2010 archives
Martin Luther and Technical Communication | Dec 29, 2010
Technical Writing – Making Resolutions for the New Year | Dec 27, 2010
When Your WordPress Upgrade Fails | Dec 26, 2010
Screencasting Tip: Self-Dub the Audio | Dec 26, 2010
Participatory Economics: Are Companies Budgeting for Social Media? | Dec 23, 2010
Why I'm So Visible | Dec 22, 2010
Content Curation versus Content Creation | Dec 22, 2010
Does Tech Comm Fit into Mobile Trends? | Dec 21, 2010
Give the Perfect Gift this Season: A Laminated Quick Reference Guide | Dec 20, 2010
"Known Limitations": Making the Negative Space of Help Content a Little More Explicit | Dec 16, 2010
Do community efforts work? | Dec 14, 2010
My Comments on "Best Careers 2011: Technical Writer - US News and World Report" | Dec 10, 2010
Simplicity in a 550 page manual? | Dec 9, 2010
WordPress Tip: Integrating a WordPress Blog into your Website | Dec 9, 2010
The Perfect Voice -- Professional or Authentic? | Dec 7, 2010
Doc Plan Pains and Empowerment | Dec 3, 2010
Adobe Illustrator and InDesign Integration with Layered Images [Visual Imagination #3] | Dec 2, 2010
Technology vs. Content, or Why Teaching WordPress Is Frustrating | Nov 29, 2010
Review of Alan Porter's Wiki: Grow Your Own for Fun and Profit | Nov 25, 2010
Forum → Wiki → Blog Workflow | Nov 24, 2010
Podcast: Educational Programs and Workplace Practices | Nov 23, 2010
Tactics for Survival: A Technical Writers Field Guide to Overcoming the Forces of Petty PMs and Broken IT Environments | Nov 22, 2010
My Brand Is ... | Nov 18, 2010
Diverse Content and the Long Tail of Search Engine Metrics | Nov 16, 2010
10 Quick Tips for Project Managers about Help Content | Nov 11, 2010
When Help Content Is Forgotten | Nov 10, 2010
Text Matters | Nov 5, 2010
"I need your help with some documentation" (Xtranormal Movies) | Nov 4, 2010
What Is Chartjunk? [Visual Imagination #2] | Nov 1, 2010
Being Contrarian | Oct 29, 2010
What's the Statistical ROI of Technical Documentation? [Collaborative Post] | Oct 27, 2010
Strategy Versus Tactics and the Ongoing Debate about Roles | Oct 26, 2010
Why Help Content Fails and #contentstrategy | Oct 22, 2010
Technical Writing Is More Than "Click This, Select That" [Podcast] | Oct 21, 2010
Why Tech Comm Is a Career Path of Last Resort for Students | Oct 19, 2010
Are Academics Just Talking to Themselves? | Oct 18, 2010
Technical Communication Careers: Getting Started and Finding Your Niche (BYU Idaho Presentation) | Oct 13, 2010
Guest Post on Firehead Blog -- "Finding a Content Strategy for Your Blog" | Oct 11, 2010
Paper.li as an Alternative to Google Reader [Screencast] | Oct 8, 2010
Podcast: Finding and Creating Relevant Content -- Strategies for Social Media | Oct 8, 2010
Podcast: Developing a Personal Voice in Audio (Intermountain-STC event) | Oct 6, 2010
Seeing Before Reading: Messages Encoded in the Design of Information [Visual Imagination #2] | Oct 5, 2010
The Increasing Momentum of Content Strategy | Oct 4, 2010
Eight Defining Questions that Shape Content Organization [Organizing Content #29] | Oct 1, 2010
Students Contemplate Whether a Technical Writing Career Will Be Fulfilling | Sep 30, 2010
Visuals Engage Users -- Why Aren't There More Illustrations in Help Content? [Visual Imagination #1] | Sep 28, 2010
Organizing Content for Constructivist Learning [Organizing Content #28] | Sep 27, 2010
Substandard Wages for Technical Writers: A Growing Trend? | Sep 23, 2010
Is Rhetoric Relevant? Considering the "Message in Context" [Organizing Content #27] | Sep 22, 2010
WordPress Tip: The Concept of Inheritance with CSS | Sep 19, 2010
WordPress Tip: Change Your Post Title Color | Sep 18, 2010
Why No One Will Hire You: 40 Professionals Give Advice on Improving a Technical Writer's Resume [Collaborative Post] | Sep 17, 2010
Downloading Audio from the STC Summit | Sep 17, 2010
WordPress Tip: Changing the Styles on Your WordPres Blog | Sep 16, 2010
Instructional Design Versus Technical Communication | Sep 16, 2010
Searching STC Resources for Information | Sep 15, 2010
WordPress Tip: Making Your WP-CONFIG File Secure | Sep 14, 2010
You learn more from users in 5 minutes than you do from 2 weeks of project meetings | Sep 14, 2010
WordPress Tip: Editing Posts in Bulk | Sep 13, 2010
WordPress Tip: Inserting a Gallery of Images into a Post | Sep 12, 2010
WordPress Tip: Adding Custom Fields in Posts | Sep 11, 2010
40 Foundational Books for Technical Writing | Sep 10, 2010
WordPress Tip: Implementing Photo Galleries | Sep 9, 2010
Why Learning Software Is So Hard, and Organizing Content into Levels [Organizing Content #26] | Sep 9, 2010
WordPress Tip: Moving Images with Site Migrations | Sep 8, 2010
WordPress Tip: Adding an Edit Link for Each Post | Sep 7, 2010
More Students Questions about Technical Writing | Sep 7, 2010
The Importance of Visual Communication, or How to Build a Dirt Sifter | Sep 6, 2010
WordPress Tip: Showing Ads in Your Sidebar | Sep 6, 2010
Answers About the Field of Technical Writing for Students | Sep 6, 2010
WordPress Tip: Making Elements Overlap on Your Site | Sep 5, 2010
WordPress Tip: Eliminating Spam | Sep 4, 2010
New Baby Molly | Sep 3, 2010
Organizing for Learnability [Organizing Content #25] | Sep 1, 2010
WordPress Tip: Showing the Full Content Versus the Excerpt | Aug 31, 2010
WordPress Tip: Improve Your Blog's Loading Speed | Aug 30, 2010
Perspectives on a Career in Technical Writing: Responses from 16 Tech Comm Professionals | Aug 30, 2010
I miss working with my hands | Aug 25, 2010
100 Rejected Summit Proposals | Aug 24, 2010
Best Practices for Writing Interface Text [Organizing Content #24] | Aug 13, 2010
The Interface Is Text [Organizing Content #23] | Aug 11, 2010
WordPress Tip: When you Forget your WordPress Username and Password | Aug 10, 2010
The Technical Writer as an Outsider: How Ambitious Are You? [Organizing Content #22] | Aug 6, 2010
WordPress Tip: Embed a Video into a Post Using WordPress's Auto-Embed Feature | Aug 4, 2010
Editorial Strategies and Mind Games | Aug 3, 2010
Introduction to WordPress -- Recording of WordPress Webinar | Aug 2, 2010
Principles for Organizing Print Material [Organizing Content #21] | Jul 30, 2010
The Role of the Gatekeeper | Jul 28, 2010
Relying on the Wisdom of the Crowds with Help Authoring [Organizing Content #20] | Jul 27, 2010
WordPress Tip: Integrate Constant Contact with WordPress | Jul 27, 2010
Moving into Technical Writing -- A DICE Article and More Links | Jul 22, 2010
WordCamp Utah is August 28 | Jul 22, 2010
Emergence [Organizing Content #19] | Jul 20, 2010
Replaceability | Jul 19, 2010
Captivate Versus Camtasia Studio | Jul 18, 2010
Message from the Sponsors, July 16 | Jul 16, 2010
Problem Solving and Sprinkler Repair | Jul 15, 2010
WordPress Webinar July 13 with the STC Consulting and Independent Contracting SIG | Jul 12, 2010
Add WordPress 3.0 Navigation System to Your Site | Jul 12, 2010
Free Copy of Camtasia Studio 7 and Snagit 10 | Jul 12, 2010
24 Hours of Screencasts with Camtasia Studio | Jul 12, 2010
Showing Youtube Captions by Default in Another Language | Jul 8, 2010
Separating Basic from Advanced Topics: How Twitter Organizes Their Help [Organizing Content #18] | Jul 8, 2010
Do Some Project Managers Suffer from the Dunning-Kruger Effect? | Jul 7, 2010
"Load config.xml failed" message with Notepad++ | Jul 6, 2010
Does a Technical Writer Need to Understand Web Design? | Jul 6, 2010
Save $50 on Registration to Lavacon Conference in San Diego | Jul 4, 2010
Breaking Things as a Form of Creativity | Jul 1, 2010
Organizing Content as Story [Organizing Content #17] | Jun 29, 2010
Tiny Tasks and Content Dilution | Jun 29, 2010
With Blog Usability, Provide Context and Avoid Mystery Puzzles | Jun 28, 2010
Experimenting with a New STC Chapter Meeting Model | Jun 28, 2010
Designing from the Content/Story Out | Jun 28, 2010
Can Blogs Work as a Web Platform for Help? [Organizing Content 16] | Jun 23, 2010
Madcap Software Launches MadNewz Newsletter | Jun 22, 2010
Removing Inline Links to Increase Readability | Jun 19, 2010
Lavacon's Web 2.0 Conference Website | Jun 18, 2010
Dr.Explain is a Gold Sponsor of the European User Assistance Conference 2010 | Jun 17, 2010
e-Learning Event Coming Up This Friday (Utah location) | Jun 17, 2010
Faulty Assumptions About the Scope of Help Content? [Organizing Content 15] | Jun 11, 2010
The Semantic Web and Content Findability: Interview with Patrick Warren [Organizing Content 14] | Jun 10, 2010
Using Mediawiki Templates to Organize Content [Organizing Content 13] | Jun 9, 2010
New Menu Navigation System in WordPress 3.0 | Jun 9, 2010
Help Authoring Tool Comparison from Sarah Maddox | Jun 9, 2010
From Help Authoring Tools to Web Tools, Especially Wikis [Organizing Content 12] | Jun 3, 2010
WordPress Tip: There's a Plugin for That | May 30, 2010
Search Engine Optimizing Your Help Content for Google [Organizing Content 11] | May 28, 2010
Figuring Out Search Algorithms [Organizing Content 10] | May 27, 2010
Browse Versus Search: Stumbling into the Unknown Unknown [Organizing Content 9] | May 26, 2010
Second-Level Faceted Navigation [Organizing Content 8] | May 25, 2010
WordPress Tip: Backing Up Your Database | May 24, 2010
Implementing Faceted Classification/Search with a Help Authoring Tool [Organizing Content 7] | May 21, 2010
Faceted Classification, Faceted Search [Organizing Content 6] | May 20, 2010
Topic-Based, Hierarchical Navigation [Organizing Content 5] | May 19, 2010
Imposing Order Versus Observing Order [Organizing Content 4] | May 18, 2010
Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold [Organizing Content 3] | May 17, 2010
Introducing Project Swordfish [Organizing Content 2] | May 17, 2010
New Series: Organizing Content [Organizing Content 1] | May 17, 2010
25 Facets for Navigation [Organizing Content 5] | May 17, 2010
Changing Your Career to Technical Writing [Guest Responses from Bill Albing and Alyssa Fox] | May 16, 2010
"Tom Johnson: A Modern Day Technical Writer" -- NIU Article | May 16, 2010
WordPress Tip: Creating WordPress Themes to Match Existing Sites | May 15, 2010
A Few Ways to Make the Next STC Summit Better, #stc10 | May 11, 2010
Videocast Gallery from the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
Finding Time to Draw: Ben Minson at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
New Variables for Technical Writing Project Managers: Larry Kunz at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
Tough Situations for Technical Communication Managers: Saul Carliner at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
The Do-It-Yourself Philosophy: Saul Carliner at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
SXSW Conference Versus STC Summit: Anne Gentle and Janet Swisher at the STC Summit, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
Simple Tips for Website Accessibility: Brenda Huettner at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
Old Guard Versus New Guard: Whitney Hess at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 9, 2010
Pay-per-Content Versus Free: Char James-Tanny and Bill Swallow at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 7, 2010
Upcoming Books from XML Press: Richard Hamilton at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 7, 2010
Embedded Links and Online Reading Accessibility: Whitney Quesenbery and Caroline Jarrett, #stc10 | May 7, 2010
Breaking into the Mobile Market: Joe Welinski at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 7, 2010
The Art of Questioning: Rich Maggiani at the STC Summit, #stc10 | May 6, 2010
Storytelling for User Experience: Whitney Quesenbery at the STC Summit #stc10 | May 6, 2010
Trending Towards Mobile: Neil Perlin at the STC Summit #stc10 | May 4, 2010
Trust and Transparency: Leadership Day at the STC Summit #stc10 | May 3, 2010
What I'm presenting on at the STC Summit in Dallas, #stc10 | May 1, 2010
The Compulsion to Figure Things Out | Apr 30, 2010
Quoted in Technical Writing Careers Blurb in U.S. News & World Report | Apr 29, 2010
“Blogs are Still Where Substantive Conversations are Happening.” | Apr 29, 2010
Typography for Lawyers | Apr 29, 2010
Podcast: From Overlooked to Center Stage (Overlooked) | Apr 28, 2010
Message from the Sponsors -- April 27, 2010 | Apr 27, 2010
Why Tech Comm Professors Don't Teach Video | Apr 27, 2010
Story (Overlooked) | Apr 26, 2010
Why Usability is Praised and Tech Comm is Ignored | Apr 26, 2010
Podcast: “Anyone Can Write”: Changing Roles for Technical Communicators | Apr 26, 2010
Podcast: Trends in Technical Communication | Apr 25, 2010
Epiphany: Cross Pollination (Overlooked) | Apr 25, 2010
Crisis Point: Problems with Multiple Roles (Overlooked) | Apr 24, 2010
Catalyst 4: Wiki Manager (Overlooked) | Apr 23, 2010
Catalyst 6: QA Testing (Overlooked) | Apr 22, 2010
Catalyst 2: User Experience (Overlooked) | Apr 21, 2010
Catalyst 1: Audiovisual Role (Overlooked) | Apr 20, 2010
The Long Tail Applied to Writing | Apr 20, 2010
The Yearning: Career Trajectory (Overlooked) | Apr 19, 2010
WordPress Tip: Quick Tip for Reducing Spam | Apr 18, 2010
The Problem: "Just a Writer" (Overlooked) | Apr 18, 2010
Intro to From Overlooked to Center Stage (Overlooked) | Apr 17, 2010
Presenting at the Atlanta Currents Conference (Overlooked) | Apr 11, 2010
Podcast: Ten Voiceover Techniques (PodcampSLC) | Apr 11, 2010
Why "This American Life" Is My Favorite Podcast | Apr 7, 2010
My STC Summit Proceedings paper on voiceover techniques (Voiceover) | Apr 7, 2010
Feasibility, Believability, and Fixability: Three Reasons Not to Use a Professional Voiceover Actor | Apr 2, 2010
Comparing Creative Writing with Technical Writing (2 min Videocast) | Apr 1, 2010
Message from the Sponsors — March 30, 2010 Dr. Explain, Madcap Software, & more | Mar 30, 2010
When Social Media Becomes Hollow | Mar 29, 2010
Breathing correctly (Voiceover) | Mar 26, 2010
Recording with the right microphone (Voiceover techniques) | Mar 25, 2010
Adding inflection (Voiceover) | Mar 23, 2010
Fixing Fumbled Sentences | Mar 17, 2010
WordPress Tip: Integrate Google Calendar into WordPress | Mar 16, 2010
Avoiding phlegm in your throat with voiceovers (Voiceover) | Mar 12, 2010
Smiling while you narrate (Voiceover) | Mar 11, 2010
Avoiding plosives and breathing noises (Voiceover) | Mar 10, 2010
Avoiding a sense of rambling (Voiceover) | Mar 9, 2010
Sounding natural (Voiceover) | Mar 8, 2010
Finding an acoustic environment (Voiceover) | Mar 4, 2010
Message from the Sponsors | Mar 3, 2010
Podcast: What's New in Flare 6 — Interview with Mike Hamilton | Mar 2, 2010
Podcast: Documentation in the Cloud | Mar 1, 2010
WordPress Tip: Avoid Getting Hacked through Bluehost's cPanel | Feb 27, 2010
Finding Space to Breathe: Managing Overwhelming End-of-Project Tasks | Feb 26, 2010
Together or Apart: Collaboration Models for Technical Writing | Feb 22, 2010
The Art of Asking Questions | Feb 17, 2010
Praise: The Worst Feedback You Can Give Developers? | Feb 15, 2010
"I never really understood that feature, so I left it alone..." | Feb 12, 2010
The Common Language Everyone Speaks | Feb 10, 2010
Cures for the Information Exclusion Complex | Feb 8, 2010
WordPress Tip: Add More Widget Areas to Your WordPress Theme | Feb 7, 2010
What Would a WordPress Template for Chapter Sites Look Like? | Feb 2, 2010
Fragmented Communities and the Chapter/SIG Web Site Problem | Feb 1, 2010
Madcap Flare's Extensibility: Adding jQuery to Flare | Jan 26, 2010
Web Site Critique and WordPress Q&A Webinar This Thursday | Jan 26, 2010
Podcast: Riding the Tide of Technical Communications Consulting | Jan 21, 2010
Intermountain STC Chapter Meeting This Wednesday at 7 pm | Jan 19, 2010
The Turnaround Screencast | Jan 19, 2010
DITA Features in Madcap Flare Webcast Tuesday at 11 a.m. EST from Scriptorium | Jan 19, 2010
How to Embed Video on a Web Page | Jan 16, 2010
Trying to Find a Theater Stage/Voice for an Impossible Situation | Jan 14, 2010
Notes on My Latest Screencasts | Jan 12, 2010
Implementing Google Custom Search on WordPress | Jan 8, 2010
The Case of the Stolen Documentation | Jan 6, 2010
Directions I'm Going in 2010 | Jan 4, 2010
Aligning Yourself with a Cause | Jan 2, 2010
About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.
If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.