Best Practices for Writing Interface Text [Organizing Content #24]

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 Interface Is Text [Organizing Content #23]

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] ...

WordPress Tip: When you Forget your WordPress Username and Password

In working with clients on WordPress projects, I routinely run across people who forget their WordPress username and password. Fortunately, if you still remember the FTP username and password, just upload this "emergency.php" script from Yoast to your root directory, go to http://yoursite.com/emergency.php, and voila, you can change your WordPress username and password. You may need to download the wp-config.php file to grab the database ...

The Technical Writer as an Outsider: How Ambitious Are You? [Organizing Content #22]

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] ...

WordPress Tip: Embed a Video into a Post Using WordPress's Auto-Embed Feature

Yesterday a couple of people asked me how to embed videos into WordPress posts. Rather than copying the entire embed code that youtube provides, you can actually just insert the link to the video into your post. WordPress will then pull the video in. This is a feature called auto-embed.

Editorial Strategies and Mind Games

This week, after Mindtouch released its top 25 elite blogger list, most of the tech comm blogosphere was taking bows and saying congratulations and writing posts that began I'm-so-honored and wow-what-can-I-say. These posts started to make me feel a little ill, because I suppose I enjoy reading more about suffering than success, but that's beside my point here. Reflecting on my rank, I felt an irony about it all. Apparently the ability to...

Introduction to WordPress -- Recording of WordPress Webinar

Last month I gave a webinar on WordPress to the STC CIC SIG, which is the Independent Contracting and Consulting Special Interest Group of the Society for Technical Communication. I recorded the webinar and am allowed now to make it available for free on my site. The recording plays my voice only, and the whole webinar lasts about 75 minutes. You can view the recording in two sizes. If you want small dimensions (about 1000 pixels in width...

Principles for Organizing Print Material [Organizing Content #21]

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 Role of the Gatekeeper

Sarah O'Keefe's guest post -- The Role of the Gatekeeper is Changing -- on Peg Mulligan's blog is interesting. Sarah writes, The Internet is removing the traditional gatekeepers for content. This may seem obvious, but its implications in my life have been profound. I majored in English and then earned an MFA in creative writing. After graduating, I gathered up my best essays and sent them off to literary journals for publication. After mo...

Relying on the Wisdom of the Crowds with Help Authoring [Organizing Content #20]

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] ...

WordPress Tip: Integrate Constant Contact with WordPress

Today's WordPress tip is on integrating Constant Contact (an email marketing service) with WordPress.

Moving into Technical Writing -- A DICE Article and More Links

How to break into technical writing is one of the most common questions readers ask. (If you wrote a book entirely on this subject, I'm sure you'd sell regular copies.) Recently a journalist interviewed me and others (Jack Molisani, Mike Hughes, and Andrea Ames) on this topic. He published his article, called Use Your IT Experience to Move into Technical Writing, in DICE. I have only a small quote at the end. In one of my responses about ...

WordCamp Utah is August 28

Wordcamp is a conference dedicated to topics on WordPress. This year WordCamp Utah will be held Saturday, August 28 at the University of Utah. The conference costs $20 and includes lunch. Wordcamp is a conference dedicated to all topics related to WordPress Here are details from Joseph Scott, the organizer: WordCamp Utah 2010 will be held August 28th at University of Utah, in the Skaggs Biology Building. This is a great opportunity to spe...

Emergence [Organizing Content #19]

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] ...

Replaceability

About a month ago, I was talking with some of my friends at church when my wife Shannon came into the room crying and asking where Kevin was. I wasn't sure what happened, but I soon found out. Jane had been substituting in Primary, a class for children. During a game where everyone gets to ask a question, she asked if anyone had seen our cat, who had been missing for two days. All the kids became quiet. Apparently they all knew about a d...