http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Writing/Design A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Writing and Design in the field of technical communication (and technical writing). 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/Writing/Design http://tc.eserver.org/35787.html http://tc.eserver.org/35787.html Structure is a key component to anything that you write. In this blog post, Scott Nesbitt discusses the importance of structure in the context of using the LaTeX typesetting language. http://tc.eserver.org/35321.html http://tc.eserver.org/35321.html One page or separate pages? When faced with that decision, ask yourself these questions: How much do people want in one visit? How connected is the information? Am I overloading my site visitors? How long is the web page? What’s the download time? Will people want to print? How much will they want to print? http://tc.eserver.org/35297.html http://tc.eserver.org/35297.html A Content Curator is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online. I think that professional writers and technical writers should consider a move towards this role. We already search for and find the best content, sift through loads of content, discard poor content, and publish the most worthy content whenever a software release goes out. This description also sounds like something a content strategist would do as part of their analysis of the content. http://tc.eserver.org/35219.html http://tc.eserver.org/35219.html In reality, the user just wants a brief, clear explanation of a concept or task. The user will glance and skim — reading behaviors hardly worthy of the elitist grammarian who argues the finer points of “which” versus “that” in restrictive clauses. http://tc.eserver.org/35159.html http://tc.eserver.org/35159.html There's no point in having an awesome website and an awesome product if your product comparison table is crap. It will throw people right off, and believe me I have seen some bad tables. Anyway here is a collection of the best product comparison tables handpicked by WebdesignDev. We think we have picked the top 25 comparison tables based on creative design and how clear it is to read and compare. http://tc.eserver.org/35094.html http://tc.eserver.org/35094.html Designers believe that if something isn’t working well, and it comes down to changing the copy or the design, it’s always the copy that should be changed, reduced or sometimes nearly completely eliminated. How can I convince my designer co-workers that succinct, simple and memorable words can be just as important as the visuals? http://tc.eserver.org/34905.html http://tc.eserver.org/34905.html リンクの最初の11文字がどれだけ理解されるかをテストすれば、そのサイトがユーザのために書かれたかものかどうかがわかる。ユーザというのはリストの項目を全部読む、というよりは、流し読みをするものだからだ。 http://tc.eserver.org/34907.html http://tc.eserver.org/34907.html オンラインコンテンツは、文脈とは無関係にユーザーの目にとまることが多い。本来想定された目的とは違う目的で読まれることもよくある。そうした目的を全部予測することはできないが、テキストのさまざまな利用を考慮することはできる。 http://tc.eserver.org/34775.html http://tc.eserver.org/34775.html One of the reasons that technical communicators ought to know the business processes of their users (or at least the reasons they’re using the product) is to generate effective examples in the documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/34748.html http://tc.eserver.org/34748.html Content-based sales means using high-quality content to generate traffic, which you then use to earn money (but not necessarily on the web-site). http://tc.eserver.org/34738.html http://tc.eserver.org/34738.html How you write your copy really makes a huge difference to your online sales. And even if you don't sell products directly, good sales copy will help you persuade the user to make a donation, subscribe to your newsletter or complete an application form. Here's how you do it. http://tc.eserver.org/34743.html http://tc.eserver.org/34743.html The discipline of writing for the web has changed in recent years. Once a matter of simply shortening texts, writing for the web has begun to mean choosing the right words and using them the right way. What the right words are and how they should be used now depend on the kind of web copy you are writing. Content-Strategy has developed three different free check lists to help you on your way. http://tc.eserver.org/34716.html http://tc.eserver.org/34716.html Always keep the small screen in mind when you’re preparing your docs. There are some W3C “mobileOK” guidelines to consider to ensure that your content meets requirements. Here are some highlights. http://tc.eserver.org/34686.html http://tc.eserver.org/34686.html Las normas básicas de como escribir un texto para web, vamos, lo que todo copywriter se sabe de carrerilla. http://tc.eserver.org/34679.html http://tc.eserver.org/34679.html Be known for your content first, for your name second. I can’t bear to hear anyone say one more time that “content is king,” but the truth is simple, if painful. http://tc.eserver.org/34635.html http://tc.eserver.org/34635.html The task of writing clearly and simply has never been either clear or simple. In fact, it can be one of the most difficult of all writing tasks. Clear and simple writing is an art to which many aspire and few achieve. Even so, the understandability of web content depends upon clear and simple writing. Unclear or confusing writing is an accessibility barrier to all readers, but can be especially difficult for people with reading disorders or cognitive disabilities. http://tc.eserver.org/34618.html http://tc.eserver.org/34618.html The understandability of text is crucial to web accessibility. At broad levels, this means specifying text languages, explaining the meanings of jargon or idioms, and expanding abbreviations to clarify text. It's not just text that can present a barrier to accessibility, however. A lack of organizational predictability or proper error management can greatly decrease the accessibility of any website. http://tc.eserver.org/34614.html http://tc.eserver.org/34614.html People don’t come to the web to linger over the words. Most uses of the web are for gathering information or doing tasks, not for the pleasure of reading. If your busy web users lose interest or don’t find the information relevant, they’ll stop reading. If they can’t find what they need quickly enough, they’ll leave your site and go elsewhere. http://tc.eserver.org/34573.html http://tc.eserver.org/34573.html Bullets definitely have their place in writing. But far too often, they're used to replace crisp, well-thought-out writing. http://tc.eserver.org/34559.html http://tc.eserver.org/34559.html No matter how beautifully designed, if a site’s voice doesn’t ring true, it’s easy to spot an “ugh.” Rather than using this section of a site like a congratulatory press release, consider approaching “About