I’d Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson

An Article That Changed My Approach to Help

Thursday, August 7th, 2008 Posted in Technical Writing, usability | 11 Comments »

After a topic title in your help, what do you write? Do you jump straight into the numbered steps, or do you explain why a user would likely perform the ... Read more..

The Kind of Documentation Users Really Want

Sunday, June 15th, 2008 Posted in Technical Writing | 13 Comments »

Have you ever asked your users what kind of training materials they want, or how they prefer to learn software? This kind of information is critical to figuring out what ... Read more..

My Love Affair with Drop-Down Hotspots Ends

Thursday, February 21st, 2008 Posted in Technical Writing | 13 Comments »

I used to think drop-down hotspots were the cat's pajamas, until I realized they're problematic for single source chunking. Let me elaborate. Drop-down hotspots seem like they'd be all the rage ... Read more..

Are Gerunds in Topic Titles Problematic in Search Results?

Monday, February 11th, 2008 Posted in Technical Writing | 25 Comments »

I've been accustomed to writing topic titles as gerunds (for example, "Configuring the Monitor Display" or "Reformatting Your Hard Drive"), followed by specific steps that would begin, "To configure the ... Read more..

A Web 2.0 Documentation Idea Gone Wrong

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 Posted in Technical Writing, Web 2.0 | 7 Comments »

Many of us want to integrate innovative Web 2.0 practices into our online help. But if we create blogs, wikis, or other interactive features outside the help file, users ... Read more..

Adventures with the New Technical Communication Suite from Adobe (mostly RoboHelp 7 and Captivate)

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 22 Comments »

Rob Houser's recent article in Writers UA, "What's New in RoboHelp 7?", is a thorough, insightful article I highly recommend. After reading his review, I thought I'd post a few ... Read more..

Why People Think Help Is Useless, and How To Change This Thought

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 19 Comments »

I've been rethinking a previous post I wrote about the best response to the remark, "Nobody reads the help anyway. " A better response is to ask people (at just ... Read more..

A Good Response to “No One Reads the Help Anyway”

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 15 Comments »

In this three-minute STC Atlanta podcast, Judy Glick Smith says she's tired of trying to convince sales people of the value of documentation. She says she's "tired of fighting the ... Read more..

Adding a Send Feedback link to Your Online Help / RoboHelp Project

Friday, December 7th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 7 Comments »

I was reading an article in a previous STC Intercom magazine about how to add a Send Feedback link to your online help project, but the javascript didn't work. Here's ... Read more..

Sample Integration of Captivate Screen Demos in RoboHelp Hotspots

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 4 Comments »

I made a help file showing a sample integration of Captivate with Robohelp, specifically showing screen demos inside hotspots. I like that the screen demos hide so nicely. (The content of ... Read more..

MadCap Software Sponsors the Tech Writer Voices Podcast

Monday, November 5th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 13 Comments »

I'm proud to welcome another sponsor to the Tech Writer Voices podcast: MadCap Flare. You may be wondering exactly what sponsorship involves. Basically, it's different for each company, but I'm offering ... Read more..

Madcap Flare Spotlight — “Six Persistent Flare Problems” Post by Paul Pehrson

Thursday, June 14th, 2007 Posted in Technical Writing | 3 Comments »

Update Feb 2008: If you read Paul's post at the link below, almost everything is now crossed out, because Madcap has either fixed all the problems Paul raised or they ... Read more..