Product management uses technical writer focus groups to force teams to write FrameMaker documentation with Word. TechWhirl has uncovered evidence that Adobe’s documentation team is allegedly in the ...

Here’s the scenario: You’re finishing up your latest HTML Help project…no more late nights or weekends…back to a “normal” 50-hour work week. That’s when the development team lead strolls into your ...

Editor’s Note: The following piece, by Jean Hollis Weber, is part of our collection of “classics”–articles that stand the test of time no matter how many technologies come and go. Don’t forget to ...

I was browsing through a long list of contract opportunities for technical writers on the Internet, when I spotted one from a manufacturing company looking for a documentation specialist. It stated ...

This chapter from Steve Hudson’s Work in Progress on Advance Word Usage covers topics such as when to use (and when not to use) master documents, as well as “The Ten Heretical Rules of Masters,” which ...

Editor’s Note: Mark Baker begins his ongoing series on Structured Writing by framing a working definition. Look for future articles on the key concepts of structured writing and their practical ...

In my 30 years as an editor and technical writer, I’ve seen endless examples of how readers can misinterpret texts. In the most egregious cases, I’ve even seen authors misinterpret their own writing, ...

I once received a long writing sample from a technical communication applicant who had written about a complex medical device. The sample demonstrated all the marks of quality: clean and consistent ...

Replace Adobe FrameMaker with OpenOffice.org Writer? Most people’s first reaction is amused disbelief. “FrameMaker is a hugely capable publishing product,” my editor at Newsforge admonished me. “OOo ...

As a technical writer, you likely work with a myriad of different files for each project you work on; a single document or document set can often be derived from dozens if not hundreds of source files ...

First off, web analytics enables technical writers to see how users access your intranet, support web sites, and even help systems that are hosted on a web server. Some writers that I’ve talked to ...

As a technical writer, are you finding yourself wishing for just a bit of respect from the engineers, SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), or other technical people you work with? Are you finding that these ...