2018 archives

1. Is Premium Grammarly worth it for identifying style and grammar issues in tech docs? | Dec 28, 2018

2. Obituary for my dad - David Tait Johnson, 1935 - 2018 | Dec 26, 2018

3. Research on code documentation -- when not to comment on code | Dec 20, 2018

4. Top 10 holiday gifts for technical writers | Dec 18, 2018

5. My podcast about writing with Ellis Pratt on Cherryleaf | Dec 13, 2018

6. Recording for Menlo Park API documentation workshop now available -- and some thoughts on using cardioid versus omnidirectional microphones for recording | Dec 4, 2018

7. New post in Simplifying Complexity series -- Principle 11: Be both a generalist and specialist at the same time | Nov 30, 2018

8. My upcoming presentation and workshop at the 2019 STC Summit in Denver | Nov 29, 2018

9. Upcoming BrightTALK webinar on trends -- January 15, 2019 | Nov 29, 2018

10. Write the Docs Podcast episode 18: Recap and thoughts on the WTD Australia 2018 conference | Nov 25, 2018

11. Bibliography of API documentation articles | Nov 25, 2018

12. How to avoid being a secretary for engineers | Nov 19, 2018

13. I'd Rather Be Writing is now an Alexa Flash Briefing skill | Nov 5, 2018

14. Upcoming full-day API documentation workshop in Menlo Park | Oct 31, 2018

15. The Tell-Tale Project — Guest Post by Edgar Allan Poe, Technical Writer | Oct 31, 2018

16. Preferring technical acuity over specialized knowledge | Oct 24, 2018

17. Write the Docs Podcast Episode 17: Structured Writing -- reasons and approaches, with Mark Baker | Oct 23, 2018

18. Brainstorming by transposing patterns from one category to another | Oct 19, 2018

19. The ideal number of slides for an hour-long presentation, and other thoughts on preparing slides | Oct 15, 2018

20. Tech comm trends -- why tech writers will be collaborating more with engineers | Oct 9, 2018

21. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part I) | Oct 2, 2018

22. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part II) | Oct 2, 2018

23. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part III) | Oct 2, 2018

24. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part IV) | Oct 2, 2018

25. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part V) | Oct 2, 2018

26. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part VI) | Oct 2, 2018

27. Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part VII) | Oct 2, 2018

28. Tech comm podcasts roundup and survey | Sep 15, 2018

29. Pages at a glance -- the importance of the first two sentences of any topic | Sep 15, 2018

30. Write the Docs Podcast episode 16: An open-source Grammarly for tech docs? | Sep 6, 2018

31. How I handled data for about 10 device specifications on the same page -- the advantages of a flexible, customizable web-based framework like Jekyll | Aug 31, 2018

32. New article in Simplifying Complexity series -- Iterate and increment on content following an agile approach | Aug 31, 2018

33. Getting a job in API documentation -- new topics and expansions in my API doc course | Aug 22, 2018

34. Strategies for learning technology -- podcast recommendation and a poll | Aug 10, 2018

35. If writing is no longer a marketable skill, what is? | Aug 9, 2018

36. My conflicted thoughts about the decentralized web (while taking the Census of Technical Communicators survey) | Aug 6, 2018

37. The right story for tech writers to tell in a corporate blog post | Aug 2, 2018

38. Articulating stories that influence product adoption (new article in Simplifying Complexity series) | Jul 31, 2018

39. Reciprocal knowledge networks and the iFixit Technical Writing Project -- Conversation with Guiseppe Getto | Jul 25, 2018

40. Looking at the theoretical foundations for tech comm -- Conversation with Lisa Melonçon | Jul 24, 2018

41. Adventures of a Techie Academic with Lightweight DITA (LwDITA): Conversation with Carlos Evia | Jul 23, 2018

42. Write the Docs Podcast episode 15: User research, tech writer stereotypes, and conversations | Jul 22, 2018

43. Teaching Technological Adaptability to Bridge the Gap (Guest post by Melonie McMichael) | Jul 18, 2018

44. Combatting the "Make-It-Pretty" Philosophy: Technical Writers Fight Back (Guest post by Emily January Petersen) | Jul 18, 2018

