Lessons Learned: Procedure Written in Twitter

Last week, I thought I’d experiment and write a quick procedure in Twitter. This goes right along with my thoughts that new methods should be used for creating docs. Given that microblogging is here to stay, as is real-time, I decided to give it a try. There were two main thoughts in play: see if [...]

My First Procedure Written in Twitter

All I’ve been thinking about the past week, it seems, is real-time and how it affects docs. Yesterday I wrote a post about it. Today, I tested it out. I wrote a procedure in Twitter.
Tech writers – take a look at it and let me know what you think. Tweets are from today, December 29, [...]

Twitter List: Create

Use the Twitter list feature to categorize feeds of those you follow. Like putting files into separate folders, you can put feeds into different lists.
You can:
- Add a feed to multiple lists
- Create lists before adding feeds, or as you add feeds to existing lists
- Create public feeds for all to see or private ones [...]

Open-Source Tech Writing: the Time is Now

Recently, I started working with WordPress. For those unfamiliar with WP, it’s an open-source platform used for blogging, websites, and the like. Development and maintenance is completed by a world-wide community.  There’s an incredible energy and community that is part of it. Last month, I attended a WordCamp event. Along with the information I obtained, [...]

Must-Follow Trends for Tech Writers

Tech writers have always needed to keep up with current technologies. That is the case today more than ever. I’ve been in the field for over 20 years, starting back before online help, back when you copied manuals to put in binders, back when you wrapped up docs weeks before a release because you had [...]

Must-Follow Twitter Feeds for Tech Writers

The purpose of my blog is to provide tech writers with information about changes and how said changes may impact documentation. That is also the purpose of my Twitter feed. I gather up as much information as I can and pass it on.
I’ve found some excellent feeds to follow related to the various topics of [...]

HTML 5: What Tech Writers Need to Consider

Wow. I knew that there were many items to consider when writing documentation these days. However, there is much more than I realized. For example, today I started looking at HTML 5 more in-depth. As I read through the information on the W3C site, it became clear that big changes are in store that will [...]

Legal Requirements in the New Age

With the recent news this past week about a woman being sued $50K for a tweet she wrote and the resultant backlash on the company that was suing, it started me thinking about legal ramifications of using social media for business. I’m all for using social media as part of an overall tech doc strategy, [...]

The Changing Roles of Writers and Editors

As my friends and family know, I’ve been mesmerized of late by a box of old letters I had stashed in my closet. The letters were from long ago – the late 70s and early 80s – before computers were in use, and definitely before e-mail.
The letters are a joy to read, as they recall [...]

Tweet away -

For a while now, I’ve been checking out Twitter to see how people are using it from a business standpoint. This may deviate somewhat from the original purpose, but I’m noticing that more businesses are using it. This is what I’ve concluded.
Twitter provides a fast way to disseminate information and announcements to many users at [...]