Us” like a magazine’s Editor Letter. http://tc.eserver.org/34548.html http://tc.eserver.org/34548.html A musing on the need to balance documenation that looks good with documentation that has substance. http://tc.eserver.org/34517.html http://tc.eserver.org/34517.html Technical writing is a profession in transition. The way companies think of, use, and manage the people who help users make sense of and use products is absolutely changing. A lot of companies have started to use the term “information developer” to describe their technical writing positions. I don’t really care what label the profession chooses for itself, but I do know this: if technical writers don’t transition more than their job title then they will be missing out on a huge opportunity to move from the “gotta do it” category into the “can’t live without it” one. http://tc.eserver.org/34489.html http://tc.eserver.org/34489.html It's hard to look at a page of text and try to decide where to divide things to create individual topics. That "bottom up" approach is kind of pointless, in fact. There are better ways. http://tc.eserver.org/34385.html http://tc.eserver.org/34385.html Citing the rise of graphic novels, comics, and in particular, Google’s new web browser Chrome, which has a comic-book-style manual, Opsteegh argues that technical communicators can learn a thing or two about conveying information from graphic novelists. http://tc.eserver.org/34378.html http://tc.eserver.org/34378.html Users would save time by reading the manual, but instead they try to figure the application out themselves and then get lost/frustrated as they end up spending even more time getting up to speed with the application. http://tc.eserver.org/34339.html http://tc.eserver.org/34339.html We live in an era of information overload, the just-google overload. And, because everyone can write (!), we also live with community-contributed growliths such as Wikipedia. http://tc.eserver.org/34328.html http://tc.eserver.org/34328.html If we really do believe in the importance of the audience, the reader, the user, then how have we changed our practice to reflect the changing characteristics, competencies and even literacies of our readers? Have our readers changed over the past few years? The evidence points to the answer being a resounding yes! http://tc.eserver.org/34289.html http://tc.eserver.org/34289.html Precise communication in a handful of words? The editors at BBC News achieve it every day, offering remarkable headline usability. http://tc.eserver.org/34291.html http://tc.eserver.org/34291.html Testing how well people understand a link's first 11 characters shows whether sites write for users, who typically scan rather than read lists of items. http://tc.eserver.org/34295.html http://tc.eserver.org/34295.html Users often see online content out of context and read it with different goals than you envisioned. While you can't predict all such goals, you can plan for multiple uses of your text. http://tc.eserver.org/34308.html http://tc.eserver.org/34308.html Web developers frequently launch websites with self-absorbed web copy, which turns off visitors and kills conversions. Who’s to blame? Self-absorbed copywriters and business owners. To engage prospects and turn them into customers, web copy needs to appeal to the visitor’s self-interest. http://tc.eserver.org/34265.html http://tc.eserver.org/34265.html Rather than spend hours coming up with a complex numbering scheme, this might be an excuse to implement something far more straightforward discovered by an extensive readability study at IBM, of which I was a part. My work involved sitting behind a one-way mirror with a stopwatch, watching people take tests that involved, among other things, "how fast can you find Figure 3-4?" We had cameras mounted over the participant's shoulders and could watch them thumb through the documents, and we also monitored eye movements. Then we followed up with a short interview where we got feedback. http://tc.eserver.org/34212.html http://tc.eserver.org/34212.html Once the main text has been written, you edit it. Editing means breaking text into sub-documents; pointing out connections to other texts; making sure the document as a whole is in good shape; adding indices and outlines. Editing doesn't necessarily happen after the first text has been written - I mix those stages all the time - but it deserves to be thought of as an independent discipline, because the problems it deals with are different. Most of what people do on the World Wide Web is really editing, not writing. http://tc.eserver.org/34105.html http://tc.eserver.org/34105.html The parallels between the theories of technical communications and those of web design are very similar, the key aim is to keep the audience in mind at all times. The way you structure and present the information is also important, as is a sense of usability of the content itself. http://tc.eserver.org/34034.html http://tc.eserver.org/34034.html Web writing is one of those assignments that technical writers do well due to their organized approach to technical information. But web writing differs from regular user guide and procedural writing in some important respects. The Web is a fast place. People usually don’t have the time to go through long essays. http://tc.eserver.org/34022.html http://tc.eserver.org/34022.html Consistency of a technical documentation is what creates that subliminal sense of trust and confidence in the end-users. Someone once quipped: “it ain’t technical documentation if it ain’t boring.” This of course is not true since I always found technical documents very interesting indeed. I’m the sort of geekish person who can marvel at a well-designed user’s manual for hours and appreciate its beauty and all the effort and thinking that went into its production. I imagine how happy people would be when they use that manual and solve their problems and that, believe it or not, makes me happy as well. That’s the main reason why I’m in this business. http://tc.eserver.org/34025.html http://tc.eserver.org/34025.html Technical writing has its mechanical aspects that need to be mastered. A good technical writer must know how to use English effectively as well as various software products to produce acceptable technical documents. But I wish technical writing were all about that. The hardest part comes before one even sits down in front of a computer to type the first word. The hardest part in documenting anything is organizing the information in a way that makes sense from the user’s point of view. Otherwise a technical document suddenly looks irrelevant. http://tc.eserver.org/34027.html http://tc.eserver.org/34027.html Using the structured features requires advanced training and you probably won’t need them anyways unless