate clauses because they add variety to sentence structure. A reading diet too heavy with simple sentences or even compound sentences becomes wearisome quickly. Subordinate clauses—also known as dependent clauses—used skillfully can add complexity and artfulness to writing. http://tc.eserver.org/35752.html http://tc.eserver.org/35752.html The wiki crops up in many companies' internal discussions about process improvements and efficient collaboration, but it is often shot down because so few people have exposure to good models of what a really successful business wiki can do. Ars is here to help with a practical introduction based on real-world examples. http://tc.eserver.org/35753.html http://tc.eserver.org/35753.html If you have an interesting story to tell, a press release will help you to make newspaper editors aware of it. Maybe you recently won an award. Maybe you stumbled upon some interesting information in the field you work in. Or maybe your design contributed towards some kind of achievement on behalf of your client. Depending on the scale and content of your story, you can send your press release to marketing websites, marketing magazines, the relevant trade press, the regional press, and even the business section of the national press. http://tc.eserver.org/35754.html http://tc.eserver.org/35754.html A news publication gets a lot of press releases over the course of the day. In an ideal world, this document delivers valuable and maybe even actionable news and, if things are really well done, gets journalists excited about sharing it with the world. What's beautiful about this is that it is a realm over which you have some control, and improvements are easy to achieve. http://tc.eserver.org/35755.html http://tc.eserver.org/35755.html As I transitioned from academia to industry, I discovered that while mobile UX was discussed, it wasn’t discussed from the same broad frame of reference that I was used to within the confines of a research-based institution. Although more recent mobile UX conversations I have found myself in have undoubtedly benefited from the ongoing smart phone revolution, overall I still find these conversations to be needlessly driven by tactical adoration and lacking a conscious consensus regarding the fundamental principles of the mobile-user experience. http://tc.eserver.org/35756.html http://tc.eserver.org/35756.html We’ve come to realize that the techniques used by hostage negotiators to resolve crises are also extremely valuable to user experience researchers. In essence, both parties are attempting to establish a relationship, both are trying to keep the communication flowing, and most importantly, both are trying to extract valuable data. http://tc.eserver.org/35757.html http://tc.eserver.org/35757.html STC SIGs are like areas where outside professions insert specialized instances of their expertise into our profession. But what if we could reverse that gateway? Our SIGs could be an excellent outreach channel to market our specialized knowledge into those other professions. http://tc.eserver.org/35758.html http://tc.eserver.org/35758.html We go from one moment being very proficient with our current tool or technology to being pretty stupid with a new one. So the basic question every user ends up answering is Was the improvement labeled "B" worth the pain and humiliation labeled "A?" http://tc.eserver.org/35715.html http://tc.eserver.org/35715.html Agile projects aren't yet fully user-driven, but new research shows that developers are actually more bullish on key user experience issues than UX people themselves. http://tc.eserver.org/35716.html http://tc.eserver.org/35716.html Editing really is a wonder– it’s like a multiplication of the writer’s brain, a dialogue among various copies of the author. First-draft author is an admirable workman but a bit of a hack; he writes down whatever pops into his head. Second-draft author is slower-paced but has a clearer eye for how the larger story structure fits together, or at least how it should fit once he’s done with it. Third-draft author has a remarkable knack for turning familiar and overused phrases into fresh, surprising stuff, by masticating each line. And so on. All these guys team up to make something great, and none of them could have done it alone. http://tc.eserver.org/35717.html http://tc.eserver.org/35717.html All the screenshots in your Word document are different sizes. What’s the quickest way to get them all the same size? Is there a shortcut? Yes! http://tc.eserver.org/35718.html http://tc.eserver.org/35718.html Most people don’t know what the AutoCorrect feature in Word really does. I use to correct the document AS I WRITE and to enter long strings of text automatically. http://tc.eserver.org/35720.html http://tc.eserver.org/35720.html Maybe I’ve been very lucky but I believe women are far better as technical writers than men. Here are five areas where I think they have the edge of the guys. http://tc.eserver.org/35721.html http://tc.eserver.org/35721.html Maybe the confusion that surrounds the STC is its inability to define who it serves. Maybe the STC is trying to drum up support and be more inclusive. http://tc.eserver.org/35722.html http://tc.eserver.org/35722.html Excellent customer service isn’t something we’re all born with. It’s learned. Yes, you’ll meet people who really stand out and make you feel great for having done business with them, but you’ll meet a lot more that just do their job and get by. http://tc.eserver.org/35723.html http://tc.eserver.org/35723.html CEOs and other executives often find themselves in the role of company spokesperson. More often than not, they have neither the background nor the proper training to be effective. As the communication