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TWW is an open and free community for technical communicators. After signing up, create a blog, start a discussion, add an event, and invite your friends!

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Members

  • Mark Baker
  • Sanjay G
  • Kai Weber
  • Gursheesh
  • Abeesh Thomas
  • Sarah Maddox
  • Chastin Howerton
  • Melanie Blank
  • Mitch Willis
  • Daniel Archer
  • Adam Evans
  • Catherine
  • Paul Docherty
  • Milan Davidović
  • Danielle M. Villegas
  • Julie Norris
  • Arnold Burian
  • Mohd Ikramuddin Bin Mat Rani
  • joffaboy
  • Thomas Mauser

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Blog Posts

Lingbo Lu

Hello! And a blog post on analyzing documentation using Google Analytics

Posted by Lingbo Lu on February 16, 2012 at 9:20pm 0 Comments

Hi everyone! I've heard a lot of good things about this site from my co-worker Sarah Maddox, so here I am!

I just did a basic documentation analysis using Google Analytics and thought I'd share it here too:…

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Kim Martin

What do you use for creating online tutorials?

Posted by Kim Martin on February 16, 2012 at 8:42am 0 Comments

I work for a Web hosting company and am in charge of creating KB articles, online Help, etc. Several times a week, I look at the Support pages for other hosting companies to keep my finger on the pulse, and it looks like online tutorials are very…

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David Farbey

Call for Papers for TCUK 2012

Posted by David Farbey on February 1, 2012 at 10:32am 0 Comments

The Programme Committee for Technical Communication UK 2012 (TCUK 2012) is delighted to announce that it is now inviting proposals for speaking at the conference. The conference takes place at the Marriot Gosforth Park Hotel in Newcastle (…

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Courtney Powell

What Conferences Will You Be Attending In 2012

Posted by Courtney Powell on January 30, 2012 at 11:30am 1 Comment

Hey All,

We're trying to get a feel for what conferences everyone will be attending this year. I've comprised a brief 1 question survey asking which conferences you'll be attending in 2012. We'll be posting the results in a week or so, so…

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Courtney Powell

"Beyond Technical Writing" Whitepaper release!

Posted by Courtney Powell on January 24, 2012 at 4:00pm 0 Comments

Hi Folks!

WebWorks just released a new whitepaper entitled:

Beyond Technical Communication…

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Karen Michele

Writing Revision Notes

Posted by Karen Michele on January 11, 2012 at 3:23pm 3 Comments

I need some practical advice on writing revision notes and document versioning. What information do you include in revision notes? Do you have any reference info on document versioning (vs. product versioning)? Thanks.

Karen Michele

Traditional tech docs vs. wikis, forums, and so on.

Posted by Karen Michele on January 9, 2012 at 4:07pm 6 Comments

Greetings.

Another post got me curious:  What percentage of your time do you spend writing "traditional" documentation--user guides, online help, quick-start guides, and so on--vs. more bleeding-edge stuff, such as social media, wikis,…

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Sandy Stuckless

New Year's Resolutions

Posted by Sandy Stuckless on January 6, 2012 at 10:07pm 3 Comments

New Years Resolutions.  What to say about new years resolutions.  I hate them.

Ok, so that might be a little strong, but I don't particularly care for them.  I don't swear at midnight on January 1 to lose a few pounds.  You'll not hear me…

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Daniel Mann

Internship questions

Posted by Daniel Mann on December 30, 2011 at 5:13pm 0 Comments

Hello all!I am currently a first year masters student in technical communication. I was wondering if anyone has any advice for obtaining an internship in technical writing. I don't have a whole lot of experience, however I am seeking an…

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Latest Activity

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Mark Baker replied to Gursheesh's discussion 'How important is to give an "Objective" i the beginning of a document?'
If the Objective is not clear from the title, people will not read the document. If the objective is clear from the title, people will not read the Objective section.
5 hours ago
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Sanjay G replied to Sarah Maddox's discussion 'How often do technical writers speak at their own organisation's conferences'
Thank you Sarah for the commendation. Well, i always try to pass on some tips about documentation to developers/testers whenever they are lit bit interested in documentation work. Later, when those developers use my tips, i feel my tips have been…
7 hours ago
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Kai Weber replied to Gursheesh's discussion 'How important is to give an "Objective" i the beginning of a document?'
Hi, Gursheesh, I can offer a couple of ideas: If you have such an "Objective" section at all, it should summarize who should read the document, when and why to read it, and what that person can expect to achieve. "Stating what the…
8 hours ago
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How important is to give an "Objective" i the beginning of a document?