you’re doing any “single sourcing” (which is the topic of yet another article). For example if you were doing any XML-based authoring or “database publishing” then you would definitely need to learn how to use the FrameMaker’s structured interface. However, there is an easy way to imitate structured documentation while you are still in the unstructured mode. This is one case in which you can have your cake (unstructured FM) and take a bite out of it too (by enjoying one selected feature of structured documentation). http://tc.eserver.org/34028.html http://tc.eserver.org/34028.html Here are seven time-tested design recommendations culled from my 20 years of experience as a professional writer, page layout and information designer. http://tc.eserver.org/33960.html http://tc.eserver.org/33960.html Using good sub-headers will help your users find the information they are looking for. It’s like navigation but without the clicking and the cool roll-over effects. http://tc.eserver.org/33961.html http://tc.eserver.org/33961.html When you’re writing for the web, try to keep your sentences under 20 words in length. Your content will be easier to read this way. This is because it’s easier to read a few short sentences than it is to read one big one. http://tc.eserver.org/33822.html http://tc.eserver.org/33822.html Recent trends in XML content authoring demonstrate increasing shift towards advanced reuse patterns and multi-source compound document architectures. This imposes completely new requirements for the XML authoring tools, most of which were originally developed for narrative document authoring and architectures like Docbook or TEI. The key requirement is the ability to provide a single, transparent, directly editable view for such complex documents. http://tc.eserver.org/33676.html http://tc.eserver.org/33676.html I am starting to believe that despite all the hype around online video, text remains King of the Web. Why text? There are at least five reasons. http://tc.eserver.org/33673.html http://tc.eserver.org/33673.html Structured authoring isn't just for technical writers. Just about any department in an organization can benefit from it. This article looks at one way of bringing structured authoring to the masses: by adopting the authoring concepts used in an obscure word processor called Yeah Write. http://tc.eserver.org/33662.html http://tc.eserver.org/33662.html The landscape of web writing has changed. The value of well-edited and reviewed content is giving way to faster, less-refined posts on blogs, comments and services like Twitter. It is clear from the dwindling number of article pitches that many prefer to draw traffic to their own sites. http://tc.eserver.org/33481.html http://tc.eserver.org/33481.html In many of my columns, I have touted the importance of persuasive, or influential, content and shared relevant theories and arguments, sprinkling in some practical tips and examples along the way. This column brings together a collection of practical tips, or recipes, for persuasive content. http://tc.eserver.org/33458.html http://tc.eserver.org/33458.html We found a 9% improvement in the usability of About Us information on websites over the past 5 years. But companies and organizations still can't explain what they do in one paragraph. http://tc.eserver.org/33322.html http://tc.eserver.org/33322.html Book published by O'Reilly Media have a good flow to the information and they're well structured. One of the best features of many of those books is the introductory material. It can be a good guide, and help readers zero in on what they want to learn. http://tc.eserver.org/33288.html http://tc.eserver.org/33288.html Few people have ever commented about my blog’s design at all. The same goes with the music intros for my podcasts. I can change the music each time, and no one ever responds. In contrast, if a post has good content, I see a steady stream of comments. My experience leads me to conclude that content is about 90% important, and design is 10% important. http://tc.eserver.org/33032.html http://tc.eserver.org/33032.html Metadata is one of the most misunderstood aspects of content management and website design. Editors and writers tend to look at it as a technical issue. Technical people look for a software solution. Both are wrong. Metadata is a fundamental skill that web writers and editors must acquire. http://tc.eserver.org/33033.html http://tc.eserver.org/33033.html Creating great metadata for your content begins with understanding who your reader is. What is the metadata they look for when they read a page of your content? What are the type of words they use when they search for your content? When scanning your classification, what are the "trigger words" that will make them want to go deeper into your website? http://tc.eserver.org/33039.html http://tc.eserver.org/33039.html Writing for the Web requires careful planning. Your content needs to fit well within the context of your website. When a reader finds your content, they need to be able to scan it quickly. That's what metadata is about. In order for your website to be found, you need to write for how people search. http://tc.eserver.org/32895.html http://tc.eserver.org/32895.html Understanding the potential implications of a paradigm shift in how we view writing for the web. For content to reach the types of syndication and distribution imagined by web 2.0 enthusists, content needs to break free of the containers that both bind it and display it. One of the most significant ways that this transition to Web 2.0 can be seen is in the move toward XML, and semantic markup. With this move toward the granulation of content however technical writers need to rethink how to present content. http://tc.eserver.org/32906.html http://tc.eserver.org/32906.html Most of the time, the primary focus of information about accessibility has to do with making non-text information available as text. Captioning and audio description for video, transcriptions for audio, simple text alternatives for static images. But what about the content itself? http://tc.eserver.org/32910.html http://tc.eserver.org/32910.html One area of accessibility often overlooked is the readability of the content of your web pages. Not every user may be familiar with terms or terminology being used. Others may not have the same socio-political background, literacy skills or capacity to fully comprehend what it is you are saying. One goal of the content author then is to try and identify their target audience, and then ensures that they are not "writing over their heads". http://tc.eserver.org/32824.html http://tc.eserver.org/32824.html Before you release a product, have some people use it. From these "test users" get solutions to problems, tips and knowledge that