professional responsible for media relations at your company, there are several things you can do to help prepare your executive for the interviews to come. http://tc.eserver.org/35724.html http://tc.eserver.org/35724.html There is a significant risk of being quoted out of context during media interviews. This risk can fall anywhere along a spectrum that ranges from mild to severe. Mild risk occurs when the information included in a media story appears to be less than accurate. If you’ve ever heard a spokesperson complain that reporters never get it right, you’ve probably witnessed this type of risk firsthand. Severe risk occurs when a portion of what the spokesperson says is twisted or turned, then included in a story to deliberately fan the flames of a smoldering fire. If this occurs, an organization may need to exercise damage control, and there may be significant risk to its reputation. http://tc.eserver.org/35725.html http://tc.eserver.org/35725.html Most explanations of human behavior in the business world assume that people are best persuaded by reason and logic. Steeped in that belief, executives and senior managers have focused on delivering convincing speeches and finding “just the right words” when dealing with the public and the press. But what if that view is flawed? http://tc.eserver.org/35726.html http://tc.eserver.org/35726.html Powerful communication before a crisis and rapid communication during a crisis have the ability to move people out of harm’s way, save lives and protect reputations. Yet so many organizations second-guess what they should say, who should say it and when. Here are some rules to follow in these circumstances. http://tc.eserver.org/35727.html http://tc.eserver.org/35727.html How can you build the right following? The question is important because like it or not, as communicators, we’re expected to lead the way in our organizations’ use of social media. http://tc.eserver.org/35728.html http://tc.eserver.org/35728.html Treat others the way you would want to be treated. It seems ridiculous to think that one of the most common rules taught to children somehow hinders effective business communication when these children become adults. But it’s true. To be effective at communicating with customers (for example, internal audiences who buy into ideas or messages, or external audiences who buy products or services), one must turn away from this standard rule and focus instead on treating others the way they want to be treated. http://tc.eserver.org/35729.html http://tc.eserver.org/35729.html Many companies continue to discount the power and potential of social media. Others are just beginning to flirt with the idea of using this new form of communication, while still others are in the process of developing social media policies to establish what employees can and cannot do. Then, there are those companies that have started allowing their communication specialists to engage in social media on behalf of the organization. But how many are teaching non-communication staff how to use this new media? http://tc.eserver.org/35730.html http://tc.eserver.org/35730.html Don’t be misled by the word interview. It’s not about sitting down and passively answering questions. A successful media interaction requires preparation, and it requires the spokesperson to take charge. I don’t mean dominating or monopolising the conversation, but taking responsibility for the success of the exchange — for both the journalist and the spokesperson. Here are a few suggestions you can make to help your spokesperson prepare to take charge. http://tc.eserver.org/35731.html http://tc.eserver.org/35731.html Identifying the right corporate spokesperson for traditional and new media strategies - including public relations, blogging, video marketing, etc. - is an important task. Whether they are speaking to Katie Couric, a New York Times reporter or a blogger, it is essential that they be well versed on the do's and don't's of effective communication. Whether its a formal, televised interview or an informal email thread that leads to a story in a blog, the spokesperson should represent the image and persona of the company at all times. http://tc.eserver.org/35732.html http://tc.eserver.org/35732.html A fire has destroyed your manufacturing facility that produces 80% of your products. Your staff has nowhere to work, your suppliers have nowhere to ship goods, and your customers start looking for new suppliers. Now what? http://tc.eserver.org/35733.html http://tc.eserver.org/35733.html From your stance to the amount of eye contact you make, this slideshow walks you through techniques great speakers employ. http://tc.eserver.org/35734.html http://tc.eserver.org/35734.html Every company – no matter what size, whether public or private – faces crises. While the scale may be different compared to these corporate giants, crises happen all the time. Crises are all around us. Is your company prepared to handle one? http://tc.eserver.org/35695.html http://tc.eserver.org/35695.html As companies have their offices spread across more and more geographic locations and a large scale of employees working in different countries, it becomes even harder to represent a single organization as one unique entity. The key lies in raising awareness for the company’s vision and mission as well as equipping staff in all locations with the latest technologies. Advancements in communication technology have led to a deeper focus on knowledge management activities – benefiting both the organization and the individual. http://tc.eserver.org/35696.html http://tc.eserver.org/35696.html Those who think video games are not educational, this post is for you. Not only can video games be an enjoyable