#34288
Free Web Tools for the Way You Work
While law firm IT spending frequently flattens out in tough economic times, that doesn't mean you or your colleagues have to restrict yourselves to using the same technology. A host of free Web applications are surprisingly effective in helping law firms from solo practitioners to large firm in-house PR and marketing staff, stay on top of the game. The trick is knowing which tools out there are worth your time. Here are the applications that made our top-24 list.
Legal Technology (2009). Articles>Legal>Software
#34315
Guide to Twitter: The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter 
Twitter isn’t just a cute way for keeping in instant touch with friends on mobile phones anymore. It has ramped up quickly to be the search engine of choice for some with its human driven results. Applications galore allow you to find friends all over the world with similar interests and keep up with them in real time. Businesses can form instant direct relationships with their customer bases simply by signing up and using the service regularly, and according to the models Twitter is trying out, they will soon be able to advertise to the Twitter community as well. It has grown into a behemoth that is hard to get your hands around, which is why we’ve put this article together for you. We’ve compiled an alphabetized glossary here for you so that you can just scan down the list and find the term that you are looking for, as well as a list of popular Twitter applications and instructions for incorporating Twitter into your website and blogs.
Webdesigner Depot (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Software>Social Networking
#34327
Using Web Software for Collaborative Work on Virtual UX Teams
Increasingly, virtual teamwork means UX professionals must get things done in an environment devoid of the physical presence of colleagues and lacking the relative ease of on-site collaboration. Effectively completing UX tasks while at a distance from our clients, stakeholders, and team members can be challenging, from both technical and process perspectives. How can we, as UX professionals, enable the close collaboration with others we need and manage the process of creating engaging digital experiences when we’re so far apart from each other physically?
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Software>User Experience
#34330
I decided to simplify the DITA publishing process for myself by building a Windows interface to Ant. Ant was developed to allow programmers to write a simple build file in an XML format, and then process that XML file with the Ant build software.
Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2007). Articles>Information Design>Software>XML
#34331
Modifying DITA Open Toolkit Build Files for CSH
This procedure is used to modify the DITA Open Toolkit build files to allow an external map file reference and alias strings to be added to the HTML Help Project file before building, as part of the transformation to Microsoft HTML Help (CHM) format.
Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2008). Articles>Information Design>Software>DITA
#34337
Open Source Alternatives To Tech Pubs Tools
Given how hard it is for students (and their programs) to afford the expensive tools in our profession, I thought it might help to pass along these alternatives to commercial products. I think anyone breaking into the field (or a new type of tool) would do very well to train up on these open source tools and create portfolio pieces with them.
STC Austin (2009). Articles>Document Design>Software>Open Source
#34351
Hey Rocky – Watch Me Pull a CMS Out of My HAT 
When companies decide whether or not to adopt a CMS or continue using a HAT, there are many factors to consider. Perlin outlines elements of both CMSs and HATs that could help you determine which is best for your organization.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2009). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Software
#34357
Using Master Pages in RoboHelp 8
Master Pages, a new concept introduced in Adobe RoboHelp 8, intends to provide flexibility in controlling the layout of topics, where in an author may separate the actual content from the layout of the output and may do it from a single place. In Adobe RoboHelp 8, a user may use Master Page as a Layout and Styling canvas where one may put basic HTML elements to be used for Layout purposes.
Adobe (2009). Articles>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#34374
Sitting on the Fence: Why I Sometimes Choose not to use Plone in Favour of Drupal or Wordpress
As an experienced Plone front end developer, people are often surprised when I often decide not to use Plone, in favour of something like Drupal or Wordpress. I thought it would be useful to explain why and how I make this decision. I know some of these points won’t be popular in the Plone community, but they are based on experience, and think this blog post will be useful to people deciding whether to use it or not.
Hurst, Rick. RickHurst.co.uk (2009). Articles>Content Management>Software>Plone
#34433
Productivity Tips for IE, MS Word, Outlook
If we say that it was mainly because of the Windows operating system that a computer could become a personal computer it would not be an exaggeration. The revolution is still on. Windows is far beyond what a common man presently knows and uses.
Bangar, Pawan. Technical Communication Center (2009). Articles>Software>Usability>Microsoft Word
#34632
WebAIM: Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility
This article is designed to help users who are new to NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) - external link learn the basic controls for testing web content, and to serve as a reference for the occasional NVDA user. NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It supports over 20 languages and can run on any computer entirely from a USB drive with no installation.
WebAIM (2009). Articles>Software>Accessibility>Web Browsers
#34633
WebAIM conducted a survey of preferences of screen reader users. With over 1100 responses, this survey provides great insight into the demographics and preferences of screen reader users.
