#22742
Creating a New Microsoft Word Template
When you open a new file in Word, the font is probably set to Times Roman size 12. It doesn’t have to be like this; maybe you’d prefer a more glamourous font! In this tutorial, we'll explain how to create a new Word template.
#20763
Creating Online Acrobat Documents with Word 
This demonstration illustrates approaches to designing and implementing tools and procedures that have been used successfully at Unisys Corporation to deliver documentation to customers on CD-ROM and the Web. These include release management and production tools, program suites to organize and restructure documents so that they can be accessed and displayed effectively online, and tools to integrate and access multiple document types. Will describe several special techniques to generate links and set parameters directly in Word. Will demonstrate linking from other file types into PDF documents and dynamically attaching updates to legacy documents.
Teague, Tommy K. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Software>Microsoft Word
#20974
Eight Ways to Use Authoring Tools to Improve Your Productivity with Drafting
Most authoring tools have features that can help you improve your productivity. You might be able to benefit from some of these suggestions now; keep the others in mind for future projects.
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Articles>Writing>Software
#31727
Customer support costs account for as much as 60 percent of a high-tech company’s total costs. Documentation is the first line of support for most customers, and customers usually use documentation to find the answer to a problem they’re having. The inevitable result of poor or nonexistent documentation is that more people try calling the customer support lines for help.
Butow, Eric. Software Development Times (2006). Articles>Documentation>Software>Technical Writing
#22743
Layout Tips for Technical Papers in Microsoft Word 2000
Here are some tips that I have gathered for making technical publications in Microsoft Word 2000. The tips are written for someone with experience using MS Word who needs a boost on the basic techniques for specific layout problems. In developing and documenting these techniques, I have in mind a regular, technical conference paper with columns, equations, and figures. There is an accompanying MS Word document that gives examples of these techniques.
Krumm, John. Microsoft. Articles>Writing>Software>Microsoft Word
#26316
An overview of Linux tools for technical writers.
Nesbitt, Scott. ComputorEdge (2005). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Software
#27446
Painless Functional Specifications - Part 1: Why Bother?
Why won't people write specs? People claim that it's because they're saving time by skipping the spec-writing phase. They act as if spec-writing was a luxury reserved for NASA space shuttle engineers, or people who work for giant, established insurance companies. Balderdash.
Spolsky, Joel. Joel on Software (2000). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Software
#22050
The Power of Word Templates and Styles
One of the more powerful features of Microsoft Word rests in the capability for the user to develop specialized document templates. I have found it beneficial, as you will see in the Template Library area of this site, to develop a “library” of specialized templates I rely on to speed document production for my clients. The templates allow me to get through that difficult document design phase. Much time and effort has been devoted to defining effective documentation formats and I have integrated those features in the templates. I overcome any “design” debate by presenting a proposed format (sometimes with outline) for approval. This way unique requirements are identified and implemented immediately, in this early stage.
#30331
The Technical Writer as Software Evaluator
Technical writers are taking on more responsibilities. More and more, writers are being asked to participate in the design and review of a new product, or to help organize the efforts of a product team. Before you even begin evaluating software, resolve the following points in your own mind: Performing a comprehensive evaluation of a piece of software takes time, and chances are that no one product has all the capabilities you would like it to have, so be prepared to make concessions.
Boston Broadside (1992). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Software
#10282
Three Models of Computer Software 
People in the computer industry frequently toss around the term 'computer literacy.' They talk about how some people have it and some don't; about how those who have it will succeed in the information age and those who lack it will fall between the social and economic cracks of the new age. But computer literacy is nothing more than a euphemism for making the computer user stretch to reach an information age appliance rather than having the appliance stretch to meet the user.
Cooper, Alan. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Software>Writing
#31940
Technical writers create documents in various formats like electronic publishing, print, online help, etc. The various tools used to produce technical documents are described below.
Smita, Richa. Blogspot (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Software
#19686
Given that word processors are now common tools for writers and available to most students at all educational levels, integrating the software into a technical writing or English (or other language) composition course seems part of a natural progression. If you teach writing or are involved with students who use word processors for class assignments or other purposes, consider a group exercise in designing style sheets or complete file templates. Such teamwork introduces students to the collaborative environment of the workplace and provides opportunities for ancillary analytical and creative activities. It also allows you, as the instructor, to review and evaluate compositions electronically. Further, using word processing software and defining standards for its use emulate professional documentation workflows.
Ware, Bill. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Software>Word Processing
#12967
This summary lists pros and cons for using FrameMaker or Word for creating large documents or books. The general consensus of techwhirlers is that FrameMaker is better-suited than Word for large documents and for creating a single-source documentation set.
Christopherson, Christie. TECHWR-L (1999). Articles>Software>Writing>Adobe FrameMaker
#29054
Word-Processing "Efficiency" By Means of Personalized Word-Frequency Lists
This article examines the concept of the efficiency with which text is entered into a word processor from the perspective of effective use of keyboard shortcuts (sometimes called hot keys or accelerator keys ). The article makes reference to the Autotext facility which is available in Microsoft Word. The article illustrates how the possibility for productiveness offered by shortcuts, available through the use of features such as Autotext, are often under-utilized by many word processor users, academics being no exception. The method involves constructing a word list from a corpus of one s own writing. This word list can then be taken as the basis for a personalized set of shortcuts of the most frequent words in an individual s writing.
Coniam, David. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Writing>Software>Word Processing
#33725
Writing Technical Documentation with Sphinx, Paver, and Cog
I've been working on the Python Module of the Week series since March of 2007. During the course of the project, my article style and tool chain have both evolved. I now have a fairly smooth production process in place, so the mechanics of producing a new post don't get in the way of the actual research and writing. Most of the tools are open source, so I thought I would describe the process I go through and how the tools work together.
Hellmann, Doug. O'Reilly and Associates (2009). Articles>Documentation>Software>Technical Writing
#34024
Top 3 Open Source Software You Can Use to Write and Design Technical Documents
Although I love using the proprietary software that I’ve mentioned in the first sentence, I enjoy using open source software as well since some of them are actually better than the paid software in some respects.
Akinci, Ugur. Technical Communication Center (2009). Articles>Software>Technical Writing>Open Source
#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
#35220
Open-Source Software for Technical Writers
For companies that are struggling in the current times because of the economic slowdown, an option that might not compromise on product quality is to switch to open-source software. In this article, I will talk about open-source publishing tools for the writing community.
Dhodi, Harjot Singh. Indus (2009). Articles>Software>Technical Writing>Open Source
#35708
Writing Great Documentation: What to Write
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.
Kaplan-Moss, Jacob. Jacobian (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Software
#35843
Musings About What’s Really Important 
Technical communicators tend to get caught up in tools and techniques and formats. But, as Scott Abel said, It’s not about tech writing. It’s about content.
Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Technical Writing>Software