experience, they can teach us many things. Websites and video games often use similar concepts about usability in order to achieve an amazing end-product. I’ve come up with 6 essential concepts that video games can teach web designers about usability. http://tc.eserver.org/35697.html http://tc.eserver.org/35697.html You've always wanted to learn how to build software yourself—or just whip up an occasional script—but never knew where to start. Luckily, the web is full of free resources that can turn you into a programmer in no time. If you're curious about how to become a programmer, you can get off to a running start using tons of great free web-based tutorials and resources. http://tc.eserver.org/35699.html http://tc.eserver.org/35699.html WordPress is fairly simple to set up as a CMS ‘out of the box’, but where it needs a lot of customization is for setting up ‘smart’ navigation and being able to serve up pages or posts in multiple languages. http://tc.eserver.org/35700.html http://tc.eserver.org/35700.html Over the years I have spent many hours testing content and trying various different Learning Management Systems, and have even done some LMS (like) design work with Articulate Online. Over that time period I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about what does work well, and what doesn’t work well in a lot of systems, so based on my knowledge on the subject, here is my list 10 things to consider before choosing in an LMS. http://tc.eserver.org/35701.html http://tc.eserver.org/35701.html If you don’t have a professional blog or web site, you may think that you don’t need to worry about content strategy. Think again. Celine gave some great advice in her article “How to Develop a Content Strategy for Your Professional Blog,” but these days our blogs and web sites aren’t the only windows to our professional souls. If you use social media platforms for professional purposes, you should consider having a content strategy for the material you publish on them as well. http://tc.eserver.org/35702.html http://tc.eserver.org/35702.html Now is an exciting time to be creating CSS layouts. After years of what felt like the same old techniques for the same old browsers, we’re finally seeing browsers implement CSS 3, HTML 5 and other technologies that give us cool new tools and tricks for our designs. But all of this change can be stressful, too. How do you keep up with all of the new techniques and make sure your Web pages look great on the increasing number of browsers and devices out there? In part 1 of this article, you’ll learn the five essential characteristics of successful modern CSS websites. http://tc.eserver.org/35703.html http://tc.eserver.org/35703.html Today we take a look deeper into the hidden art of digital retouching where skies can always be blue and imperfections simply disappear. Whether you like it or hate it, think it’s necessary or not, retouching is here to stay. http://tc.eserver.org/35704.html http://tc.eserver.org/35704.html This article will cover a basic understanding of what the left and right brains are, and each of their traits. We’ll also go into how we, as creative people, can harness this understanding of the left and right brain to be more creative, as well as succeed in other work-related tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/35705.html http://tc.eserver.org/35705.html Be it web-based applications or online services, they are taking the Internet by storm. Many websites introducing these services are created and launched to get users to sign up and use the software (hopefully for a long-term). The question is: How do we get users from the unfamiliar zone into the interested zone and subsequently becoming a first time use? http://tc.eserver.org/35706.html http://tc.eserver.org/35706.html For a database administrator, DBM (database management) tools make tasks related to maintaining relational databases efficient and fast. Prior to the popularity of these tools, most DBA’s had to use the command line to create, edit, and delete databases. In this article, we present to you the top five most popular/most voted for database management tools. http://tc.eserver.org/35707.html http://tc.eserver.org/35707.html Listen up open source developers, if you want your project to succeed you’re going to have to do more than write great code; you’re going to have to document it, teach new users how it works and provide real-world examples of what you can do with it. That’s the message from Jacob Kaplan-Moss, one of the creators of Django, a very successful open source, Python-based web framework. At least some Django’s success can be attributed to its thorough documentation which is not just reference materials, but also includes tutorials, topical guides and even snippets of design philosophy. http://tc.eserver.org/35708.html http://tc.eserver.org/35708.html Tech docs can take a bunch of different forms ranging from high-level overviews, to step-by-step walkthroughs, to auto-generated API documentation. Unfortunately, no single format works for all users; there’s huge differences in the way that people learn, so a well-documented project needs to provide many different forms of documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/35709.html http://tc.eserver.org/35709.html Now that I’ve discussed what kinds of technical documentation to write, I can move on to the question of how to actually develop a writing style that produces great technical documentation. So how do you learn to write (anything) well? There’s only one answer: you’ll learn to write well if you write. A lot. http://tc.eserver.org/35710.html http://tc.eserver.org/35710.html All good writers have a dirty little secret: they’re not really that good at