would help your real-life Users. Put that information in your User Documentation, and on your product support website. http://tc.eserver.org/32769.html http://tc.eserver.org/32769.html Attracting the attention of Google and other search engines is crucial for bringing visitors to your website. To achieve this effectively, search engine optimised copy should run parallel with good website construction. http://tc.eserver.org/32750.html http://tc.eserver.org/32750.html We’re all taught that online writing has to be hard hitting and quick because readers scan, and will not invest time in reading a meandering piece. My brain so efficiently crunches data and spits it out in list format, complete with headings and summarized with concise sentence structure, that I have a hard time writing anything else. http://tc.eserver.org/32662.html http://tc.eserver.org/32662.html Some websites change every week; many change every day; a few change every few minutes. Daypop’s Dan Chan calls this the Living Web, the part of the web that is always changing. Every revision requires new writing, new words that become the essence of the site. Living sites are only as good as today’s update. If the words are dull, nobody will read them, and nobody will come back. If the words are wrong, people will be misled, disappointed, infuriated. If the words aren’t there, people will shake their heads and lament your untimely demise. Writing for the Living Web is a tremendous challenge. Here are ten tips that can help. http://tc.eserver.org/32590.html http://tc.eserver.org/32590.html It’s hard to find anyone who disparages use cases, but those who use them are still a minority. In a previous life as a UX designer, I used use cases and developed a great respect for them. But it wasn’t until recently that I began using them to design user assistance. Why did it take me so long to get back to these reliable work horses of user-centered design? http://tc.eserver.org/32188.html http://tc.eserver.org/32188.html This article defines the tasks and responsibilities for up to seven levels of information engineers, plus two levels of management. http://tc.eserver.org/32060.html http://tc.eserver.org/32060.html With the cost of quality traffic rising and reaching and maintaining top search engine position becoming more and more difficult as EVERYONE is moving to the net, viral content blows up one of the most spouted off cliche of all time… “NOTHING IS FREE”. The exposure and added traffic that an amazing piece of content can generate is free. That’s the beauty… with a truly viral piece of content, everyone else does your promotion for you, letting you sit back and enjoy the ride. http://tc.eserver.org/31915.html http://tc.eserver.org/31915.html Typically, you should deemphasize your company's name in links, but a new guideline recommends frontloading the name for search engine links under certain conditions. http://tc.eserver.org/31906.html http://tc.eserver.org/31906.html Linear vs. non-linear. Author-driven vs. reader-driven. Storytelling vs. ruthless pursuit of actionable content. Anecdotal examples vs. comprehensive data. Sentences vs. fragments. http://tc.eserver.org/31780.html http://tc.eserver.org/31780.html With all the talk about Web 2.0 and the attendant technologies, are readers actually being better served by documentation now than they were in the past? http://tc.eserver.org/31748.html http://tc.eserver.org/31748.html The gaps in your documentation aren’t there because you haven’t consider a particular level of user; the gaps in your documentation are there because you haven’t considered how one level of user becomes another. How DO you get from Beginner to Expert? http://tc.eserver.org/31617.html http://tc.eserver.org/31617.html It is perhaps the market forces driving web development projects that find us aligning ourselves with the lexicons of marketing and advertising rather than publishing. As a result, we have lots of “brand identity guidelines,” but not so many “style guides” (for content, at least). We have “strategists,” but no “commissioning editors,” and we more often “go live” than “publish.” Hence, we tend to first think “copywriter” when trying to get our content sorted, whereas very often an editor is the person we should be engaging. That’s not to say there aren’t editors in our industry—there are—but they tend to be a part of large online publishing projects after launch rather than a part of the development lifecycle from the beginning. (Somehow, we’ve become a kind of freak cousin of publishing, ignoring that industry’s expertise.) In many cases, an editor would be a great addition to our process as well as, in some cases, a better and more rational investment than a copywriter. http://tc.eserver.org/31611.html http://tc.eserver.org/31611.html One of the central causes of poor writing is a lack of a thorough understanding of the audience. What are the problems that readers have to solve, and how can we help them? Too many writers believe that people will understand what they have written just because the writers themselves understand it. Good writing always begins with a study of the readers' reading skills, their actual physical situation, the problems they face, the motivation they need, and the actions they need to take. http://tc.eserver.org/31605.html http://tc.eserver.org/31605.html Elements of persuasion are important to creating winning content. To help safeguard content from becoming manipulation, we need to understand its distinction from persuasion. As a step toward that understanding, this article: provides basic definitions of persuasion and manipulation; explores the key differences between them; and describes some consequences for UX content. http://tc.eserver.org/31579.html http://tc.eserver.org/31579.html The rise of Web 2.0 technology provides a platform for user-generated content. Publishing is no longer restricted to a few technical writers—any user can now contribute information. But the information coming from users tends to be highly specific, whereas technical documentation is comprehensive but less specific. The two types of information can coexist and improve the overall user experience. User-generated content also offers an opportunity for technical writers to participate as “curators”—by evaluating and organizing the information provided by end users. http://tc.eserver.org/31510.html http://tc.eserver.org/31510.html Little things mean a lot. Especially online. Microcontent—or the headlines, decks, subheads and other 'small' pieces of web copy—actually do most of the communicating on your web site. Handled poorly, microcontent can confuse and frustrate web visitors. Here's how to write microcontent to communicate to—instead of discombobulate—your readers. http://tc.eserver.org/31393.html