#32045
Camtasia Studio or Captivate: A Comparison
I have spent the last two weeks switching between Captivate and Camtasia Studio. Talk about schizophrenic. I spent a lot of time trying to remember which command I had to use in which program, but overall it’s been an interesting experience.
Technical Writer (2008). Articles>Multimedia>Video>Screencasting
#32079
Developers as Users of SharePoint
In SharePoint, we are likely to think of developers as people who work to customise SharePoint, but there are a lot of developers out there who are simply end users of SharePoint. How do they like the system?
Technical Writer (2007). Articles>Content Management>Software>Microsoft SharePoint
#32081
Joomla: Another Simple Content Management System
Joomla is more complex than WordPress but it has more power. Because it’s a real content management system—unlike WordPress which is a blog with content management capabilities—you don’t have to customise it to make it look like one. Other people have also created templates you can use.
Technical Writer (2007). Articles>Content Management>Software
#32082
WordPress as a Simple Content Management System
I know that some users of high-end CMS’s may dispute this definition, as a high-end CMS does a lot more. But what is a content management system really? It is content, stored in some kind of database, accessed via a front end. That is exactly what WordPress is.
Technical Writer (2007). Articles>Content Management>Software
#32083
The Steepest Part of the Learning Curve is Right at the Start
Microsoft has a lot of information on their sites about these products. Unfortunately, I can never find it. I usually only know it’s there when I stumble on it months after I really needed to know it. The steepest part of the learning curve is at the start. Likewise with another program I use occasionally—DITA. DITA is an xml schema used for writing documentation.
Technical Writer (2008). Articles>Documentation>XML>DITA
#32084
Trends for Tech Writing: Notes from the AODC
I spent the last three days at the AODC. Lots to think about, which I may cover in other blogs, but here are some general impressions. Of course, these are my own impressions, and it may be just who I talked to on the day.
#32085
Sometimes It's Nice to be Reminded There’s a Whole Community of Technical Writers Out There
The Content Wrangler’s 10 DITA lessons learned from Tech Writers in the Trenches really nails down some vital things you should know if you want to implement DITA. More than that though, you can apply the lessons learned here to almost any project, not just technical writing and not just implementing new software.
Technical Writer (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Community
#32086
I'm not Technical. Why Should I Bother to Learn DocBook or DITA?
First of all, understand that you don’t have to learn it. Every year more and more toolds come out that help place a layer between you and the native XML. In a few years time you will hardly even realise there is XML underneath.
Technical Writer (2006). Articles>Information Design>DocBook>DITA
#32087
XML is the future. You hear it at every conference you go to, in every magazine you pick up, in every article you read on-line. For technical writers, right now that future comes down to two products—DocBook or DITA. But what exactly are they, and which one should you choose? They are schemas for creating XML.
Technical Writer (2006). Articles>Documentation>DocBook>DITA
#35544
The Process of Technical Writing
The technical writing process consists of four main phases. These are planning, writing, delivery, archiving. These phases are not necessarily set in stone and some variations do exist. Every writer is different and they each have their own way of writing that is distinct.
Hunt, James M. Technical Writer Blog, The (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
#35545
The technical writing process consists of four main phases. These are planning, writing, delivery, archiving. These phases are not necessarily set in stone and some variations do exist. Every writer is different and they each have their own way of writing that is distinct.
Technical Writer Blog, The (2009). Resources>Writing>Technical Writing>Blogs
#35546
How Poor In-House User Documents Cost You Twice
Many organizations produce in-house tools or modify commercially-available tools for their own use. These tools should get documented so they are of use to others in the organization. If this documentation is not created or is poorly written, it costs you twice.
Millman, Barry. Technical Writer Blog, The (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Business Case
