Posts by Ugur Akinci
How to Write Perfect Technical Article or Document Titles and Subtitles
Titles are sometimes also called “headings”, “headlines” or even “headers” (mostly by technical writers coming from a journalism background). Subtitles are sometimes also referred to as “subheadings” or “subheaders.” But a title is used only once in an article or a document: in the very beginning. That’s why an article, a book, or a document…
Read MoreNetwork Documentation: “What’s a HUB, a SWITCH, and a ROUTER?”
Network terminology comes up in all kinds of hi-tech documentation, whether you’re documenting a network or not since there are a lot of software-hardware systems out there that are installed as one network or another. So it would really help you if you knew the basics of network technology and the terms and concepts that…
Read MoreHow to Draw a Circuit Resistor with Adobe Illustrator
Resistors are common components of many electrical circuit diagrams. Here is how you can draw a good-looking resistor in Adobe Illustrator: (1) Draw a straight line with the Pen tool and select it. (2) Select Effect > Distort & Transform > Zig Zag from the main menu to display the Zig Zag dialog box: (3)…
Read MoreHow to Wrap Text Around an Image in an Adobe FrameMaker Document
Adobe FrameMaker is no InDesign: it does not have a lot of text-wrap options. But you can still do it with the following two conditions: 1) Wrapping only in the RIGHT or LEFT side of the text frame. 2) Wrapping around a SQUARE or RECTANGLE outline. If you have any other kind of text-wrapping in…
Read MoreHow to Use the Same FrameMaker Master Pages in Multiple Documents
Problem You have created a set of great master pages in FrameMaker for Document A. Then, you started creating Document B but you still want to use the same master pages that you’ve created for Document A. How would you do it? Solution Very easy. (1) Save Document A as your template file (let’s call…
Read More5 Things That Will Never Change Despite Technological Changes in Technical Writing
© Ugur Akinci The technology of technical writing is changing really fast. But the thing is we don’t really need to keep up with all of it, depending on where we stand in the overall landscape of technical communications. Or let me put it this way: there are things that will never change as long…
Read MoreFeature Phone vs. Smartphone: the Challenge of Phone Terminology for Technical Writers
Fast changing state of phone terminology is a challenge for all technical communicators. Did you also notice that we’re not using the word “telephone” anymore? And of course I’m not even mentioning that other tele-word that has disappeared from our universe with the invention of email: telegram. But what about “phones”? And “mobile devices”? Or…
Read More4 Book Components to Disappear from Technical Documents in the Long Run
Here are four book components that I think we won’t come across too frequently in the future when we read a single-sourced technical document: 1) Headers and Footers 2) Chapters 3) Page Numbers 4) TOC Headers and footers have been inseparable components of the traditional book metaphor, the “codex” as it’s also known, for over…
Read MoreTechnical Writing Online Course
We are proud to offer our beginner-level technical communication online course: Professional Technical Writing: Advance Your Writing Skills This is a practical hands-on introduction to technical writing for all beginner writers or those who are considering to make a career change and becoming technical writers. Comes with 30-Days 100% Money Back Guarantee! “Why should I…
Read MoreHow to Ensure High Quality in Technical Writing
“Can you tell us more about quality in technical writing?” a reader asked yesterday, in a private email. Here are my thoughts on the topic: 1) Quality starts with intra-team cohesion if you are working as a part of a technical writing team. If you’re a lone writer, this means you should either have your own…
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