Escritura Hipertextual

La escritura hipertextual, que tiene como unidad básica el enlace y como soporte lógico el electrónico, se debe realizar de forma diferente a la escritura convencional. A los usuarios no les gusta leer en pantalla, por lo que agradecerán cuanto más les facilitemos dicha tarea. En este artículo se tratará la correcta presentación de contenidos y elementos de interacción (enlaces) en los documentos hipertextuales.

Hassan Montero, Yusef and Francisco Jesus Martin Fernandez. Nosolousabilidad.com (2003). (Spanish) Articles>Writing>Hypertext>Web Design

Eviter le Langage Trop Promotionnel

Internet n'est pas un mass media réceptionné passivement comme peut l'être la télévision ; Internet est un média qui est activé par l'utilisateur. C'est ce qui explique sans doute l'échec relatif de la publicité en ligne à laquelle les internautes ont tout le loisir de ne pas prêter attention. Les surfeurs n'ont pas de temps à gaspiller : ils s'orientent tout droit vers les informations qui leur sont utiles et fuient tout ce qui ressemble à de la publicité.

Redaction (2004). (French) Articles>Web Design>Writing

A Fairy, a Low-Fat Bagel, and a Sack of Hammers

One bright, sunny day, the Bad Internet Fairy closed down every company and organization site on the web. But even though all those company and organization sites had closed down, the internet was still ablaze with activity.

Usborne, Nick. List Apart, A (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Fame Fatale

When did weblogs stop filtering the web and begin cluttering it instead? Rich Robinson on digital glut and creative solutions.

Robinson, Richard. List Apart, A (2000). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Blogging

Focus On WHAT You Are Going To Say

Focus all your energy on figuring out WHAT to say. Get that right and everything else will fall into place.

Usborne, Nick. ClickZ (2002). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Four Things Every Web Site Headline Must Achieve

Here are four things you need to keep in mind, four elements that demand your attention, four separate ‘audiences’ you need to satisfy.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Four Tips on Writing a Web Site Home Page

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.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Friend or Foe? Web 2.0 in Technical Communication  

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.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Scriptorium (2008). Articles>Web Design>Technical Writing>Social Networking

From Structured Abstracts to Structured Articles: A Modest Proposal    

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.

Hartley, James. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Information Design>Metadata>Writing

From Writer to Content Provider

As a regular user of the web or even as a writer for online magazines, you may not have picked up on a trend I've noticed from my contacts with web entrepreneurs. Increasingly, those who aim at selling big on the Net understand that attractive prices, huge inventories and responsive online ordering aren't enough to spark fantastic traffic. They call the missing ingredient 'content' and crave its power to inspire repeat visits.

Yudkin, Marcia. Yudkin.com (2001). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Fruit Flies Like a Banana: Writing Unambiguously

Ambiguity has a way of creeping into your writing without your noticing it. Here are five of the biggest culprits.

Henning, Kathy. ClickZ (2001). Articles>Writing>Web Design

Get That "One Thing" Into Your Web Page Headline

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.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Getting Started with Graphics for an Enriching User Experience

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.

Rahbre Azam. Amateur Writerz (2008). Articles>User Experience>Technical Writing>Graphic Design

Getting to Expert

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?

McLean, Gordon. One Man Writes (2008). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Technical Writing

Give Your Testimonials More Credibility

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.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Writing>Web Design>Marketing

Going into the Field

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.

Miller, Harry. Microsoft (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>User Centered Design

Good Writing on Your Web Site: How and Why You Should Ensure the Quality of Your Content

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.

Mercurytide (2005). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Google: The Ultimate Web Writer's Style Guide

Forget that Google is a search engine. Just for a moment, imagine it is a style guide. A very different kind of style guide.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2005). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Guerilla Upgrades: Start with Your Newsletter

Persuading your managers to allow some testing in the tone and voice of a newsletter isn’t half as hard as persuading them to make changes to your site’s homepage.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Heading Frequency and Comprehension: Studies of Print Versus Online Media  

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.

Spyridakis, Jan H., Laura D. Schultz and Alexandra L. Bartell. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Document Design>Writing>Usability

Review: Hot Text: Web Writing That Works

This book will help you improve any type of written communication, and it's a fun read to boot. The authors know what they're talking about and have the experience to back up their words. Both have spent many years writing for Web audiences. In addition to Web writing, their combined relevant experience includes journalism, technical communication, art, TV and radio, and teaching.

Frick, Geri. TECHWR-L (2004). Articles>Reviews>Web Design>Writing

Review: Hot Text: Web Writing That Works  

When it comes to mentors in technical communication, Jonathan Price is as good as they get. If he were a novelist, I might describe his stuff with words like salty, earthy, and gut-level. What he provides is different from cold theory, and certainly not the same as statistics. It's street-smart. When Price talks, you know he's been there and done that, and you've got him sitting beside you as you work, helping you through the pitfalls, urging you on.

Sullivan, Bill. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Reviews>Web Design>Writing

How to Write A Better Weblog

Great writing can’t be taught, but bad writing can be avoided. Mahoney shares tips that may enhance the writing on your personal site.

Mahoney, Dennis A. List Apart, A (2002). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Blogging

How to Write a Newsletter

Newsletters are one of the least expensive -- and most effective -- public relations tools that exist for drawing attention to a business or Web site. By sending out a quality newsletter on a regular basis, you can keep clients, potential clients, the media, and other important sources updated about your business. Frequency of mailing builds familiarity, and familiarity inspires return visits. Plus, the effort of creating a newsletter itself speaks volumes about your commitment to the subject. It also positions you as an expert and a valuable resource.

Writing That Sells. Articles>Document Design>Journalism>Writing

How to Write a Summary, and Why

The first text in most web and intranet pages should be a summary of 1-2 sentences. That's a good rule of thumb. The starter-summary has several important functions.

McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2005). Articles>Web Design>Writing