Hello,I work in a small software company. Recently my manager asked me to create a small document on the services that our company offers. I started the document with the "Objective" stating what the document will cover. But my manager did not like…See More
Discussion posted by Gursheesh 13 hours ago
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Sarah Maddox replied to Sarah Maddox's discussion 'How often do technical writers speak at their own organisation's conferences'
Hallo Sanjay It's awesome that you get praise from every quarter. Congrats, especially as you're the only tech writer in the company! Is there any way that you can use your own products in your documentation processes? If so, that's a…
21 hours ago
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Chastin Howerton replied to Chastin Howerton's discussion 'Does anyone use Instagram on behalf of their company?'
Thanks for the info, Adam. I'm following a couple of these already, but didn't think to check out Bravo, REC, or Foursquare. Good suggestions; I'll take a look at those!
21 hours ago
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Events posted by Mitch Willis 22 hours ago
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Daniel Archer replied to Ann Page's discussion 'Developing example scenarios - how do you do it?'
After reading a different discussion, I'm reminded of the value of a development team that values defined personas, use cases, or user stories. A good BA will do 98% of that work for you, and if management is paying attention, the whole project…
22 hours ago
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Daniel Archer replied to Thomas Mauser's discussion 'Estimating a Writing Project'
Exactly. For me, it's all about the UI - how fast will it be ready and how many half-baked iterations of the document are going to be required by the project schedule / client before the UI is really ready? I spend 25-50% of my time making…
22 hours ago
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Daniel Archer replied to Ann Page's discussion 'Developing example scenarios - how do you do it?'
We have a variety of web-based software applications for government clients that in the production environment have a lot of sensitive personal information. We're not allowed to show any of that in the scenarios we develop for user manuals and…
22 hours ago
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Adam Evans replied to Chastin Howerton's discussion 'Does anyone use Instagram on behalf of their company?'
Hi Chastin, I don't use Instagram on behalf of a company, but I follow quite a few. Here's a few to check out:  Bravo Network - bravotv Foursquare - foursquare Starbucks Coffee - starbucks TIME Magazine - time_magazine Red Eye…
23 hours ago
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Melanie Blank replied to Thomas Mauser's discussion 'Estimating a Writing Project'
Jenny - this is helpful, too - thanks, Melanie
yesterday
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Melanie Blank replied to Thomas Mauser's discussion 'Estimating a Writing Project'
Tom - this is a question I have struggled with, and obviously I'm not alone.  Mark brings up some excellent points - I always benefit from his comments.  I'm also thinking of online help projects, where the "per page"…
yesterday
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Oh yes I feel absolutely the same. To be the only one TW is difficult in the small or middle IT company, but sometimes proud.
Status posted by Catherine yesterday
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Sanjay G replied to Sarah Maddox's discussion 'How often do technical writers speak at their own organisation's conferences'
Sarah, i also feel neglected in a crowd of developers and testers. I am the only TW in the company. So people feel that it is an unwanted post in company but when it comes to my outcome of documents and other help documents, they praise comes from…
yesterday
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If those easy-breezy tips on beating procrastination aren't helping, try this: http://ning.it/yG0CY4
Status posted by Milan Davidović yesterday
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Danielle M. Villegas replied to Danielle M. Villegas's discussion 'Best Social Media Tools?'
Thank you, both Chastin and Julie. Great suggestions. At this point, I'm just exploring all my options, and I agree, I need to be careful to not make everything "matchy-matchy" across SM sites. Most likely, I will have to just dive…
yesterday
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Julie Norris replied to Danielle M. Villegas's discussion 'Best Social Media Tools?'
Some analytics tools: SocialMention Twitalyzer (one of my all-time favs) Klout (However, I take it with a grain of salt now. Not everyone signs up all their social accounts.) Zuum PageLever Radian6 TwitterGrader Google Analytics  - all I can…
yesterday
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New book about open source contributions - Open Advice

This book looks pretty interesting: Open Advice - FOSS: What We Wish We Had Known When We Started. It's a collection of articles by well-known open source contributors. The PDF version is…See More
Discussion posted by Sarah Maddox yesterday

Did You Know?

Curious about the difference between a forum post and a blog post?

The forum is a great place to start a discussion or collect feedback from the community. Consider creating a blog post if you would like to share an article of interest with the community.

Forum

Gursheesh

How important is to give an "Objective" i the beginning of a document?

