#10620
FrameMaker Building Blocks: Using Building Blocks to Customize FrameMaker Documents 
Building blocks, like macros, allow you to enter information without typing it.
Scriptorium (2000). Resources>Tutorials>Software>Adobe FrameMaker
#31579
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
#10618
A style guide is essential for a successful project. Many of our clients have their own style guidelines, which we follow to ensure that our work matches what they produce in-house. However, some clients do not have internal style guides. We have developed our own style guide to ensure our work on their projects is consistent. Putting the style guide on the web eliminates distribution problems and ensures that we always use the latest version.
Scriptorium (2001). Reference>Style Guides
#19468
Implementing structured authoring with XML allows organizations to create better content. The addition of hierarchy and metadata to content improves reuse and content management. These benefits, however, must be weighed against the time and money required to implement a structured authoring approach. The business case is compelling for larger writing organizations; they will be the first to adopt structured authoring. Over time, improvements in available tools will reduce the cost of implementing structured authoring and make it affordable for smaller organizations.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Scriptorium (2002). Design>Publishing>Information Design>XML
#10619
Technical Writing 101: Indexing 
A complete, user-friendly index is an important component of a professional, finished document. This chapter of Technical Writing 101 focuses on creating and editing an index.
Pringle, Alan S. and Sarah S. O'Keefe. Scriptorium (2000). Articles>Indexing
#33395
Publishing DITA Without the DITA Open Toolkit: A Trend or a Temporary Detour?
I'm starting to wonder whether the adoption rate of DITA and the DITA Open Toolkit is going to diverge. Widespread adoption of DITA leads to a a sort of herd effect with safety in numbers. Not so for the Open Toolkit.
Scriptorium (2008). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA
#33522
Unstructured Documents in Structured FrameMaker
A few days ago, there was a thread on the Framers mailing list regarding working in the structured FrameMaker environment. Someone commented that editing unstructured documents in the structured interface does not affect the unstructured documents. I found this to be untrue recently.
Scriptorium (2008). Articles>Document Design>Information Design>Adobe FrameMaker
#33605
How Do You Manage Your RSS Feeds?
Some feeds are only skim worthy, while others I read word-for-word. Still, 90 feeds is really more than I can realistically keep up with. The question of which feeds to unsubscribe from plagues me. How long does one subscribe to a feed before deciding it's not worthwhile?
Loring, Sheila. Scriptorium (2009). Articles>Information Design>XML>RSS
#33746
A blog about publishing and technical communications.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Scriptorium. Resources>TC>Documentation>Blogs
#33814
FrameMaker users are buzzing about FrameMaker 9. With CMYK support, CMS integration, DITA 1.1, and PDF commenting, this version is full of new functionality but is unfortunately also buggy and inconsistent. This review covers the most important new features of FrameMaker 9.
Loring, Sheila. Scriptorium (2009). Articles>Reviews>Document Design>Adobe FrameMaker
#33885
What I've Learned as a Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC)
In all, my experiences volunteering in the STC Carolina chapter have been very rewarding. I recommend dipping your toes in the water and trying something out. Email or call someone on the administrative council and ask what needs to be done. Start small. You might be surprised at the return on investment.
Loring, Sheila. Scriptorium (2009). Articles>Advice>Community Building>STC
#35081
Creating PDF files from DITA Content
The DITA OpenToolkit (DITA OT) provides a way to produce multiple outputs, including Portable Document Format (PDF) files; however, the technology for creating PDF files is limited, and modifying the formatting is challenging. This paper explains the alternatives and trade-offs for each method and helps demystify the decision process.
Loring, Sheila and David James Kelly. Scriptorium (2009). Articles>Information Design>DITA>Adobe Acrobat
#35218
A Strident Defense of Mediocre Formatting
Formatting automation removes cost from the process of creating and delivering content. For technical documents that change often and are perhaps delivered in multiple languages, it removes a lot of cost. Essentially, we can produce documents inexpensively and give more people access to them as a direct result of lower cost, or we can climb on our typographic high horse and whine about word spacing. I’m with the noisome fanboys.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Scriptorium (2009). (Afrikaans) Articles>Document Design>Typography>Minimalism
#35316
The mission of STC is to “advance the arts and sciences of technical communication.” How does this help you, the member? I have been a freelancer/business owner for the vast majority of my career (so far). Let me say a few things about STC’s value proposition for mercenaries like me.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Scriptorium (2009). Articles>TC>Professionalism>STC