writing. Their editors just make it seem that way. It doesn’t matter how well you’ve mastered the language; nobody, even grammar geeks, gets this stuff right on the first pass. If you really want to produce great documentation, it needs to be edited. http://tc.eserver.org/35711.html http://tc.eserver.org/35711.html 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. But I’m changing my mind about single sourcing content. It’s about serving up different combinations of information to meet different audiences’ needs. http://tc.eserver.org/35712.html http://tc.eserver.org/35712.html The field of technical writing is making a push toward single-sourced content. This involves authoring in one place and being able to chuck the content into different formats, such as help systems and manuals. It’s supposed to make things better for content management, as well as for localization because you have only one set of content that has to be translated. I personally haven’t bought off on this yet. http://tc.eserver.org/35713.html http://tc.eserver.org/35713.html I did an experiment on Friday that taught me an important lesson: When it comes to handling XML structures, I know pretty much jack. This may be a fatal admission for a technical communicator, but it’s an honest one. http://tc.eserver.org/35714.html http://tc.eserver.org/35714.html The point of a quick-start guide is, as the name says, to help the users get on their feet as fast as possible. This requires the writer to ask, “What is the absolute minimum that someone needs in order to get started?” The next best question is “What is the user going to do the most often?” http://tc.eserver.org/35624.html http://tc.eserver.org/35624.html When choosing a blog platform, you have a variety of options: Drupal, Movable Type, Typepad, Blogger, Joomla, Expression Engine, WordPress.com, self-hosted WordPress, and others. But when you start researching the options, WordPress seems to have at least 10 main strengths over its competitors. http://tc.eserver.org/35625.html http://tc.eserver.org/35625.html Janet Swisher, who’s worked in technical communication since 1999, is an Information Developer for a medium-sized software company. Her specialist areas include online help, tutorials, API documentation and programmer guides. My “techie” cred is that she “can read code well enough to avoid asking obvious questions, and write code well enough to be dangerous.” http://tc.eserver.org/35626.html http://tc.eserver.org/35626.html The problem with choosing a grad school is that it's basically a blind date based on an online dating profile. On paper, the compatibility seems obvious. But reality is often much more complex. And you actually have to work at it. The problem is that your advisor is going to be far less committed to working at the relationship than you as a student are going to want them to be. So there's going to be a lot of accommodation on your part. Again, not always a bad thing. Lots to learn, lots to learn. http://tc.eserver.org/35627.html http://tc.eserver.org/35627.html Seth Godin believes that everything reflects what you stand for—right down to your technical documents. Ever looked at Apple’s tech docs? http://tc.eserver.org/35628.html http://tc.eserver.org/35628.html Style guides can improve the quality and presentation of documentation. They establish a layer of professionalism that may not have been there before. They also reduce arguments and ‘loose cannons’ within the department, as the style guide becomes the acknowledged reference. There are at least four points to consider when selecting a style guide. http://tc.eserver.org/35631.html http://tc.eserver.org/35631.html Websites are generally designed by dogs. There’s a lot of optimism. The dogs look at the website and think of it as an endless attic. No matter how much stuff you into it, there’s always room for more. The dogs approach each design step with a ‘have gigabytes, must fill’ enthusiasm. And then cats have to manage the website. The dogs let everyone publish and the cats are certainly not going to review all this stuff. The dogs created an architecture where everyone can find everything and now nobody can find anything. The cats shake their heads. http://tc.eserver.org/35632.html http://tc.eserver.org/35632.html There's no challenge that taxes leadership more than driving true transformation. Three pithy bullet points clearly aren't enough to crack the transformation code. But hopefully they help transformation-oriented executives — in and out of the magazine industry — to begin to move in the right direction. http://tc.eserver.org/35633.html http://tc.eserver.org/35633.html Are you staying humble, or have you crossed the line into arrogance? Spend some time thinking about this question and asking for feedback from those you trust on what they are observing in your behavior. And if you’ve crossed the line, call your executive coach to help you get back to humility. http://tc.eserver.org/35634.html http://tc.eserver.org/35634.html The procedure I wrote about creating a Twitter list uses abbreviated content. This post describes the reasoning behind and decisions made in writing the topic. http://tc.eserver.org/35635.html http://tc.eserver.org/35635.html Integrating user assistance into the software interface is one of the best ways to increase the usability of your software application and thus make your customers more satisfied and successful. However, embedded help has the reputation of being difficult to develop and execute. Let’s take a look at a solution that makes it possible to quickly include an embedded, dynamic help pane in a software interface. http://tc.eserver.org/35636.html http://tc.eserver.org/35636.html The traditional concept of an ‘international