http://tc.eserver.org/31393.html If ever there were a perfect tool for the corporate communication expert, blogging is it. Think of a blog as the 3D version of your capabilities, one in which you provide context and meaning to your work experience and expertise. So let's talk about how to blog well. http://tc.eserver.org/31274.html http://tc.eserver.org/31274.html Digital copy is underappreciated, underrated and - astonishingly - still the poor cousin of the web relaunch process. http://tc.eserver.org/31129.html http://tc.eserver.org/31129.html Give the reader the ability to quickly peruse the information presented and extract the information they need. For example, if there is a lot of information, and the reader is required to scroll the screen to see content 'below the fold', an overview would probably be a very good idea. Contrariwise, if the article is short, and can be quickly scanned (especially if you can do so without scrolling the page), providing an overview might be counterproductive. http://tc.eserver.org/31048.html http://tc.eserver.org/31048.html Many recent studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) have addressed the question of orality and literacy. This article examines a relatively recent subgenre of CMC, that of written online sports commentary, that provides us with written CMC that is clearly based on firmly established oral genres, those of radio and television sports commentary. The examples analyzed are from two English, two French, and two Spanish online football (soccer) commentaries. The purpose of the study is to examine oral traits and genre mixing in online football commentaries in the three languages and carryover from the spoken genres of radio and television commentaries to this developing genre, following Ferguson. Special attention is paid to Web page design. The study reveals that form and content of online football commentaries are strongly affected by the style of the online newspaper. http://tc.eserver.org/30767.html http://tc.eserver.org/30767.html Good web design does not necessarily mean good use of colors and layouts, but it does transcend beyond it. Design elements like color, font, size, frame, etc. play an important role nonetheless, but what is more important is that how it affects the aesthetic sensibilities of the users. The warmth and the feel of the web site, or in another words, the texture of the web site is a crucial area to turn our attention to. By texture of the web site what it means is the subtleties of the surface of the web site. Varied aspects as discussed in this article, when sensibly used -- and in combination with good deign skills aimed at creating intuitive appeal -- are of definite help of when it comes to developing engaging graphics on your web site. http://tc.eserver.org/30766.html http://tc.eserver.org/30766.html Every webmaster nourishes the dream that his or her website will make it the big way. This is very much human because people carry out any task in ardent hope. What is more human out here is that earthy fellows like us base our aspirations more on speculation rather than specific set of steps undertaken to bring the dream a bit closer to reality. And this is not all, particularly in case of growth of a site which brings newer problems in the wake of its growth. It cannot be disputed that you can probably get some good web hosting on economy price. But if you expect top of the line service on this price, acknowedge gracefully that your are just asking for the moon. Probably you are not catching up with wisdom that business needs decisive investments. http://tc.eserver.org/30764.html http://tc.eserver.org/30764.html The emergence of Internet was, and still is a fascinating thing to happen in technology firmament. The ease and the comforts of connecting to people, defying geographical boundaries, and getting a global audience for businesses were unparalleled -- first of its kind ever. So wonderful a thing has, unfortunately, got its share of woes -- the connection speed. The bandwidth of Internet connectivity was considerable at the time when it was entirely new to the world. The newness of the medium did not let it know to the excited lots of users and beneficiaries. Gradually, when people wished for more speed, they earnestly expected that things will turn favorable in the times ahead. Strategy is not something entirely applicable to chart out the direction of a corporation. Yeah, Your web design has to be strategized as well if you wish to serve your target audience in business friendly manner. http://tc.eserver.org/30584.html http://tc.eserver.org/30584.html The inner sanctum of any good piece of writing is a solid, logical core. To produce the logical core, a writer frequently has to synthesize complex information, which means understanding it well enough to transform often muddled and random detail to clear and easy to apprehend expression. Synthesis of new information, being one of the most difficult thinking skills, can require more of a writer than the writer has time for. An editor's job, from the first draft to the last, is to help build the writing around an appropriate logical core. In this workshop, participants will practice techniques that editors can use to make sure that they find, or help the writer find, the core - what users need to know, and the order in which they need to know it. Participants will form groups to scan a document, using a checklist of tips to spot problems in the document's structure. Each group will report its findings to the larger group. http://tc.eserver.org/30542.html http://tc.eserver.org/30542.html Producing brochures for real clients teaches college-level technical writing students about constraints of cost, time, and the availability of materials. Brochure writing also provides opportunities for learning more about editing, collaborative work, document design, and the problems which may occur during the production of real documents. Brochures of good quality can be produced by a class in approximately three weeks, or nine classroom hours. Grading brochures is expedited through the use of a simple heuristic. http://tc.eserver.org/30503.html http://tc.eserver.org/30503.html Hypertext is a novel approach to computer-based information management based on associative indexing. The concept in general and the characteristics of typical systems are briefly reviewed. Strategies for applying hypertext techniques to the process of writing a technical document are examined. The way in which hypertext documents are used is discussed, focusing on a commonly encountered problem -- user disorientation within the document. Hypertext-based technical documents are compared and contrasted against their paper-based antecedents. http://tc.eserver.org/30474.html