Category Archives: Dita

Technical Writing News – FrameMaker Shortcuts, Life-Saving Checklists & Twitter for Professional Development

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Ivan Walsh

  Why are most technical writing blog written by men? Do you think it’s true? This week’s newsletter also has updates on Technical Authoring tools such as ComponentOne’s Editable Data Portals for SharePoint, Morae 3.2 (Techsmith’s best kept secret), and … Continue reading →

Posted in Adobe FrameMaker, Career, Content Management, Dita, Doc 2 Help, News, Snagit, Technical Writers, Technical Writing, Twitter, Visio | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

What Macaulay Culkin Can Teach You About Tech Authoring & Jumping Sharks

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Ivan Walsh

Larry says that last week another technical writer asserted that DITA has “jumped the shark.” “It’s not a new idea. I’ve heard other people say that DITA has already seen its best days, that it’s struggling to remain relevant in a world that’s passed it by. I was amused, I admit, because it was the first time I’d seen DITA compared to a TV show.” Continue reading →

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Technical Writing News Jan 20 – Jumping Sharks, DITA, and Link Journalism

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Ivan Walsh

This week’s technical writing news is thin on product news but has lotsa nice goodies. Janet Swisher on how everybody wins, Ellis on wikis for technical documents, Larry’s DITA jumps sharks, Techsmith integrate Jing (video capture app) into Facebook, Gordon … Continue reading →

Posted in Dita, Facebook, News, Social Media, STC, Technical Writers, Tools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Technical Writing News – Nov 20th

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Ivan

Meet Captain Jing, eat Alphabetti Spaghetti, create lists in Robohelp, move technical writers to network thinking, LaTeX (not that type!), Why I Wasn’t Sold on Single Sourcing, The Moment I Felt Like an Executive, Does Your Company Need a Dedicated … Continue reading →

Posted in Adobe RoboHelp, Content Management, Dita, Doc 2 Help, Google, MadCap Flare, News, Social Media, Technical Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Janet Swisher on FLOSS Manuals, Open Source, and Book Sprints

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Ivan

Want to know how to run an open source ‘book sprint’? Janet Swisher does.

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What are Your Favorite 10 Technical Writing Tools?

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Ivan

I’ve used the same technical writing tools for the last 5 years. A few products have come across my desk but nothing that really blown me away. Here’s a run-down of what I use to write my technical documents. No … Continue reading →

Posted in Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe RoboHelp, Content Management, Dita, MadCap Blaze, MadCap Flare, Screen Capture, Software Development, Technical Writing, Visio, Word 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Robohelp or Doc-to-Help – which one do you recommend?

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Ivan

I have a choice. Robohelp or Doc-to-Help? My client has given me permission to use whatever tool I want to do the next batch of tech docs — and they’ll buy the software. No cost to me. Which one should … Continue reading →

Posted in Adobe RoboHelp, Content Management, Dita, MadCap Flare, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Adobe FrameMaker 9.0.3 Released & Features that SHOULD Work

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Ivan

You can now download the FrameMaker 9.0.3 patch. Mahesh (http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm over on Adobe does a great job of keeping us up to date with all things FrameMaker. This is available through Adobe Update Manager (AUM). This patch (9.0p250) must be … Continue reading →

Posted in Adobe FrameMaker, Dita, Technical Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Top 50 Technical Writers on the Web

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Ivan

I’ve made a list of the top 50 technical writers with a web presence. Some of these you might know, such as Darren Barefoot and Tom Johnson. I have also added some other writers from India, Russia and Israel to reach out to a wider audience. I’m sure there are others that I’ve missed. Let me know and I’ll update the list. Continue reading →

Posted in Adobe FrameMaker, Career, Dita, Freelance, India, STC, Technical Writers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Review EPIC Editor – XML and DITA Authoring Software

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Ivan

Of all the technical writing tools I’ve used over the years, Epic Editor was probably the most impressive, especially when it came to doing tech documents that involved DocBook and Dita. It was difficult to learn – no point pretending … Continue reading →

Posted in Content Management, Dita, How To, Reviews, Technical Writing, Tips, Word 2007 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Most Technical Writers to work in Structured Authoring environment by 2010

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Ivan

In a recent survey, Scriptorium Publishing found that a majority of technical writers will be working in a structured authoring environment by 2010. Continue reading →

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Free version of Serna XML editor for Technical Writers

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Ivan

Syntext has released a free edition of its Serna XML editor. This is designed for technical writers who work with DITA, DocBook and other common XML formats. Continue reading →

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DocBook: The Definitive Guide free online

Posted on November 15, 2007 by Ivan Walsh

You can now download DocBook: The Definitive Guide by Norman Walsh. You can copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, as spelled out in the book’s legal notice. According to its authors: … Continue reading →

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