assignment’ is rapidly becoming a misnomer. Certainly the situation whereby an individual (with or without accompanying family) is sent to an overseas location for two or three years still occurs – despite the recent downturn in business. However, today there are all sorts of permutations of business activities that can result in business people working with international colleagues and clients. It may be that people are on short-term assignments (e.g. one to six months) in another country or that they are frequent business travelers visiting subsidiaries and clients or even that they are managers of long-distance teams working on developing new products for third country markets. http://tc.eserver.org/35638.html http://tc.eserver.org/35638.html Using color and color alone as a visual cue is appealing because it’s usually an aesthetically pleasing and a minimalist design technique. Calls to action and visual cues are critical to interface designers because users, especially on the web, have limited patience and are looking to process information and make decisions quickly. Since the brain recognizes and forms an emotional bond with colors almost immediately, colors are a natural choice for visual cues. Unfortunately, it’s easy to alienate or confuse some of your users when some of those aesthetically pleasing colors look very similar. To point out a few interfaces that use hard to differentiate colors as visual cues, here are a few examples that have given me some trouble. http://tc.eserver.org/35639.html http://tc.eserver.org/35639.html Not all companies understand why it's important for them to have technical editor(s). In fact, many technical editors must justify their existence on a regular basis. http://tc.eserver.org/35640.html http://tc.eserver.org/35640.html Like all other technical communicators, we editors must sometimes struggle to prove our worth to employers. We know our value, and the more clueful of our authors understand, but sometimes it takes a bit more work to convince senior managers that we serve a useful purpose. Managers generally require specific examples, usually supported by hard numbers. In this article, I’ve provided a few random facts and figures that I’ve accumulated over the years that you can share with management. http://tc.eserver.org/35642.html http://tc.eserver.org/35642.html If you've installed older software in Windows 7, you might notice that .hlp-formatted Help files aren't recognized or supported. Microsoft offers a free download to read and manage those WinHelp files. http://tc.eserver.org/35643.html http://tc.eserver.org/35643.html In my column, On Good Behavior, I’ll explore the essentials of good interaction design. This first column provides a brief introduction to interaction design—defining the scope this column will cover—then explores some key design principles. What is interaction design? http://tc.eserver.org/35644.html http://tc.eserver.org/35644.html Working together in a group to produce a creative outcome is difficult—don’t let anyone tell you it’s not. A time or two, I’ve had that same feeling of being dumbstricken when participating in various forms of UX design brainstorming sessions. http://tc.eserver.org/35645.html http://tc.eserver.org/35645.html Many of us are more comfortable communicating in words than in pictures. For example, user assistance writers are by nature and training writers, so they understand words and are adept at using word processing and publishing tools. Writers use lexicentric tools not only for creating and delivering content, but also as cognitive tools—that is, tools that help them think more clearly and efficiently. Thus, a user assistance writer might create a user-task matrix or take advantage of a word processor’s outline view when creating or evaluating a document’s structure. http://tc.eserver.org/35646.html http://tc.eserver.org/35646.html In this Ask UXmatters column—which is the second in a three-part series of columns focusing on usability—our experts discuss how to conduct usability testing with limited funding. http://tc.eserver.org/35647.html http://tc.eserver.org/35647.html Governments and large organizations, with legal and administrative concerns like taxation and security typically address the practical aspects of identity we experience on a daily basis—issuing IDs and credentials and deciding the mechanisms for their verification. This division of responsibilities for defining and executing the construct of personal identity is nearly as old as the mind/body schism at the heart of Western culture. http://tc.eserver.org/35648.html http://tc.eserver.org/35648.html In this installment of Search Matters, we’ll continue our discussion of ads in search results. Understand what makes a good ad. Limit cannibalization. Provide ads for internal merchandise instead of third-party advertising. Pay special attention to ads on pages that appear if there are no search results. http://tc.eserver.org/35649.html http://tc.eserver.org/35649.html For the last 6 months, I have been using Microsoft Expression Blend as my primary design tool. Blend, shown in Figure 1, is quickly becoming a powerful product. Its new Sketchflow module had me at hello. http://tc.eserver.org/35650.html http://tc.eserver.org/35650.html The key to intranet success is to provide value to employees and give them a reason to visit the site repeatedly. One of the primary ways to achieve this is to connect employees with the people and groups with whom they need to collaborate. Workgroups, or communities of practice, provide the basis for a living, growing, vibrant space in which people can access the information they need, share best practices, and contribute to a shared knowledge base. This article