Making a list, checking it twice… or three times… How do you test your Troubleshooting Guide after you write it? One way is to create a checklist and test each part individually. This also helps System Administrators and Software Testers to double-check that all procedures have been completed correctly. Ok, less talk from me. Let’s […]
Is there anything worse than sending out an important document and then, just when it’s gone, finding a typo? Always leave some time to check your documents before you send them out. Here’s a checklist to get you started. Proof-reading Checklist Select the entire document – CTRL+A – then click the Language option at the […]
This checklist helps you test User Guides and other technical documents. The first step is to ensure the following is in place. Setup the necessary technical environment. Make sure this reflects the user’s settings or as close to as possible. Print out the procedures. Follow the instructions as per the document. Aim to identify any […]
I upgraded to Camtasia 6 at the weekend (from v4) mostly to import and edit .MOV files. These are created by my faithful Canon Powershot when I shot videos. Sony makes AVIs. The other reason was to do more heavy lifting with Camtasia. I have tons on material on the hard-disk and want to get […]
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 I choose? Robohelp or Doc-to-Help Doc-to-Help was the first help authoring tool (HAT) I used in my technical writing […]
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 otherwise – but once I got the hang of it, I used it non-stop for […]