I mentioned in a previous post that I think traditional help authoring tools are becoming less and less viable for robust software projects in which multiple subject matter experts in distributed locations need to collaborate, and when these same subject matter experts need to own the documentation after release. I think traditional help authoring tools (HATs) will fade in place of more collaborative tools like wikis This wasn't just a fl...
12/9/09 update: I changed it back. I recently decided to change my blog theme. I know that people are interested in content more than design, but it's worth a post explaining why I changed this theme. I recently switched blog themes I've had the Limau Orange theme on my blog for about two years now. I grew tired of looking at it, and the design seemed a little out of date. Woothemes.com was running a Black Friday 50% off deal, and since ...
I'm giving a webinar for STC community leaders on January 28 titled "Site Critiques and WordPress Q&A." Here's the description: Because most communities have far more virtual participants than physical participants, establishing a strong web presence where members can find information, interact with each other, and access resources is critical. In this community webinar, we'll review a handful of chapter or SIG sites and discuss what'...
The other week I visited Performance Audio in downtown Salt Lake to see what recommendations they had for microphones. The clerk asked me what audio interface I was using. I said I was just plugging my mixer directly into the computer. He looked shocked and said no matter how good of a microphone I bought, the real increase in performance would come with an audio interface. The Audio Interface An audio interface converts the analog signal...
I'm presenting an STC webinar titled Screencasting: Video Tutorials for the Web on Dec. 16. Screencasting webinar Dec 16 Here's the description: Screencasts refer to short video tutorials usually embedded on a blog, uploaded to Youtube, or otherwise displayed on the web. Screencasts are part of the explosion of video and other multimedia on the web, and users are growing more accustomed to watching screencasts to learn how to use softwa...
The other week I visited my brother-in-law Sean in Tampa, Florida. Sean is an interactive web designer who creates everything from flash games for Disney to augmented reality applications for the Adobe marketplace. While I was there, he showed me his latest creation: ChessJam. Usually when I think of chess, I think of two people sitting around a small round table in moments of intense concentration, staring at the chessboard for hours as ...
As part of my contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner, Shannon tasked me to cook a banana cream pie. She had a simple recipe already printed out. The banana cream pie recipe All the ingredients were available in the kitchen. The kitchen even had a double oven. I thought this would be easy, except it wasn't. Because I suck at cooking. I hate cooking. If I cook, I need a "man's cookbook," one that cuts through the jargon and explains cookin...
I read a blog post the other day that I can't stop thinking about. In the Myth of Single Sourcing, Michael Hiatt writes, The main issue for me is between authoring static in-house documents using single-sourcing methods before publishing, or capturing information sources dynamically after publishing from online social networks, linked data sources, and knowledge mashups. The myth of single-source authoring is that it actually has a life i...
We're looking for a contingent senior technical writer to join our User Education team, part of the LDS Church's Information and Communications System department in Riverton, Utah. This is an opportunity to work in an agile environment with about 600+ talented IT professionals. As a member of our team, you'll also get to work with Gryphon Mountain, Doc Guy, other cool people, and me. The job has a few requirements you should be aware of. ...
At the STC Summit in Dallas this year (May 2-5), I'll be giving a presentation titled "Developing a Personal Voice in Audio." I'm moving in the direction of screencasts, focusing on the audio component in this presentation. 2010 STC Summit in Dallas, Texas Here's the presentation description: Narrated video tutorials -- both scripted and spontaneous -- are a powerful tool tech writers can employ to help users learn software. But the audio...
One of Flare's shortcomings is the inability to easily embed video files. However, if you use the Camtasia Studio's Express Show format as your video format (and you choose the SWF option), you can insert the video into Flare by inserting the video as if it were a picture. Here's a two-minute screencast showing the processing for inserting a video into Flare. You can also put the video in a drop-down hotspot.
Listen here: In this brief podcast, I discuss the results of the podcast poll that I published on my site earlier this week. I mostly wanted an opportunity to try out my new Behringer mixer/preamp, and the results of the poll served as perfect fodder for a podcast. In this 15 minutes of audio, I explain the direction that I plan to take my podcast based on the votes and feedback. Polls, surveys, and feedback are always a...
Harry Miller is a multimedia enthusiast who brings his expertise with film and audio to the screencasting world at his job at Microsoft. The following three videos are some of the most creative, mesmerizing video tutorials on Visio I've ever seen. Create an Office Layout Create an organization chart using video Create a Network Diagram These video tutorials don't just teach you how to create various charts in Visio. They...
At the Intermountain STC workshop this morning, we talked about how to build an online presence. During my portion of the workshop, I facilitated a discussion using Twitter. With the dozen participants, all sitting in front of computers with Internet access, I told them to go to Search.Twitter.com and search for the #imstc hashtag. I posed a question for them to answer via Twitter. They responded, including the #imstc hashtag. When you in...
Right now I'm immersed in an online help project in which I've been using Madcap Flare. Here a few tips I've picked up in the past month or so. Embedding Video To embed video into Flare, you have to insert the video as an image file. As long as the video is a SWF file, it embeds directly on the page. In order to keep the Flash player buttons on the video, use Camtasia Studio's Express Show format. Express Show packages the Flash player ...