http://tc.eserver.org/30474.html This article demonstrates a technique that allows ambiguous link phrases to be rendered visually in a page, whilst making sense to screen readers, and other non-graphical devices, that might render the links out of context. http://tc.eserver.org/30194.html http://tc.eserver.org/30194.html Information foraging shows how to calculate your content strategy's costs and benefits. A mixed diet that combines brief overviews and comprehensive coverage is often best. http://tc.eserver.org/30197.html http://tc.eserver.org/30197.html Active voice is best for most Web content, but using passive voice can let you front-load important keywords in headings, blurbs, and lead sentences. This enhances scannability and thus SEO effectiveness. http://tc.eserver.org/29977.html http://tc.eserver.org/29977.html This article looks at the impact of the introduction of semantic markup and structured authoring on the world of technical writers, editors, Help authors and content developers. This article is not specifically about the Semantic Web movement itself, but about the implementation of semantic concepts in the documentation field. http://tc.eserver.org/29941.html http://tc.eserver.org/29941.html Introductory text on Web pages is usually too long, so users skip it. But short intros can increase usability by explaining the remaining content's purpose. http://tc.eserver.org/29893.html http://tc.eserver.org/29893.html This study uses an online survey of technical communication educators to examine trends in the technical writing service course with regard to web design. Participants for the study were representatives of programs in technical communication in four-year institutions of higher education throughout the United States. The study contributes to research into the function of the technical writing service course in the current technological climate. Identifying trends is one component in an evaluation that will aid effective evolution of this significant course. http://tc.eserver.org/29651.html http://tc.eserver.org/29651.html This paper describes a study that examined the effect of heading frequency on comprehension and perceptions of information presented in print versus online text. Results indicated that heading frequency did not differentially affect the comprehension of readers of print text while it did differentially affect the comprehension of readers of online texts who had considerably lower comprehension scores with text that had high frequency versus medium frequency headings. http://tc.eserver.org/29441.html http://tc.eserver.org/29441.html The hardest part of communication lies in the many options we have available, and how tricky it can be to pick the right option for each individual member of our audience. When we write something, whether in print or online, we try to produce something that satisfies as many readers as possible because we require a 'one size fits all' solution: we're not physically present to tailor our approach to meet each individual's needs, and so must meet a range of needs in a single document. With print, we're stuck with static text: the text can't change until we rewrite it and distribute a new version. Moving information online makes it easier to revise and distribute information, but actually updating the information still requires a writer. Are there alternatives that make it easier to reach customers with our messages? http://tc.eserver.org/29395.html http://tc.eserver.org/29395.html The first time I heard of the STOP paper was sometime in the mid 80's when the historian of technical writing, John Brockman, phoned me to ask if my Information Mapping method of structured writing derived from the STOP method. At the time I told Brockman that there was no direct relationship between our two approaches since I'd never read the paper. When the editor of this journal sent me the STOP document in preparation for writing this paper, I read it with delight. Although our two innovations date from the same period, the STOP authors and I were working in two completely different disciplines, cultures, organizations, and locations. These two approaches resulted in modularity - albeit of quite different kinds. The main purpose of this project is to compare and contrast these two approaches to modularity. I should note here that I approach this article principally as an exercise in historical comparison, rather than as an exposition of my current views, about which I will say a bit at the end of this article. http://tc.eserver.org/29370.html http://tc.eserver.org/29370.html You may think that because you're an expert, it will be easy for you to write training materials for your low-level user base. But it can be tough to think like a beginner. Use these tips to create appropriate instructions for newbies. http://tc.eserver.org/29253.html http://tc.eserver.org/29253.html A response to Jakob Nielsen's 2007 "Write Articles, Not Blog Postings." Nielsen's article is also chock-full of bad information. Why bad? Because most of it is made up. The length of the article requires you to really read it. You can't scan it. The problem is, most people scan online. http://tc.eserver.org/29154.html http://tc.eserver.org/29154.html Finding itself at the center of highly publicized legal and political deliberations over fairness in testing, personnel credibility, and legal liability, the training department at a North American transit authority adopted a genre system that enabled the production of objective evidence of job competence, which was then used to make objective decisions about who passed and failed various training programs. The ongoing genre-structured activity of the department involved not only the regularization of organizational texts but also the regularization of social interaction mediated by those texts, which, while producing the types of interpretively stable documents required for successful public deliberation, led to a shift in authority and social relations within the department that instigated considerable resentment and loss of morale among many veteran instructors. http://tc.eserver.org/29020.html http://tc.eserver.org/29020.html Work with structured abstracts--which contain sub-headings in a standard order--has suggested that such abstracts contain more information, are of a higher quality, and are easier to search and to read than are traditional abstracts. The aim of this article is to suggest that this work with structured abstracts can be extended to cover scientific articles as a whole. The article outlines a set of sub-headings--drawn from research on academic writing--that can be used to make the presentation of scientific papers easier to read and to write. Twenty published research papers are then analyzed in terms of these