#28065
Before there were presentations, there were conversations, which were a little like presentations but used fewer bullet points, and no one had to dim the lights. A woman we can call Sarah Wyndham, a defense-industry consultant living in Alexandria, Virginia, recently began to feel that her two daughters weren't listening when she asked them to clean their bedrooms and do their chores. So, one morning, she sat down at her computer, opened Microsoft's PowerPoint program, and used it.
Parker, Ian. Ohio State University, The. Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#30382
Accommodating Active Learners in Software Documentation Decisions 
Recent research focusing on a minimalist approach to computer software documentation has explored ways to design computer software tutorials and workbooks for users with an active learning style. The principles of minimalism and active learning styles, however, are less frequently applied to traditional reference manuals. This paper reviews several elements of minimalism and suggests ways to apply strategies for active learners to traditional reference manuals.
Smart, Karl L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Instructional Design>Software
#26860
Review: AcosHelp: Context Sensitive Online Help with PDF Files 
PRC AcosHelp is the World's first 'single source' Windows online help system that allows you to use Adobe Acrobat PDF files for context sensitive online help. AcosHelp is very useful for Document Management systems, where the documents are stored as PDF-files.
Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Reviews>Software>Help
#31149
Acrobat 7 zum komfortablen Erzeugen von Druck und Schnittmarken einsetzen
Wer kennt das Problem nicht? Aus einem riesigen Dokument wurde ein PDF erzeugt. Nun muss es auch noch für den Druck aufbereitet werden. Dafür fehlen aber die Druck- und Schnittmarken. Acrobat 7 hilft hier aus der Patsche.
TECOM (2003). (German) Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#28187
Acrobat Features Turbocharge the Online Review Process
One of the more tedious and error-prone processes in technical writing is that of collaborative document review. Even when documents are shared electronically, keeping track of comments, suggestions, and changes contributed by multiple team members can be exasperating. Too often errors due to collaborative review lead to delays, missed deadlines, misunderstandings and an inaccurate final document.
Gravel, Charlie. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#21676
Add A Custom Menu To a Microsoft Word Toolbar
In Microsoft Word, you can use menus and toolbars to control how you manage your documents. Menus display a list of commands. Most menus are located on the menu bar at the top of the Word window. Shortcut menus are available when you right-click text, objects, or other items. Toolbars can contain buttons with images, menus, or a combination of both. By default, the Standard and Formatting toolbars are docked side by side below the menu bar. You can also add a custom menu to your toolbar.
#18647
You've applied and interviewed for a position, but you don't get it because you don't have a particular skill set that the employer needs. You want to learn a new tool, but the software is expensive and you can't afford to spend a lot of money on software at this time. Do either of these scenarios sound familiar to you? If they do, you have some options for learning new tools and can add to your portfolio at the same time.This article looks at the options that you have for learning software -- teaching yourself, taking classes, volunteering, and on-the-job training.
Puffer, Paula. STC Northeast Ohio (2001). Articles>Education>Software>Volunteering
#27089
Adobe FrameMaker Autonumbering Examples 
Autonumbering had changed as new versions of FrameMaker have arrived. What worked in FrameMaker 5 might have broken in 5.5. This is due to changes Adobe made in the restart building blocks (request presentation). While our examples below use the maximum building blocks (meaning a little extra work), the result is numbering schemes that are more flexible for multiple versions of FrameMaker.
Bright Path Solutions (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker
#22306
Adobe's Robert McDaniels Responds (Again) to Nielsen Criticisms of PDF
Many of the 'PDF Usability Crimes' Nielsen cites have nothing to do with Acrobat or PDF but are the result of poor design choices. Most of same arguments about poor navigation, large file sizes, and excessive text blocks can be used to describe poorly designed HTML as well. There are some very valid reasons for using PDF's online as opposed to HTML.
McDaniels, Robert. PlanetPDF (2003). Articles>Usability>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#29302
Adventures with OpenOffice and XML
In addition to being open source, saving as XML makes OpenOffice truly open. Aside from being open source, XML's self-documenting nature allows us to dive into the document format without having to dive into C++. And more significantly, XML allows us to use simple, free tools to manipulate the documents themselves. In this article we will examine the structure of the format.
Sergeant, Matt. XML.com (2001). Articles>Software>Word Processing>OpenOffice
#30772
Madcap Flare is one of the most powerful online help authoring tools on the market today. In this podcast, Paul Pehrson, MVP in the Madcap Software forums, talks about Madcap Flare in depth.
Pehrson, Paul and Tom H. Johnson. Tech Writer Voices (2008). Articles>Documentation>Software>Madcap Flare
#18817
Analysis of Tools Used in the UK by Technical Communicators
During March and April 2003, Cherryleaf carried out an online survey into the current trends in technical communication. One of the questions we asked was: Which software tools do you personally use to do your job? The respondents were able to select more than one tool from the list provided. We filtered our results to find the most popular software tools used by technical communicators in the UK.
Cherryleaf (2003). Articles>Research>Software>United Kingdom
#20275
Applying Computer Analysis and Design Techniques to Document Component-Based Software
Facing the challenges involved in developing documentation for component-based software (for example, object-oriented technology, intelligent agents, and distributed computing) requires a documentation strategy based on the same processes and methodologies used by such technologies. These strategies need to be adapted to meet documentation, rather than coding needs. Developing this strategy now, as component-based technology is still maturing, will help technical communicators keep pace.
Bachmann, Karen L. and Ginger Doherty. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Software
#21427
Arm-Wrestling the Photoshop Police
Adobe is shipping a 6.0 upgrade to Photoshop that, for many Mac users, proves unusable. We learned back in the 1980s that when you rake your legitimate users over the coals in the hopes of catching the occasional thief, you end up with a lot of really raked off users. Apparently, someone at Adobe has forgotten.
Tognazzini, Bruce. Nielsen Norman Group (2001). Articles>User Interface>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#25104
Ask Tony: Future of Microsoft CMS
Microsoft has in no way abandoned the web content management market.
Byrne, Tony. CMSwatch (2005). Articles>Content Management>Software
#19486
At Oracle, Simplicity Rules All
To jump-start revenue growth, Mark Jarvis has insisted that simplicity be the foundation not only of Oracle's marketing but also of its product development. Programmers, salespeople, and marketing staff now work closely to satisfy real customer problems, not just deliver glitz. On Nov. 18, Mark Jarvis spoke with BusinessWeek Online Technology reporter Jane Black about his plans to improve Oracle's fortunes. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.
BusinessWeek (2002). Articles>Usability>Databases>Software
#28489
Audacity Tutorial: How to Record and Edit Audio with Audacity
Audacity is a free cross platform multi track audio editing program from Sourceforge.net. It will let you record, edit, and mix an unlimited number of tracks. Audacity runs on Windows (98 through XP), Mac OS X, and Linux.
Guides and Tutorials (2006). Articles>Documentation>Software>Audio
#28153
Automating Production with WebWorks AutoMap
WebWorks AutoMap is an extremely useful tool for performing unattended documentation builds. Out of the box, AutoMap can generate reasonable documents. By adding the power of scripting, the results can be amazing.
Bate, Simon. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>Documentation>Software>Word Processing
#15092
Suggests several uses of Microsoft Word's macro capabilities to help editors improve their speed and consistency. Macros, for example, are customized keystroke commands.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2001). Articles>Editing>Software>Microsoft Word
#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
#30192
Baking up a Batch of PDF Files
Customize how Acrobat works for you by building and using batch sequences. The beauty of a batch sequence is that you can modify or run it as you like.
Baker, Donna L. Adobe (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#21601
Review: BAM! (Business Activity Monitoring)
BAM es el acrónimo de Business Activity Monitoring (Monitorización de la Actividad de Negocio), un campo emergente que promete incrementar la competitividad y la toma rápida de decisiones bien informadas, en la que la visualización de información tendrá un rol importante.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Articles>Reviews>Software
#29314
Be Prepared: Fill the Gaps in Your Photoshop Know-How
It's next to impossible for one person to know the ins and outs of every single facet of Photoshop. With that in mind, we present three video tutorials to plug a variety of holes in your Photoshop knowledge.
Perkins, Chad. Creative Pro (2007). Articles>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#21441
Nearly everyone has a licenced or unlicenced version of Winzip or any other compatible utility installed. You can do a lot more with them than just to compress and combine files into a single archive. E.g. you can "freeze" the present state of a project or use the CRCs to identify files.
von Obert, Alexander. Techwriter.de (2003). (German) Articles>Communication>Software>Compression
#18495
Benefits and Issues of Binary Localization
The process of localizing C/C++ Windows applications has evolved considerably over its relatively short life span. Due to the demands of fierce global markets, the localization industry has progressed from rather painful methods of localizing bulky and inconvenient source files to using highly sophisticated tools that allow for a quicker and considerably more efficient process of directly localizing binary files. Taking advantage of these localization tools and switching to a binary strategy has proven to provide many benefits that streamline and expedite the process of localization. The classic approach to localization involved translating hundreds of resource (RC) files and resizing dialogs using tools such as Microsoft Developer Studio. As newer builds of the same products started being released more frequently and translators' work became more repetitive, localizers started to take advantage of various translation database tools to help save translation time. While database tools with RC filters streamlined part of the translation process and allowed translators to begin their efforts sooner, it was still fairly tedious, time consuming, and error prone to resize graphical user interface elements separately for each build. Localizers therefore started to combine aspects of translation database technology and visual editing into tools focused exclusively on software localization. Currently, the localization industry is taking its next evolutionary step; leaving behind a tiresome and time consuming RC-based process for the quicker and cleaner process of directly localizing precompiled binary modules. Today's advanced localization tools promise to provide integrated localization solutions that allow translators and engineers to work directly with binaries saving enormous amounts of time and effort.
Syed, Sarosh. SDL International. Articles>Language>Localization>Software
