Notepad++ is my favorite text editor, but lately it's been acting a bit berzerk. Every time I open it, NotePad++ says Load Config.xml failed, or something like that. It's been bugging me for weeks. I finally found the fix here. If you get a load config.xml failed message, take these general steps to fix it: Go to C:Program FilesNotepad++ (or wherever the program files are). Copy the config. model and stylers.model files. Go to C:Usersyou...
A reader asks, Technical writing is a field that I've been pursuing and about to complete a certification. My question, how important or valuable would also pursuing a web design certificate for a technical writer? The certificate in web design? Not necessary. But a working knowledge of HTML and CSS? Yes, critical, because everything is moving (or already moved about 10 years ago) to the web, including documentation. If you create help in...
If you're looking for a solid professional development opportunity, check out the Lavacon Conference this year. Held September 29 to October 2 in San Diego, California, the conference focuses on learning how to "publish digital content that enhances the customer experience, reduces production costs and promotes your online brand." If you read the session descriptions, it looks like an exceptional conference, especially if you have any des...
IT Author's latest podcast, Testing testing 123, dives into testing. Rather than just commenting on testing from a technical writer's point of view, Alistair Christie and his co-host Graham Campbell interviewed an actual tester. It's a good interview with lots of informational nuggets. For example, "regression testing" is testing those software features that were tested previously. Every new feature has the potential to affect other featu...
Findability / organizing content 1.0 New Series: Organizing Content [Organizing Content 1] 1.2 Introducing Project Swordfish [Organizing Content 2] 1.3 Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold [Organizing Content 3] ...
Gerry McGovern explains that constantly adding tiny tasks to a home page can bury your main message. Each bit of content you add dilutes the importance of the other content. I would add that the same principle applies to writing. Each word you add to a sentence removes some of the focus from the other words. Sometimes the best way to increase a sentence's emphasis is by simplifying the sentence and removing content around it. To read Gerr...
A PhD student studying blog usability, Kathy Cook, published some worthwhile research about blog usability. Cook recommends bloggers keep the following in mind: 1. Subscribing makes users think too hard. 2. Mystery puzzles make users think too hard. 3. Long pages make users work too hard. 4. Users can't find information, can't search. 5. Get organised down there! 6. No navigation, no way home. 7. Users can't share the love. She also rates...
Our Intermountain STC chapter recently did something different for our meetings. Instead of the monthly meeting that takes place at an always-distant location in the evening, we held a half-day event on a Friday afternoon with three presentations in a row focused on a theme. Surprisingly, it worked quite well. We had probably double the number of people who normally attend our evening meetings. Lots of people showed up for our half-day e-...
My wife Jane attended a Segullah writer's retreat conference this weekend. During the conference, one of the presenters explained a common mistake many novice writers make: they look for stories to fit a pre-selected theme. You hear the result of this strategy most commonly in church talks. Someone is assigned a topic, or has a topic he or she wants to explore. To make the talk/presentation/essay appealing, he or she looks for stories to ...
Findability / organizing content 1.0 New Series: Organizing Content [Organizing Content 1] 1.2 Introducing Project Swordfish [Organizing Content 2] 1.3 Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold [Organizing Content 3] ...
The following is a sponsored message from David Ferriot of Madcap Software. MadCap Software has launched a new community-written newsletter, MadNewz, aimed to give users another channel to share ideas and information with their peers. The first MadNewz post, written by Chris Sullivan, Director of Technical Communication and Social Media at AVST, covers best practices for Flare single-sourcing and includes a cost-calculator sheet availa...
In the unfolding saga of inline links within posts and the decline in readability that these links bring about, Adriel Hampton's post helped me persuade me more to this idea. Hamptom quotes from Nicholas Carr's book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains. Carr writes, (In a 2001 study) one group read (a short story) in a traditional linear-text format; they'd read a passage and click the word next to move ahead. A second ...
Lavacon is a yearly conference Jack Molisani puts together on professional development for technical communicators. This year's conference focuses on social media. You can't run a conference on social media without having a cool-looking social media driven website, right? So Jack contacted me to help make the Lavacon conference site more of a web 2.0 / social-media-driven experience. Lavacon's conference website incorporates a number ...
The following is a sponsored message from Dennis Crane of Indigo Byte Systems. Indigo Byte Systems, the producer of Dr.Explain help authoring tool (http://www.drexplain.com) is proud to become a Gold Sponsor of 2010 UA Europe Conference that will take place on 16th - 17th September 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden. UA Europe Conference is an annual even focused specifically on software user assistance and on-line help systems. It provides a ...
If you're in Utah and interested in e-learning, come to the June e-Learning event held by the Intermountain-stc chapter. I'll be giving a presentation on developing a personal voice in audio. It's the same presentation I gave at the Summit in Dallas: Chapter member Tom Johnson will present on how to develop a personal voice in audio. You'll learn how to create video tutorials with a friendly, personable voice by implementing several aud...