sub-headings. The analysis, with some reservations, supports the viability of this approach. http://tc.eserver.org/29151.html http://tc.eserver.org/29151.html There is little research on the use of titles in academic articles, and even less on different types of titles. In this article Crosby's taxonomy of titles [1] is brought up-to date and extended. Twelve types of titles are distinguished. The author argues that it would be helpful to discuss these different types with student writers. http://tc.eserver.org/28974.html http://tc.eserver.org/28974.html To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers. http://tc.eserver.org/28858.html http://tc.eserver.org/28858.html Discusses the importance of writing well and some simple methods for ensuring your content is well-written and then move on to ways clever content-management systems can make your life easier. http://tc.eserver.org/28839.html http://tc.eserver.org/28839.html Every self-appointed pundit on the planet is saying that users are the new 'owners' of the online medium. http://tc.eserver.org/28834.html http://tc.eserver.org/28834.html Even if you're selling furniture or herbal supplements, the addition of a large number of articles to your site offers several benefits. http://tc.eserver.org/28836.html http://tc.eserver.org/28836.html It took me a while to realize this about my own approach to web page writing, but I have two different ways of writing. http://tc.eserver.org/28838.html http://tc.eserver.org/28838.html When you have written a few pages that came out easily, and are all in the same confident, relaxed tone, that's the time to sit back and see what you have done. Re-read those pages. Become intimately familiar with the tone and style you have adopted. And then...at least this is what I did...go back and edit your earlier pages, particularly those which no longer seem to ring true, or feel quite right. http://tc.eserver.org/28837.html http://tc.eserver.org/28837.html Acting in your capacity as a friend, as well as an expert, you would probably ask a few questions first, just to be sure you really understand the problem. And when you did start offering some advice, you would want to be helpful. You would want to offer some genuine guidance. And if you did have some services you could offer, you would recommend only those services that were directly relevant to the problem. http://tc.eserver.org/28820.html http://tc.eserver.org/28820.html A designer formats and places text. Technically, the job ends there. But some designers go further, sharpening their clients' content to grab and focus user attention. In so doing, they create more effective sites--and gain an advantage over other designers. Drawing on decades of copywriter lore, Shaun Crowley discusses seduction by headline and other principles of writing that sells. http://tc.eserver.org/28341.html http://tc.eserver.org/28341.html Content is the most important part of a Web site. If the content does not provide the information needed by users, the Web site will provide little value no matter how easy it is to use the site. When preparing prose content for a Web site, use familiar words and avoid the use of jargon. If acronyms and abbreviations must be used, ensure that they are clearly understood by typical users and defined on the page. Minimize the number of words in a sentence and sentences in a paragraph. Make the first sentence (the topic sentence) of each paragraph descriptive of the remainder of the paragraph. Clearly state the temporal sequence of instructions. Also, use upper- and lowercase letters appropriately, write in an affirmative, active voice, and limit prose text on navigation pages. http://tc.eserver.org/28311.html http://tc.eserver.org/28311.html Writers can increase the value of their documentation by visiting customers where the customers work and seeing what they are doing. It's easier to write targeted topics when you know what readers need. Ann Beebe, User Education manager for Visual Studio, gave me two examples of writers who went into the field and discovered how the customer's experience can be very different from the experience in the development team. http://tc.eserver.org/28228.html http://tc.eserver.org/28228.html This article is based on my presentation at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators' annual conference in October, 2006. Every now and then, there is a change in the value of what technical authors deliver. These are moments when organisations pay attention to technical documentation. This is because they recognise that these changes mean they can create something that will be of real value to the business and to their customers. In recent years, there have been three "waves of interestingness". The first wave was the introduction of Windows Help (WinHelp). The second major wave was the introduction of the Internet and intranets. This was a time when organisations looked at how they could transfer large amounts of information from paper to online. They were faced with issues such as how users could access and understand all this information easily - issues that technical communicators deal with on a day-to-day basis. I believe we're just about to approach the new wave, which we have called "Tech Writing 2.0". http://tc.eserver.org/28229.html http://tc.eserver.org/28229.html This report outlines the developments in what many are calling "Web 2.0" and the impact that these developments may have on technical and user documentation. We've called these trends "Tech Writing 2.0". Tech Writing 2.0 promises a new means of communication that business can use to promote and support their products and services. This means that the nature of technical communication will change. http://tc.eserver.org/28147.html http://tc.eserver.org/28147.html For a long time I have been an advocate of quality content on web sites. And now I am conducting an experiment that pitches quality content against immediate gratification. http://tc.eserver.org/28143.html http://tc.eserver.org/28143.html Home pages can be tricky, simply because your page not only has its own job to do, but also has to support a group of second level pages. Here's how I approach writing home pages...whether a site has a total of ten pages or a thousand pages. http://tc.eserver.org/28144.html http://tc.eserver.org/28144.html If you are presenting a risk-free trial of something...get that message into your headline. This may sound obvious, but while we were testing various offer pages, it became clear that the winning pages all had headlines which were focused on the offer, and were very much reader and benefit centered. http://tc.eserver.org/28150.html http://tc.eserver.org/28150.html I think that the people who give the testimonials do so for the additional