Posts Tagged ‘Technical Writing’
Technical Writing – How to Use the Pending Marker in FrameMaker
Introduction FrameMaker (FM) is such a wonderful software to write long and complicated books and documents. In my 20-plus years of experience as a writer and information designer, nothing came close. FM has a very powerful built-in marker functionality with which you can mark not only your index words and cross-references, but your “pending stuff”…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – Who Needs Technical Writers and Communicators?
Here is a short and random list of companies that regularly look for technical writers: Software, hardware, networking companies, security access equipment manufacturers, medical manufacturers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, all government agencies, publishers and advertisement agencies, military installations and agencies, all Fortune 500 corporations, all non-profits, Internet and web companies, all international organizations like the United…
Read MoreThe Difference Between Acrobat Reader and Acrobat "Writer"
© Ugur Akinci NOTE: Acrobat “Writer” is the informal term with which many technical users refer to “Adobe Acrobat Pro” PDF editor. This is perhaps elementary but still I get emails and phone calls now and then from readers who are frustrated because their Acrobat won’t “behave properly.” What they specifically complain about is that…
Read MoreTwo Different Types of Software User Manuals in Technical Writing
© Ugur Akinci In technical writing, there are two different but related types of software user manuals and I call them “Button Guides” and “Procedural Tutorials”. A FUNCTION or GUI INTERFACE MANUAL explains what each “button”, or the graphic user interface (GUI) element that one sees on a screen, is all about and how does…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – How to Easily Find Differences Between Two MS Word Documents
Here is a task that a lot of technical writers have been confronted with in the past: 1. You have two documents, with slight differences between them. This happens, for example, when someone has edited a text but did not save any editing marks with the document. Or you might be handed two different versions…
Read More
Display Framemaker Conditional Text by Using a Single Text Block
A Framemaker User Case Let’s say as a technical writer you want to display different versions of the same text in a FrameMaker technical document. You’d like to toggle different versions on and off. There is one condition however: you do not want to use multiple copies of the same text block (with perhaps different…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – How Wikis will Transform Technical Writers into Information Coordinators
In case you are not too familiar with it, Wiki is a web site that can be built by many authors together. That’s its most basic definition. But “wiki,” which means “quick” in Hawaiian, refers to the application that makes a wiki web site possible as well. wikipedia is the world’s best known wiki but,…
Read More9-Point Checklist for Technical Writers
If you are just starting out on your professional career or thinking to make a career change, you might want to use the below check list to see if technical writing would be a correct choice for you. 1) Are you good with language? Have you been noted since you were a child for your…
Read MoreHow to Write a Style Guide – plus, a DIRECTORY
Posted a new page on how to write a Style Guide, together with a comprehensive directory of Style Guides. Click here to read it
Read More
How to Become a Technical Writer: A Beginner’s Guide
Introduction Are you a high school student planning to become a technical writer? Then, first of all, pay attention to your science classes. Work as hard as you can on your math, physics, chemistry, computer, biology/life science classes since you need to have a good foundation in those subjects. Secondly, learn your English and composition…
Read More