2015 archives
My 2016 technical writing trends and predictions, or the ripple effects of API growth on technical writers | Dec 29, 2015
Recording of Creating Documentation for Startups: Panel Discussion -- Write the Docs San Francisco | Dec 22, 2015
My upcoming 2016 STC Summit workshop and presentation | Dec 22, 2015
How do you stay updated with changes developers are silently making? | Dec 20, 2015
Those pesky authoring tool questions, and an update on my adventures with Jekyll | Dec 19, 2015
Recording of Version Control, Writers, and Worfklows by Richard Mateosian | Dec 17, 2015
Question: How long does it take to ramp up on your Jekyll theme? | Dec 14, 2015
Swagger UI probably the coolest thing I've done in API docs | Dec 13, 2015
10 realizations as I was creating my Swagger spec and Swagger UI | Dec 10, 2015
Guest Post: Could Software Perform Technical Writing? by Robert Desprez | Dec 4, 2015
Single sourcing the Swagger spec and main documentation using Jekyll | Dec 3, 2015
Version 4.0 released for the Jekyll Documentation Theme | Dec 3, 2015
Planning my API doc course | Nov 29, 2015
Upcoming Write the Docs Meetup | Nov 17, 2015
My pros and cons of using Jekyll for documentation | Nov 17, 2015
Can you replace a CCMS with version control such as Git or Mercurial? | Nov 6, 2015
Tell me about your career as a technical writer... | Nov 4, 2015
Why incremental regeneration in Jekyll 3.0 is such a big deal | Nov 4, 2015
Increase efficiency 24 times faster when fixing errors — implications for technical writers on agile teams | Oct 27, 2015
Podcast: Spec-driven Development of REST APIs, with a focus on RAML -- interview with Michael Stowe | Oct 12, 2015
Udemy podcast (with me) and infographic on technical writing | Oct 6, 2015
5 REST API resources to add to your reading list | Oct 3, 2015
Tutorial for creating interactive consoles with RAML | Oct 3, 2015
Question: If you weren't a technical writer, what would you be? | Oct 2, 2015
Why so little focus on API doc at tech comm conferences? | Sep 30, 2015
Question: Can I earn a living blogging? | Sep 30, 2015
Question: How long has your API doc course been available? | Sep 29, 2015
Question: How are you publishing and delivering your docs? | Sep 29, 2015
Question: How do I tell what platform people are using for API docs? | Sep 28, 2015
Experimenting with a shorter post style | Sep 26, 2015
Added native library API section to API doc course | Sep 26, 2015
Upcoming "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) session | Sep 14, 2015
Swagger tutorial for REST API documentation | Sep 14, 2015
Survey analyzing skill requirements in job postings | Sep 12, 2015
How to avoid broken links when single sourcing | Sep 11, 2015
Editing workflows and reviews through Github's pull requests | Sep 10, 2015
Comparing object-oriented design to content reuse | Sep 10, 2015
How authorization works with APIs | Sep 4, 2015
What is a REST API? | Aug 28, 2015
Proposals for 2016 *STC Silicon Valley Chapter* presentations now accepted | Aug 27, 2015
My process for creating vector diagrams with Illustrator | Aug 23, 2015
Version 3.0 of my Documentation theme for Jekyll released | Aug 13, 2015
Question: What qualities should technical writers have to work at startups? | Aug 12, 2015
Podcast: The divide between academics and practitioners -- Interview with Lisa Meloncon | Aug 10, 2015
Why is there a divide between academics and practitioners in tech comm? | Aug 5, 2015
When are wikis ever successful? | Jul 30, 2015
An easy way to support my site: Sign up for technical writing job alerts | Jul 30, 2015
Podcast: How do design, length, and relevance affect how people use API reference docs -- interview with Bob Watson | Jul 30, 2015
LearningDITA.com: A new online learning resource for DITA by Scriptorium | Jul 28, 2015
How do you test content that's beyond your skill level? | Jul 28, 2015
Should you add your testing scenarios into your documentation? | Jul 27, 2015
Peter Gruenbaum has released part 2 of his Udemy course on API technical writing | Jul 24, 2015
Survey results about the possible REST API workshop | Jul 24, 2015
Is it inefficient to frequently switch contexts among multiple projects? | Jul 23, 2015
Survey about possible REST API workshop — your feedback would be helpful | Jul 20, 2015
Getting mobile friendly display and responsive design just right, especially with ads | Jul 17, 2015
Reader question: How do I move forward out of a stagnant tech writing career? | Jul 15, 2015
Should technical writers care about more than documentation? | Jul 14, 2015
Build a technical writing portfolio by writing documentation for startups | Jul 10, 2015
Communicating feedback from testing documentation | Jul 10, 2015
Guest post: 10 New Things to Love and Hate About Flare | Jul 9, 2015
Should QA test documentation? | Jul 9, 2015
Listen to Ed Marsh's Content Content podcast with me as a guest | Jul 8, 2015
The key to writing good documentation: Testing your instructions | Jul 7, 2015
Pingdom reports with WordPress on Bluehost/MaxCDN versus with Jekyll on Github | Jul 7, 2015
Three questions people ask me each week | Jul 1, 2015
Slides, notes, and lessons learned at the STC Summit 2015 in Columbus, Ohio | Jun 29, 2015
My upcoming workshop and presentation at the STC Summit 2015 in Columbus, Ohio | Jun 18, 2015
How to avoid early death from sitting down all day | Jun 18, 2015
How do you authenticate your documentation? | Jun 17, 2015
My daughter published a real video game through "Girls Make Games" camp | Jun 17, 2015
Check out my conversation on ContentHug | Jun 17, 2015
How can technical writers cut through engineering jargon and decode complex information? | Jun 8, 2015
Why no one stopped by my technical writing booth at career fair day | May 31, 2015
Moved my blog from WordPress to Jekyll | May 29, 2015
Integrating Documentation into engineering code and workflows | May 26, 2015
API technical writing course on Udemy from Peter Gruenbaum, and some thoughts on documenting JSON | May 22, 2015
Switched commenting systems to Disqus | May 17, 2015
Introduction to technical writing -- slides and audio recording | May 16, 2015
API Documentation presentation to East Bay STC chapter -- slides and recording | May 16, 2015
How to design documentation for non-linear reading behavior | May 15, 2015
Recording and slides from "Jekyll vs. DITA: Bridging the Gap Between Tech Comm and the Web" presentation | May 14, 2015
User-centered documentation slides | May 14, 2015
Upcoming presentation: Jekyll versus DITA: Bridging the Gap between Tech Comm and the Web | May 10, 2015
New series: User-centered documentation | Apr 23, 2015
Final analysis between DITA and Jekyll | Apr 15, 2015
Producing PDFs in DITA versus Jekyll | Apr 14, 2015
Reviewing content in DITA versus Jekyll | Apr 13, 2015
Creating links in DITA versus Jekyll | Apr 6, 2015
Newbie to Technical Writer in 4 Easy Steps | Apr 3, 2015
Building a table of contents with DITA versus Jekyll | Apr 2, 2015
Creating re-usable chunks (conref) in Jekyll versus DITA | Apr 1, 2015
Variables and conditional processing in Jekyll versus DITA | Mar 26, 2015
Authoring with Markdown in Jekyll versus Authoring with DITA in OxygenXML | Mar 26, 2015
Check out Ed Marsh's podcast, and also My New series: Jekyll versus DITA | Mar 23, 2015
Some thoughts on attending tcworld India 2015 | Mar 22, 2015
PDF still trumps browser-based help? | Mar 19, 2015
Recording of API documentation workshop (REST and Javadoc) at tcworld India 2015 | Mar 19, 2015
Recording of Innovation in Technical Communication keynote at tcworld India 2015 | Mar 18, 2015
Slides for tcworld India 2015 presentations | Mar 11, 2015
Reveal JS: An HTML5 alternative to PowerPoint, with support for SVG graphics | Mar 11, 2015
Pushing content into any format with Jekyll | Mar 6, 2015
How to create a help API | Mar 4, 2015
Static site generators start to replace web publishing platforms like WordPress | Feb 27, 2015
Some web tools worth using in help solutions | Feb 26, 2015
Piggybacking onto the innovation of the web | Feb 24, 2015
Microsoft and the last 5 great technological innovations | Feb 20, 2015
Interactive video workshop in San Jose this Saturday, 1-5pm | Feb 19, 2015
The genius of Github and how it can transform tech comm | Feb 18, 2015
XML and the web: drifting farther apart? | Feb 13, 2015
The only significant innovation for tech comm | Feb 13, 2015
A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers | Feb 12, 2015
Sustaining and disruptive innovations | Feb 10, 2015
Podcast: The upcoming tcworld India conference on March 12-13, with Akash Dubey | Feb 9, 2015
Why do we need PDFs? | Feb 5, 2015
Upcoming workshop: Creating Interactive Video Tutorials, with Bernard Aschwanden on Feb 21 | Feb 5, 2015
Best practices for API documentation -- podcast with Andrya Feinberg | Feb 4, 2015
Survival strategies for API documentation -- slides and recording | Feb 3, 2015
Creating context-sensitive help by converting your help into a JSON API with Jekyll | Feb 1, 2015
Writing is like sorting laundry -- practical advice for tackling documentation projects | Jan 29, 2015
10 reasons for moving away from DITA | Jan 28, 2015
API workshop video + audio + slides + workshop files from TC Camp | Jan 27, 2015
Reinventing the table of contents | Jan 26, 2015
Implementing ScrollSpy with Jekyll to auto-build a table of contents | Jan 20, 2015
Moving from passive to reactive documentation -- recording of presentation by Greg Koberger, ReadMe.com founder | Jan 19, 2015
Most important factor in APIs is complete and accurate documentation | Jan 15, 2015
API doc survey: Do engineers write API doc in the source code? | Jan 15, 2015
API doc survey: How much of your doc process is automated? | Jan 15, 2015
Several REST API tutorials using the EventBrite, Klout, and Flickr APIs | Jan 14, 2015
Experimenting with Jekyll for tech comm | Jan 14, 2015
API doc survey: Most challenging aspect of API documentation | Jan 12, 2015
Jan 12 Silicon Valley STC meeting: Passive vs. reactive doc + readme.com | Jan 11, 2015
Question: How do I add my DITA content in Confluence for SME review? | Jan 9, 2015
Podcast: Unifying the API doc publishing toolchain, with Mark Baker | Jan 8, 2015
API doc survey result: How to learn what you need to know? | Jan 7, 2015
API doc survey result: How do you get the source files that contain code comments? | Jan 6, 2015
API doc survey result: Automating REST API documentation | Jan 6, 2015
Podcast: Automating REST API documentation, with Peter Gruenbaum | Jan 5, 2015
New cost-per-click feature for advertising on I'd Rather Be Writing During 2015 | Jan 5, 2015
My *real* top 10 technical writing trend predictions for 2015 | Jan 5, 2015
Top 10 posts, podcasts, tweets of 2014 -- and what it all means | Jan 5, 2015
API doc survey: Do you create API doc by looking at source code? | Jan 2, 2015
API doc survey: What IDE do you use? | Jan 2, 2015
API doc survey: Do you test out the API calls used in your doc yourself? | Jan 2, 2015
Predictions for Top 10 Technical Writing Trends for 2015 | Jan 1, 2015
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.