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2017 archives

  1. Part VIII: Conclusion

  2. Part VI: Deepening documentation's value by simplifying complexity

  3. Part V: Influencing the content experience

  4. Part IV: Enabling information flow

  5. Part III: Determining value through usage

  6. Part II: Reviewing past research

  7. Part I: Introduction to the series

  8. Why is TC Camp's unconference format so popular? Interview with Liz Fraley, TC Camp Founder

  9. Write the Docs Podcast episode 12: Founding ideas behind Write the Docs

  10. Biking down Coyote Creek Trail

  11. How to become a voracious reader

  12. Write the Docs Podcast episode 11: Exploring the Mozilla Developer Network's Web Docs project

  13. How do you communicate user progress in a course without a Learning Management System (LMS)?

  14. Case study: Switching tools to docs-as-code

  15. Intro to API Documentation -- recording of presentation to STC Silicon Valley chapter on 11/20/2017

  16. Balancing writing, editing, and learning in equal measures

  17. New OpenAPI 3.0 specification tutorial in my API Course

  18. The Untold Story of Techwriter.pl: A Polish website about technical communication for technical writers, trainers, and translators

  19. Question: Which software tools should I use if my goal is to write API docs?

  20. Write the Docs Podcast episode 10: What's going on in our lives as documentarians and product owners

  21. SwaggerHub: A collaborative platform for working on OpenAPI/Swagger specification files, and more

  22. Convert Google Docs content to Markdown or HTML using the gd2md-html add-on

  23. Has plain language deepened or ruined our delight in language?

  24. Write the Docs Podcast episode 9: Chatbots in Documentation

  25. Discoveries and realizations while walking down the Docs-as-Code path

  26. Write the Docs Podcast episode 8: Stack Overflow's Documentation Failure and Open Source Challenges

  27. Why Stack Overflow's Documentation effort failed -- a few thoughts from a technical writer's perspective

  28. Tech docs and Agile: Alternatives to integrating into engineering Scrums (Part 2)

  29. Tech docs and Agile: Problems with integrating tech writers into engineering Scrums (Part 1)

  30. Why simple language isn't so simple: the struggle to create plain language in documentation

  31. When the pain of ignorance exceeds the pain of learning

  32. Transparency in documentation: dealing with limits about what you can and cannot say

  33. Write the Docs Podcast episode 7: Let The Robots Do The Work

  34. Circle review -- How to manage your kids' access to Internet devices

  35. My second-chance points strategy with documentation

  36. The problem with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in documentation

  37. Recording of my WTD Portland 2017 presentation on Building navigation for your doc site -- 5 best practices

  38. Write the Docs Podcast episode 6: Metadata and UI copy

  39. Limits to the idea of treating docs as code

  40. How big should your documentation repo be?

  41. Impressions from the Write the Docs Conference -- and thoughts on achieving sustainability without selling out to vendors

  42. Slides for Write the Docs Portland presentation on doc navigation best practices

  43. Testing your documentation -- updates in API doc course

  44. Write the Docs Podcast episode 5: Where do we belong?

  45. My Calm Meditation app -- another experiment to test my docs

  46. Tutorial on converting an HTML site into a Jekyll theme

  47. Following instructions involves learning a new language -- adventures with Tinker Crate projects

  48. Write the Docs Podcast app now on Fire TV, and the importance of testing your docs with sample apps

  49. Amazon begins pilot with voice-interactive user manuals

  50. Tutorials versus docs -- why you need both

  51. Moved my API doc site into separate repo

  52. Simplifying my life and writing

  53. Guest post -- The effects of terminology consistency on the reader's comprehension and attitude

  54. Crowdsourcing docs with docs-as-code tools -- same result as with wikis?

  55. Write the Docs Podcast Episode 4 -- Continuous Integration and Docs as Code

  56. Adobe FrameMaker 2017 -- time, tools, and the tech writer’s focus on content

  57. Upcoming 2017 Write the Docs Conference in Portland

  58. Guest Post -- MadCap Central: A Review for Companies Delivering Technical Communication Services

  59. How do you learn what you need to learn to be successful as a technical writer?

  60. Guest post: Design choices for organizing API reference content with other documentation

  61. Recording of User-Centered Design Principles for Organizing Documentation

  62. Write the Docs Podcast episode 3: Trends for 2017

  63. Technical Writing Trends and Predictions for 2017

  64. Simplified Technical English and HyperSTE

  65. Recording: Modern Technical Writing, by Andrew Etter (STC Silicon Valley chapter)

  66. Recording: Writing tech docs like a hacker with Jekyll

  67. My top 3 posts of 2016 are all Swagger-related -- lessons learned from 2016 analytics

  68. Swagger presentation recording -- Harnessing the Chi of Swagger in your REST API documentation

  69. FrameMaker and the mobile web: Evaluating Adobe FrameMaker's responsive HTML5 output

  70. MadCap Central -- a first look at MadCap’s new cloud-based collaboration and publishing solution

  71. How much code do you need to know to create API developer documentation?

  72. Attend my upcoming TC Dojo presentation on Swagger on Jan 9, 2017

  73. TC Camp in Santa Clara to be held Jan 21, 2017

About Tom Johnson

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.