45. Results from my Academic/Practitioner Attitudes surveys now available | Jul 17, 2018

46. The relationship between academics and practitioners -- Podcast with Kirk St. Amant | Jul 11, 2018

47. Reducing the complexity of technical language (new article in Simplifying Complexity series) | Jul 11, 2018

48. Random reflections on the throwaway mentality in our culture | Jul 3, 2018

49. Thoughts on docs-as-code after 3 years -- it works! | Jul 3, 2018

50. A short survey to measure academic/practitioner attitudes | Jul 2, 2018

51. 10 ways technical writing is just like the World Cup | Jun 19, 2018

52. MadCap Flare 2018 and MadCap Central Review for the May 2018 Release -- Guest post | Jun 19, 2018

53. Evaluating the user experience of documentation -- Podcast with Bob Watson | Jun 18, 2018

54. Non-Reference Content section updated in API course | Jun 12, 2018

55. Hiding Complexity -- A new Simplifying Complexity article | Jun 12, 2018

56. New article in Simplifying Complexity: Reconstructing the absent user | May 31, 2018

57. The reason I always find time to write on this blog | May 18, 2018

58. Stoplight -- creating a single source of truth to drive the API lifecycle | May 11, 2018

59. My site now has Algolia search integrated | May 2, 2018

60. Replaced the previous weather API example in my API course to now use OpenWeatherAPI | Apr 28, 2018

61. Do you have to relocate to an urban tech hub to find a technical writing job? | Apr 27, 2018

62. Strategies from pickup basketball -- Why you shouldn't guard the worst player or focus too much on the documentation no one reads | Apr 19, 2018

63. New Simplifying Complexity article on shaping information into familiar schemas, especially story | Apr 18, 2018

64. A Review of the MadWorld Conference -- guest post by Jayna Locke | Apr 18, 2018

65. New article on Simplifying Complexity: Reduction, layering, and distillation as a strategy for simplicity | Mar 28, 2018

66. The math game my daughter and her friend created with Codesters | Mar 28, 2018

67. What can we learn from the homogenous profiles in the Stack Overflow 2018 survey? | Mar 27, 2018

68. Write the Docs Podcast episode 14: Humanizing your documentation | Mar 23, 2018

69. Recording of API documentation workshop in Denver | Mar 12, 2018

70. Guest post: The story behind DocToolHub, a site for finding tech comm tools | Mar 9, 2018

71. Recording of Docs-as-code tools and workflows presentation | Mar 9, 2018

72. Recording of STC San Francisco presentation: Beyond mere endpoint reference — the overlooked content in API documentation | Mar 8, 2018

73. New article in Simplifying Complexity -- Ensuring information harmony in the larger documentation landscape | Mar 7, 2018

74. Perspectives on tech comm from the VP Candidates — Q&A with Pam Brewer | Feb 20, 2018

75. Perspectives on tech comm from the VP Candidates — Q&A with Ben Woelk | Feb 20, 2018

76. Recording of OpenAPI and Swagger presentation (for STC and WTD San Diego) | Feb 14, 2018

77. Two open-ended surveys to gauge practitioner/academic attitudes | Feb 6, 2018

78. New Simplifying complexity tutorial: Discoverability through metadata | Feb 5, 2018

79. New section on my site: Simplifying complexity | Jan 24, 2018

80. Write the Docs Podcast episode 13: Postman for API development and docs — Interview with Postman Founder | Jan 22, 2018

81. Recording of WTD South Bay presentation: Publishing tools for API documentation | Jan 19, 2018

82. Unexpected realizations after a comprehensive review of my 2017 site metrics | Jan 11, 2018

83. New STC Intercom article: How to Research What You Need to Learn to Be Successful as a Technical Writer | Jan 3, 2018

84. What technical writing trends will we see in 2018? | Jan 2, 2018