WebAIM (2009). Articles>Accessibility>Software>Surveys
#34659
Review: TUAW Faceoff: Screencasting
Screencasting -- the not-so-ancient art of recording the computer screen for the entertainment and enrichment of others -- has evolved into quite a Hydra of options. How do the myriad gladiators in this arena stack up? I've tried everything I could find that could record a little movement on the screen, and selected 8 contenders for the matchup.
TUAW (2008). Articles>Reviews>Software>Screencasting
#34710
The authoring tool does matter. Writers are focusing on the wrong set of issues (leading, kerning, print formatting), none of which is actually relevant for the output.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Palimpsest (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Software
#34735
Learn InDesign One Feature at a Time
There’s simply no way to learn InDesign (or any other major application) all at once. If you’re a frustrated newcomer to InDesign, or even if you’ve been using it for some time and want to expand your knowledge, here’s a suggestion: Set aside about 15-20 minutes every day to learn the basics of one feature. It doesn’t really matter what that feature is.
Levine, Bob. InDesign Secrets (2009). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign
#34758
PowerPoint is not a neutral tool — it is actively hostile to thoughtful decision-making. It has fundamentally changed our culture by altering the expectations of who makes decisions, what decisions they make and how they make them. While this may seem to be a sweeping generalization, I think a brief examination of the impact of PowerPoint will support this statement.
Hammes, T.X. Armed Forces Journal (2009). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#34864
How to Use MS Word Without Frustration
I am well aware of the irritating, hair-tearing frustration Word gives you when it won’t do what you want it to. Here’s a series of mini-articles showing you how to ‘get a grip’ on the program and make it do what you want, not what it ‘thinks’ you want.
Bentley, Carol. Technical Communication Center (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#34912
Review: Review of Screen Capture Tools
This article describes the process of capturing screens and reviews some of the leading capture tools available. It is revised annually to take account of new releases, and was last updated in February 2009.
Ellison, Matthew. WritersUA (2009). Articles>Reviews>Software>Screen Captures
#34982
Changing the Default Font in Microsoft Word
Don't like the font that Word uses for a default in your new documents? You can pick a different font, but the way you make the selection is not as straightforward as you might expect. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)
Wyatt, Allen. Word Tips (2009). Articles>Typography>Software>Microsoft Word
#35031
Do SharePoint Right Before SharePoint Does You Wrong
Microsoft markets SharePoint as an omnibus information-management platform, but like all software, it has meaningful strengths and weaknesses. People frequently label SharePoint a collaboration product, when in fact, it excels at some types of collaboration but virtually ignores other. SharePoint is useful for some Web Content Management scenarios, but poor at (many) others.
Byrne, Tony. CMSwatch (2009). Articles>Content Management>Software>Microsoft SharePoint
#35035
Open Source: It's Just a License
There's only one thing you can generalize: open source is a specific kind of license. And discussions about which license is better are rather academic. What you'd want to decide on is what your software should do, if and how you want to customize it, and how easy it is to get support when you need it. That means doing your homework, and finding out the real story: you'll certainly want to know what's behind the facade. And that's something that applies to software under any license.
Bloem, Adriaan. CMSwatch (2009). Articles>Software>Open Source
#35054
On top of the usual frustrations with poor, incomplete, and incorrect implementation of standards and typically buggy and poorly-supported programs, add my frustration with trying to integrate these tools with other similarly joyful tools and you can see that my job is a recipe for bitterness and pain.
Kimber, Eliot. Dr. Macro's XML Rants (2006). Articles>Software>Standards>XSL
#35059
The two most well-known XSLT processors are probably the Apache project's Xalan (available in both a Java and C++ version) and the Java-based Saxon, which was written by XSLT 2.0 specification editor Michael Kay. If those are the only two XSLT processors you currently use, it's worth checking out Daniel Veillard's libxslt.
DuCharme, Bob. XML.com (2005). Articles>Information Design>Software>XSL
#35119
Excel 2007 Quick Reference Card
A basic introduction to the new functions in Microsoft Excel 2007, which changed the user interface significantly from its earlier (2003) version.
CustomGuide (2009). Articles>Software>Databases>Microsoft Excel
#35149
Working with InDesign is interesting. On the one hand, it’s not really a tool built for technical writers. It’s intended for people laying out magazines, brochures, other heavily designed print matter. As such, some things can be confusing. Cross references, figure references, a table of contents — get ready to search the help to figure these out. On the other hand, the power of the InDesign is somewhat captivating. You’re only limited by your own ignorance.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign
