#27184
Troubleshooting Word 2004 for Macintosh
If you have no clue what is causing your problem with Word, work through The Basics and all the General Troubleshooting topics. Beyond the basics, probably 70% of the problems in Word are caused by a corrupt Normal template or corrupt Preferences.
Word MVP Site, The (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#14963
"Try Before You Buy" Help Authoring 
Help authoring systems can prove to be a fairly expensive purchase especially for the freelance writer. Luckily, most publishers allow you to try out demonstration versions of their software before you commit yourself to buying. As well as demos of commercial applications, you can find some very high quality shareware and freeware products.
Conroy, Gary. GaryConroy.com (2002). Articles>Documentation>Software
#26435
Tutorial on Creating an Explode Effect
In this presentation, you will learn how to create an explode effect on pictures.
Tohlz, Shawn. PowerPoint Heaven (2005). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#26433
Tutorial on Fading a Picture to Translucent
Tutorial by tohlz, PowerPoint Heaven. Scenario #1: You wanted to fade in a picture, but not completely. You wanted the picture to fade from 0% until 50% and stops at there. Scenario #2: You wanted to fade out a picture, but not completely. You wanted the picture to fade from 100% until 50% and stops at there.
Tohlz, Shawn. PowerPoint Heaven (2005). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#26436
Tutorial on Making an Automatic Slideshow and Delay Before Slide Advances
You need to make some delay so that all your slides will pause for a while before going to the next one. There are few ways to achieve this. This tutorial will cover two simple methods.
Tohlz, Shawn. PowerPoint Heaven (2005). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#26434
Tutorial on Spiral Effect for Text
I have experimented many ways to create a spiral effect on text. This requires the overlapping technique. The simplest way is to make use of Pinwheel Entrance effect to do the job, while the best way to create the most realistic impact is to have combination of different effects.
Tohlz, Shawn. PowerPoint Heaven (2005). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#30815
Twenty-Two Tips for Writing Software Documentation Users Will Actually Read
How do you go about writing technical manuals for software without going insane? Here are some guidelines you can follow to maintain your sanity when writing software documentation.
HelpScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Rhetoric>Software
#29700
Understanding and Using PowerPoint 
The relatively new and controversial medium of PowerPoint presentations has generated much casual commentary but little careful analysis or empirical research. This rhetorical study attempts to advance our understanding of the medium and provides practical guidance regarding deck design, rehearsal, and performance. The study considers the reasons for the controversy surrounding PowerPoint, offers a taxonomy of the kinds of content that appear in decks, and looks closely at how presenters interact with individual slides, in particular the way in which they 'synch' to each bullet point and then 'launch' an oral gloss of that point. In addition, the study provides criteria for writing bullet points and suggests reasons why presenters include excess text on their slides.
Farkas, David K. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#26740
Understanding Open Source, Part 1 
Open source software is big news right now. We've heard from big-name corporations who support it and oppose it. A number of high-profile intellectual property battles concern it. You probably know an open source zealot who's spent some time extolling its virtues. Open source software is a good thing, and has an important place in the tech sector. Closed source software also has its place, and the industry will benefit most from cooperation between the two.
Feldman, David. KMworld (2006). Articles>Technology>Software>Open Source
#23827
Understanding PowerPoint: Special Deliverable #5
PowerPoint: the software we love to hate. Has there been any other software since the dawn of the personal computer that has earned so much criticism? The question at hand is not, 'Does PowerPoint suck?' The answer to that, as we all know, is yes. The question is, in fact, 'For information architects, does PowerPoint suck?' Or, more to the point, 'Even though PowerPoint sucks, should I use it for my deliverables?'
Brown, Dan. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Software>Presentations>Microsoft PowerPoint
#26370
This article describes how the new Microsoft Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) technology expands the ability to provide closed captioning to a wide range of multimedia products.
Microsoft (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Software>Microsoft Windows
#30871
Usability in Open Source Software
Open source is a software licensing philosophy which believes the human readable code source of a software should be available for the public to freely install, modify, or redistribute. The term 'open source' can also refer to the community and development practices of thousands of free/libre/open source software (FLOSS) projects who subscribe to this philosophy and license their software under one of the many available software licenses.
Paul, Celeste Lyn. Usability Professionals Association (2008). Articles>Usability>Software>Open Source
#23867
Usability SIG Web Site Tests Macromedia FlashPaper
The Usability SIG is always interested in new ways to put publish our newsletter on the Web. When an upgrade to Macromedia’s Contribute 2.0 included a new program called FlashPaper, we decided to give it a try.
Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Flash
#29343
Use Handwriting Recognition to Sign Letters in Word
Microsoft Word 2002's Handwriting Recognition feature allows you to use a pen and electronic tablet or a mouse to add a signature to your documents. Find out how you can start adding this feature to all your letters.
Richardson, Mary Ann. TechRepublic (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#22303
Using Acrobat Standard 6.0 in a Document Review Cycle
A six-part sample lesson on how to use Acrobat and PDF for document review. Included for download are several files referenced in the exercises.
PlanetPDF (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#31359
#27198
The macrobutton field can be used as a text marker within a template, or, as the name implies, it can be used to run a macro.
Mayor, Graham, Jonathan West and Hak-lok Ng. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#22968
Using Opera to Check for Accessibility
There are a lot of tools available to check your Web content for accessibility. Some tools are Web-based (such as WAVE 3.0). Other tools are stand-alone software products that you install on your hard drive. One tool that you may have overlooked is the Opera Web browser. Opera is not an accessibility validator—it's a Web browser—but it can act like an accessibility validator if you know how to use it that way. In fact, it's one of the best available. This article explains why.
WebAIM (2003). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Software
#10702
Using RoboHelp to Develop a Simple Web-Based Tutorial
Many technical communicators are tasked with converting user manuals and other documentation written in Adobe FrameMaker into online help using eHelp (formerly Blue Sky) RoboHelp. The problems they face concern not only going from FrameMaker to RoboHelp but also how to put the content in a form that is effective for online help. The solution is not difficult, provided the writer follows a methodical approach.
Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions (2003). Articles>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#21683
Using Watermarks to Personalize Your Documents
Have you ever wanted the word 'DRAFT' to appear as a light background on the pages of your printed documents? Microsoft refers to this use of words and images as 'watermarks.'
#19384
Mohr explains how to create User Forms--macro-controlled user interfaces that employ standard graphical user interface components--for collecting information from users that can be saved as character-delimited text files and fed into a database.
Mohr, Robert P. Intercom (2003). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Forms
#31491
Using WordPress to Build Websites Instead of Blogs
One of the things I like about WordPress is its versatility. WordPress isn’t just blogging software. With the right theme, you can build a website that doesn’t resemble a blog at all. Essentially, writers who become familiar with WordPress become empowered as web designers as well.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Articles>Content Management>Software
#26565
Spend any time with Visio and you'll find yourself wondering how glue works. In the real world, it's pretty straightforward: put glue between two things and they'll stick. Although glue is used for sticking shapes together in Visio, the metaphor ends there.
Brown, Dan. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Information Design>Software>Visio
#30803
Visio: The Interaction Designer's Nail Gun
How to use Visio for rapid prototyping - now with scrolling pages and sketchy interface widgets.
Olsen, Henrik. Guuui (2008). Articles>User Interface>Software>Visio
#21596
Review: Visualización de Redes Sociales
Las redes sociales son las responsables de muchas de las estructuras de poder e influencia en nuestro mundo. No siempre es fácil reconocer su estructura y comportamiento. La visualización y el análisis de redes sociales pueden contribuir notablemente a conocerlas.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Articles>Reviews>Software>Technical Illustration