Started by Gursheesh in Questions, Opinions, and Thoughts. Last reply by Mark Baker 5 hours ago. 2 Replies

Hello,I work in a small software company. Recently my manager asked me to create a small document on the services that our company offers. I started the document with the "Objective" stating what the document will cover. But my manager did not like the "Objective" part in the document and he wanted me to convince him that why it is required.Please help me with this.Regards,GursheeshContinue

Sarah Maddox

How often do technical writers speak at their own organisation's conferences

Started by Sarah Maddox in Software and Stuff. Last reply by Sanjay G 7 hours ago. 13 Replies

I'm thinking of putting together a proposal to speak at my company's annual conference. It's a big event, and it would be pretty cool to see a topic about technical documentation included in the line-up. I spoke at the conference two years ago. My presentation was well received and gave quite a lift to the technical writing team within the organisation as a whole. This has led me to wondering how often technical writers get an opportunity like this. Have you done it, and what sort of feedback…Continue

Chastin Howerton

Does anyone use Instagram on behalf of their company?

Started by Chastin Howerton in Questions, Opinions, and Thoughts. Last reply by Chastin Howerton 21 hours ago. 2 Replies

I am one of the social media admins for a small software company, and I am interested in sharing their unique culture and perspectives via instagram. I have a personal account and enjoy viewing posts from other local businesses, but I'm not sure how well this would work.Is anyone else using instagram for a similar purpose? I don't know of very many businesses using this application, so I'm not sure who to even follow.Thoughts? Opinions? Start-up tips or tricks?Continue

Ann Page

Developing example scenarios - how do you do it?

Started by Ann Page in Questions, Opinions, and Thoughts. Last reply by Daniel Archer 22 hours ago. 7 Replies

I'm curious how other tech writers develop examples to support your work, such as example scenarios that support tasks or other text, or example data that is shown in a screenshot or video. Do you make up a fake user or company that readers can relate to? Do you get permission from a real customer/client and use their data in examples? Do you simply make examples directed to the users as "you?" Such as, "You have an XYZ product you want to sell..."Continue

Tags: examples

Thomas Mauser

Estimating a Writing Project

Started by Thomas Mauser in Software and Stuff. Last reply by Daniel Archer 22 hours ago. 7 Replies

On a given technical communications project that involves the creation of a user manual or documentation, how does one estimate effort? Is there a standard level of effort (e.g., 3-5 hours per page?) that is used as a rule of thumb or does it vary depending on the size and complexity of the writing project? Appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience estimating technical communications projects. Tom Mauser, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Continue

Danielle M. Villegas

Best Social Media Tools?

Started by Danielle M. Villegas in Questions, Opinions, and Thoughts. Last reply by Danielle M. Villegas yesterday. 3 Replies

Hello all--This is the first time I'm posting something on these forum walls. I'm a student in her last semester of grad school earning her MS in Professional and Technical Communications who is also job hunting right now, as the contract on my last position ended last week. I had a great phone interview with a place that is looking to step up their web presence and they see social media as the answer. I participate in Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and have a just a little experience with…Continue

Tags: analytics, tools, media, social

Sarah Maddox

New book about open source contributions - Open Advice

Started by Sarah Maddox in Questions, Opinions, and Thoughts yesterday. 0 Replies

This book looks pretty interesting: Open Advice - FOSS: What We Wish We Had Known When We Started. It's a collection of articles by well-known open source contributors. The PDF version is available under a CC-BY-SA licence. You can also buy a printed copy or get an ebook version at the website: Open Advice.The book…Continue

Tiffany Shoemaker

Survey Questions for our customers

Started by Tiffany Shoemaker in Software and Stuff. Last reply by Mark Baker on Friday. 5 Replies

Hello,We just created a new department at our company for product documentation. Our current product documentation is about 3+ years out of date. We would like to start fresh and get an idea from customers what their thoughts are on the layout of our current product documentation, their preferred output, etc... Has anyone sent out a survey to your customer base? If so, would you be willing to share some of the questions you asked to help you understand how to improve your documentation, along…Continue

Tags: Survey

Daniel Berman

Receiving feedback on Online Help

Started by Daniel Berman in Software and Stuff. Last reply by Dave Wilks on Thursday. 18 Replies

What direct method do you use to receive feedback from readers of your Online Help, if at all? How do you feel about embedded forms on the pages themselves as opposed to a link to a form or via forums?Continue

Arnold Burian

New feature: new activity indicator

Started by Arnold Burian in Site Announcements Feb 15. 0 Replies

The Latest Activity feed now shows an indicator when new items are available. Click that button, and the feed will refresh. Right now, we are loading in the most recent 30 items, but we may change that over time as we monitor how this is being used.We hope you find this useful!Continue

Tags: feed, activity, latest, feature, new

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