exposure they receive for their own names, sites and businesses. I also think they do some mutual back-scratching, and hype each other's products and services. In other words, the testimonials are just additional sales text. They have no credibility as outside, third-party endorsements. http://tc.eserver.org/28148.html http://tc.eserver.org/28148.html A great many changes are taking place online right now. This is particularly true when you are trying to reach and sell to potential customers who are up-to-date with new technologies and ways of using the web. I'm thinking of the people who download podcasts to their iPods. http://tc.eserver.org/28146.html http://tc.eserver.org/28146.html Much has been said and written about how to optimize individual landing pages. However, when you want a web site visitor to take an action, if often takes more than one page. So how much work do you put into optimizing not just the primary landing page, but also the pages that follow? Here are some tips to keep in mind as you write and optimize a landing page sequence. http://tc.eserver.org/28145.html http://tc.eserver.org/28145.html I am quite surprised by what I have learned about the effectiveness of product names as organic search keywords. http://tc.eserver.org/28136.html http://tc.eserver.org/28136.html When users find the answers they are looking for, the investment in technical documentation gets a chance to pay off. In large volumes of technical information, just finding the answer can be half the battle. Microsoft found that users of its intranet were spending an average of 2.5 hours per day online - 50% of that being searching. This article was written as part of an experimental online workshop with the MITWA (Mentors, Indexers, Technical Writers & Associates) discussion group(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MITWA/). The article retains the workshop format including learning assignments. http://tc.eserver.org/28048.html http://tc.eserver.org/28048.html Familiar words spring to mind when users create their search queries. If your writing favors made-up terms over legacy words, users won't find your site. http://tc.eserver.org/28008.html http://tc.eserver.org/28008.html In web design screeds, the most commonly cited book is not what you might expect. It is not by Jakob Nielsen or Jeffrey Zeldman or Edward Tufte. It's not even on design or typography or code. It is a thin volume of guidelines on writing by a professor 'at the closing of the first world war' and treasured by one student enough to put it into print. William Strunk was the professor, and E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web, was that grateful student. White took the master's set of laws, removed some 'bewhiskered entries,' corrected some errors, and added his own chapter at the end for 'those who feel English prose composition is not only a necessary skill but a sensible pursuit as well.' http://tc.eserver.org/27488.html http://tc.eserver.org/27488.html One of the most important and difficult parts of technical documentation concerns writing in a concise manner. Technical writing is different than writing fiction or magazine articles, where a mood may be set or--in some cases--where space must be filled. (People seldom buy thin books.) http://tc.eserver.org/27256.html http://tc.eserver.org/27256.html Er heerst een enorme verwarring rond het fenomeen ‘tekst op internet’. Laten we het deze keer eens hebben over de ideale hoeveelheid woorden. http://tc.eserver.org/26815.html http://tc.eserver.org/26815.html Google returns well over 15 million search results to the technical question of how to code hyperlinks in HTML. However, a question on how link texts should be formulated, so that the reader can understand them clearly, fetches only a handful of usable tips. Even most style guides and authoring guidelines are reticent on this topic. In this article you will find tips on this rarely dealt with, though important subject for Technical Communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/26723.html http://tc.eserver.org/26723.html Connectors -- conjunctions, punctuation, and transitional phrases -- allow readers to process information promptly by creating balance and relationships between sentence parts. The connectors are performing the same work as verbs, objects, modifiers and multiple subjects. http://tc.eserver.org/26489.html http://tc.eserver.org/26489.html Web content readability is an often underestimated aspect for a web site. There are design rules for designers to follow, and there are SEO tips and tricks for SEO experts to use. But this is not all. Though beautiful designs and search engine optimization are extremely important, there are also other issues that a web marketer needs to consider in order to run the site successfully. Readability is one of them. http://tc.eserver.org/26440.html http://tc.eserver.org/26440.html You can keep copy from turning zombie by starting with a clear idea of exactly what you want to say. It's tempting to just start writing, but this approach can leave your pages vulnerable to zombification, because it's easier to sound like you’re making sense than to actually make sense. Outlines can serve as an effective vaccine against living death. http://tc.eserver.org/26166.html http://tc.eserver.org/26166.html Let's face it. People on the web are only out for themselves. They come to your site, and you have a time window of less than 30 seconds to convince them to stay. http://tc.eserver.org/26146.html http://tc.eserver.org/26146.html My worst experiences with hospitality sites have been to do with vague location, online timetables, poor follow-up communication, and out of date information. I have wasted days as a result, which I hate. http://tc.eserver.org/26149.html http://tc.eserver.org/26149.html Today, at least in this country, most government and corporate organisations are well aware that words online matter. A lot. Even when the technology is perfect, words can make or break the success of a web site or intranet. So sure, words now get due respect in many quarters. http://tc.eserver.org/26141.html http://tc.eserver.org/26141.html Where to put links on a web page? That's a standard dilemma for content writers. Best to establish a policy and make sure all writers on your site follow it. That has an added advantage of standardising the 'look' of your pages. http://tc.eserver.org/26144.html http://tc.eserver.org/26144.html Every country has its own requirements for public sector web sites. Legislation and policies vary greatly, and express an attitude. I base my Quality Web Content workshops for government web content writers on the policy of the country concerned. Some countries consider that an accessible site requires accessible writing. Others don't.