discusses the role of communities of practice within organizations and provides a framework for planning research and design activities to maximize their effectiveness. http://tc.eserver.org/35651.html http://tc.eserver.org/35651.html In this Ask UXmatters column—which is the first in a series of three columns focusing on usability—our experts discuss the use of usability testing versus expert reviews. http://tc.eserver.org/35652.html http://tc.eserver.org/35652.html The key to creating brand loyalty is developing a consistent and salient brand perception through the association of specific emotional experiences with a product or service. A classic example of this is the emotion of wonder and happiness people associate with The Walt Disney Company’s films and theme parks. By crafting amazing experiences for the people who enjoy their products, Disney has created such a favorable association, leading consumers to feel they can trust the brand and know what kind of experience to expect from a visit to a park, hotel, or movie theater. People can appreciate their intense focus on the user experience, whether watching Mary Poppins, meeting characters like Goofy and Minnie Mouse for the first time as a child, shown in Figure 1, or watching Toy Story characters leap to life in the amazing and spellbinding zoetrope at the California Adventure theme park. http://tc.eserver.org/35653.html http://tc.eserver.org/35653.html It is easy to get excited about eyetracking. Seeing where people look while using your Web site, Web application, or software product sounds like an opportunity to get amazing insights into their user experience. But eyetracking is expensive and requires extra effort and specialized knowledge. The heat maps and other visualizations certainly look impressive, but what can you really learn from them? After using eyetracking for the first time, many find that it is not easy to know how to analyze the visualizations and make conclusions from them. Does eyetracking really provide any additional insights you would not have discovered anyway through traditional usability testing? Does the value of eyetracking outweigh its limitations? This article will discuss and answer these questions. http://tc.eserver.org/35654.html http://tc.eserver.org/35654.html As a participant in the Content Strategy Consortium at the IA Summit 2009, I have enjoyed watching content strategy grow into a user experience discipline. The most recent and significant sign of content strategy’s rise is the release of Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson. Kristina is a renowned content strategist, co-curator of the Content Strategy Consortium, and president of Brain Traffic. I was honored to chat recently with Kristina about her new book. http://tc.eserver.org/35655.html http://tc.eserver.org/35655.html The arrow and its brethren are everywhere on our computer screens. For example, a quick examination of the Firefox 3.0 browser, shown in Figure 1 in its standard configuration, yields eight examples of arrows—Forward, Back, and Reload buttons, scroll bar controls, and drop-down menus that reveal search engine, history, and bookmark choices. http://tc.eserver.org/35657.html http://tc.eserver.org/35657.html Conflicting demands make many UX professionals think of ads as a necessary evil. Customers frequently go out of their way to say they hate ads, while marketers always seem to try their hardest to stuff as many of them as they can on each search results page on your site. This leaves many UX design professionals caught in the middle, trying to balance the ad equation—and frequently failing to fully satisfy either customers or marketers. For this 2-part column, I’ve teamed up with advertisement and eyetracking research guru Frank Guo to present real-world strategies for successfully integrating ads into your search results. The goal is making money without unduly turning off your customers. http://tc.eserver.org/35658.html http://tc.eserver.org/35658.html Traditional, heavyweight development methodologies can be very effective at solving well‑defined problems, where the person solving the problem has a clear understanding of the initial and goal states, the available options, and the constraints on the problem. At the opposite end of the spectrum are ill‑defined, so-called wicked problems. When it’s necessary to balance numerous, often‑conflicting factors, traditional development methodologies are much less effective. http://tc.eserver.org/35659.html http://tc.eserver.org/35659.html An enormous amount of knowledge resides within international organizations. But how can the knowledge management (KM) team unlock this information and make it available to a large number of employees around the globe? How much knowledge should actually be shared and what kind of experience should not be passed on because it might hinder innovation and creative thinking? In an interview with tcworld KM expert Patrick Lambe answered these and many other questions. http://tc.eserver.org/35660.html http://tc.eserver.org/35660.html The merger of Škoda Auto and Volkswagen AG in 1991 compelled the tradition-bound Czech company for the first time to face the challenges of internationalization. Today Škoda is the largest industrial undertaking in the Czech Republic as the company sells its products in 100 countries worldwide. The Joint Venture with VW is regarded by the company as a successful marriage between the systematic, methodical and dependable approach of the Germans and the creative, improvising and proficient disposition of the Czechs. http://tc.eserver.org/35661.html http://tc.eserver.org/35661.html More and more organizations are establishing cross-border teams to take advantage of global talent and global markets. Location and time are no longer impediments to building the 'dream team' but in our rush to take advantage of these new media of e-mail, video conferences and the like we may not realize that there is also some learning for us to do on the cultural front. http://tc.eserver.org/35662.html http://tc.eserver.org/35662.html The generic term “mergers & acquisitions (M&A)” appeared for the first time at the end of the 19th century in the United States. In times of increased global competition, M&A activities have reached all regions of the world and are not solely concerning large enterprises. However, with many M&A projects never reaching the synergy effects that were expected of them, the successful integration of one company into another remains a challenge. http://tc.eserver.org/35663.html http://tc.eserver.org/35663.html Being active in 190 countries around the world, mergers and acquistions are part of the business routine for the engineering conglemerate Siemens AG. A smooth integration process is vital for business success. Supporting this integration process is one of the tasks of Robert Gibson, senior consultant for training and projects at the Siemens headquarters in Munich, Germany. tcworld spoke to him about the challenge of integrating new corporate and national cultures. http://tc.eserver.org/35664.html http://tc.eserver.org/35664.html Most American schoolchildren are familiar with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, (Mark Twain, 1876) and, thanks to translators, many students around the world have also read Twain’s classic. In the book’s most famous scene, the protagonist Tom is assigned the task of whitewashing a fence. While his motivation is to avoid work rather than cost, he cleverly manipulates his friends and acquaintances into doing the work for him. Not only does he leverage effective “non-financial rewards,” but he even gets others to compensate him for the “privilege” of contributing to the effort. Could this be the first recorded instance of crowdsourcing? http://tc.eserver.org/35665.html http://tc.eserver.org/35665.html Localization is the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language and culture. Internationalization is the precursor to localization and involves the process of planning, designing and implementing a culturally and technically neutral product, which can easily be localized. Internationalization helps decrease translation cost and speeds up time-to-market by addressing crucial technical, aesthetic, cultural, and linguistic issues at project start-up. It also has the unique advantage of streamlining not only the localization of your content but authoring in general. http://tc.eserver.org/35666.html http://tc.eserver.org/35666.html In the past few years, there has been a growing interest in using automated translation in a business environment. In the past, automated translation was mostly implemented in government and defense areas, but nowadays there’s also a great interest from corporations that see the value automated translation can contribute to their organization. Let’s take a look at the different uses of automated translation, how it adds value to technical publications and how your teams can prepare content for automated translation. http://tc.eserver.org/35667.html http://tc.eserver.org/35667.html Outsourcing has become a solid strategy for organizations looking to improve productivity and reduce costs. Today, companies are no longer asking “should we do this?” but rather, “what region makes the most sense?” Outsourcing Institute’s Frank Casale shares why a successful partnership starts with ‘transformation mindset’ and what factors should be considered when outsourcing offshore. http://tc.eserver.org/35668.html http://tc.eserver.org/35668.html If you have struggled with a good way to assess the countless translation agencies vying for your business or looked for a way to assess your current provider, you’re not alone. Companies around the globe have longed for a standard objective means by which to carry out their assessments. Some help has arrived in the form of European Standard EN 15038:2006, “Translation Services — Service Requirements.” http://tc.eserver.org/35669.html http://tc.eserver.org/35669.html In the current global financial crisis, Latin America has at least one advantage over most parts of the world. Crisis mode is the norm, rather than the exception, and presumably this means that people here consider what is happening to the world economy far less threatening than people in Europe and North America. The region is also one step removed from the closely interconnected economies of the western world, which means that the impact of the crisis has taken longer to see tangible effects. But does that mean Latin America is a safe haven from woes of the global financial crisis? I think not. http://tc.eserver.org/35670.html http://tc.eserver.org/35670.html Let’s say that you’re reading a news story about a particular area of geographic conflict and you decide to investigate further. Without an encyclopedia available, as fewer and fewer of us seem to have them on hand these days, you quickly check out your handy online references. To your surprise, the article on this disputed feature seems to be an amalgamation of strongly differing opinions and ideologies, to the point where the article has been locked down from further editing. Such is the nature of the brave new world of user-generated content, where a content publisher forges a careful alliance of sorts with a wide range of contributors across very diverse locales and cultures. Depending on the intended purpose of the provided content, the end result can take on a life of its own, as it becomes the focal point for a silent yet fervent battle over “fact” and “truth” from divergent viewpoints. http://tc.eserver.org/35671.html http://tc.eserver.org/35671.html Business Process Outsourcing has become a leading business model of our time. While the increasing pressure to cut cost is still among the primary drivers for this trend, today quality has become a major issue when it comes to choosing an outsourcing partner. Here is an overview of standards and models that help measure and improve the quality of outsourcing services. http://tc.eserver.org/35672.html http://tc.eserver.org/35672.html Improving your performance, using your in-house resources more profitably, staying focused on your core business, accelerating time-to-market and decreasing costs – the benefits of outsourcing sound very promising. But how can you jump on the bandwagon of outsourcing? Between Russia and India, Dubai and Vietnam – where do you find your outsourcing provider? And how can you trust that the provider will help you achieve the promised benefits? tcworld investigated. http://tc.eserver.org/35673.html http://tc.eserver.org/35673.html Crystal-clear waters, splendid white beaches and luxurious ressorts – these are usually the things associated with Mauritius. Far away from the world’s major markets and sources, the island nation in the Indian Ocean seems more of a touristic center of recreation than an international business hub. However, in recent years, Mauritius has come a long way in implementing its vision: transforming the island into a regional hub for information and communication technology (ICT). http://tc.eserver.org/35675.html http://tc.eserver.org/35675.html Over the past decades, technical communication in India has grown from an unknown profession to an indispensable part of many industries and sectors. A testimony to the maturity and significance of this professional field is the tremendous growth of the so-called TWIN community, representing the Technical Communicators of India. http://tc.eserver.org/35676.html http://tc.eserver.org/35676.html In order to provide guidance to those involved in the preparation of documents for the Japanese market, a special Japanese layout taskforce has developed the “Requirements for Japanese Text Layout”. Here is an insight into the content. http://tc.eserver.org/35677.html http://tc.eserver.org/35677.html The shift in information development from a narrative to a modular writing style reflects the established shift towards modularization of source code. What can information developers learn from software developers? What are the challenges and benefits of the modular approach? http://tc.eserver.org/35678.html http://tc.eserver.org/35678.html Controlled languages use basis writing rules to simplify sentence structure. Here is how they work and how your company can benefit from introducing a controlled language. http://tc.eserver.org/35679.html http://tc.eserver.org/35679.html How can you guarantee a clearly understandable user manual? Is it even possible to measure the quality of technical documents or does comprehensibility merely depend on the reader? To answer these questions for the Porsche AG, content analysis provider semiotis³ developed a model to help measure the quality of documents. http://tc.eserver.org/35680.html http://tc.eserver.org/35680.html Although the creation and translation of technical documents are essential parts of the product lifecycle they still play a subordinate role in most international organizations. Many companies are therefore leaving these tasks to an outsourcing provider. To ensure a smooth collaboration and guarantee high quality technical documents, the outsourcing process needs to be planned and supported thoroughly. http://tc.eserver.org/35681.html http://tc.eserver.org/35681.html Every project manager has probably thought at some point, “If only I had more time, I would be better at my job.” Unfortunately, most of us aren’t lucky enough to be given more time to do our jobs. Time is usually the project constraint that is the least flexible. We are constantly forced to prioritize our work, but don’t always make the right choices. http://tc.eserver.org/35682.html http://tc.eserver.org/35682.html It is not surprising that myths, half-truths, and misunderstandings abound regarding machine translation: It seems as if the experience most players in the translation field have with this technology does not go beyond toying a little with one of the free online translation tools. Almost every week, I come across an article informing its readers either that machine translation is and always will be a complete waste of time or that machine translation, while being a waste of time today, might actually be useful some time in the distant future. In the hope of setting the record straight, here is a closer look at some of the most common myths about machine translation. http://tc.eserver.org/35683.html http://tc.eserver.org/35683.html Working with people from around the globe has become common practice for both authoring teams and technical documentation professionals. A recent survey conducted by SDL investigated the development of global authoring. The results were compared to surveys from 2007 and 2006. They reveal trends in working methods and shed light on the effects of globalization on global authoring. http://tc.eserver.org/35684.html http://tc.eserver.org/35684.html Under the European law, the user manual is an integral part of the product. Faulty instructions or lacking safety information may lead to unforeseen liability claims. Several standards and directives give guidance on how to fulfill safety requirements, but also regulate design, use of language and information architecture of any high-quality manual.