API documentation survey 1.0 I need your responses to my API Documentation Survey 1.1 API doc survey: The most popular type of APIs that technical writers document 1.2 API doc survey: The most common programming languages tech writers know ...
Predictions about technical writing trends always abound near the beginning of a new year. In the past, we've heard predictions about the ubiquity of mobile, responsive design, cloud authoring, collaborative solutions, content strategy, localization, the "Internet of Things," augmented reality, video, DIY, and more. Some predictions turn out to be true, others false. This year, based on a lot of feedback I've received over the year, alon...
I made a few updates to my WordPress site recently. Nothing major, but it might be of interest especially if you're into WordPress. Added dynamic third column I added a third column on the left that contains dynamic content based on what you're viewing. Currently new column shows either a list of categories or a specific page (containing a list of items). Here's how the sidebar changes: If you're viewing my DITA quick reference guide, th...
I recently received a question about API documentation jobs for technical writers. A reader asks, For the next phase of my career, I'm looking to break into API documentation. Do you know of any other regions besides Silicon Valley where API doc is hot? I'm in the Boston area, and I see some API writing jobs posted, but not as many as I would have thought. Do you expect these jobs to become more popular outside of Silicon Valley in the fu...
API documentation survey 1.0 I need your responses to my API Documentation Survey 1.1 API doc survey: The most popular type of APIs that technical writers document 1.2 API doc survey: The most common programming languages tech writers know ...
Listen here: In this podcast, I talk with Joe Malin about a variety of topics within API documentation, including how developers think, best practices, and more. Joe is a former software engineer who turned to technical writing many years ago. He has worked at a variety of companies in API documentation roles, including 7 years at Google. Here are a few of the topics we cover in the podcast: Why Joe turned from software...
API documentation survey 1.0 I need your responses to my API Documentation Survey 1.1 API doc survey: The most popular type of APIs that technical writers document 1.2 → API doc survey: The most common programming languages tech writers know ...
API documentation survey 1.0 I need your responses to my API Documentation Survey 1.1 → API doc survey: The most popular type of APIs that technical writers document 1.2 API doc survey: The most common programming languages tech writers know ...
Listen here: Getting a job in API documentation can be tricky. What programming skills do you need to know? How in-depth does your technical knowledge need to be? What kind of authoring tools and methods are relevant for jobs in API documentation? In this podcast, I talk with Andrew Davis, a former technical writer who turned to recruiting for technical writers. Andrew specializes in helping companies find technical writ...
API documentation survey 1.0 → I need your responses to my API Documentation Survey 1.1 API doc survey: The most popular type of APIs that technical writers document 1.2 API doc survey: The most common programming languages tech writers know ...
The following is a guest post by Vinish Garg, an information architect with a background in technical writing who frequently works with startups. Vinish Garg shares his thoughts on authoring tools for startups A discussion on authoring tools invariably leaves the participants with at least one common opinion–they want to see something better in whatever tool they are using. I recall a Wishlist post that Tom wrote a few years back; I am...
I measure download links for podcasts through Podtrac. I haven't been doing as many podcasts as I used to do. But I checked my podcast stats the other day and was kind of shocked. Typical download stats for podcasts in the past averaged about 700 downloads per episode. For example, take a look at this podcast report and you'll see that in 2011, when podcasting was supposedly popular, average downloads were about 600-700 per episode. Sinc...
One of my colleagues was asking about best practices with glossary terms and acronyms in DITA today, and I realized that this is a pretty confusing aspect of DITA. I spent a good chunk of time trying to sort it out and outline best practices. I added a topic to my DITA QRG called Acronyms and glossary terms. Overall, I think glossaries are underused in help material. We become numb to our own jargon, which makes help material much more di...
A few weeks ago I was riding out near Stevens Creek park when I came across a bicycle painted white. In front of it were two gravestones, giving memory to two cyclists who were killed by a motorist at that spot. One of the gravestones said, Rethink what is possible. The other gravestone said: Free from limitations and imaginary lines. As I rode away, I thought about the second gravestone. I wondered if it was original and later...
A while ago I posted some thoughts on converting Markdown to DITA. I refined this conversion process using the Multimarkdown script and OxygenXML. Here's a demo: (There's no audio to this 20 second video -- it just loops over and over.) I added more details on how to configure this in my DITA QRG: Author in Markdown, Publish with DITA. Why would you want to convert from Markdown to DITA? Mainly, you would use...
