How do I add fields to the Table of Contents in Microsoft Word 2007?

May 26, 2010

JL asked me ‘How do I add fields to the Table of Contents in Microsoft Word 2007?’ The problem is that this is easy to do in Microsoft Word 2003 but not so obvious in 2007. This is the best way to do it: Add a new Chapter Heading to your user guide Or Copy [...]

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Learn more about robots.txt from Matt Cutts

May 9, 2010

via mattcutts.com Posted via web from Technical Writing Tips

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14 Questions For Interviewing Technical Writers

April 27, 2010

Here are some tips for interviewing tech writers, for example, if your company needs to hire a contractor to complete some documentation. I’ve worked on both sides on the fence in the past, (i.e. interviewed and been interviewed) and picked up a few things in the process. Hopefully, these will be of some help. A [...]

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Ten Tips When Writing for the Web

April 27, 2010

Writing for the Web requires new a different approach to the writing process. Before you start writing web content, try to understand the basics of information architecture and how navigation systems work. As readers scan text on the Web, make sure that you: Write short paragraphs instead of large blocks of text Use bulleted lists [...]

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18 Guaranteed Ways to Improve Your Case Studies

March 1, 2010

You’ve never written a case study before, right? You wish there was some nice, easy way to get a handle on this. So, wouldn’t it be very nice if someone –guess who! – put together fifteen of the best articles on case study writing? Well, you’re in luck, we have! 1. How to Write a [...]

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Case Study Part 3: How to Structure your Case Study

February 11, 2010

Case studies and white papers are very effective marketing tools if you want to promote the benefits of your product or services. Case studies are the first most popular device used to promote the business. If you plan to write a case study, this article will give you a better understanding  about this type  of [...]

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Case Study Part 2: Why You Must Focus On a Single Issue

February 11, 2010

As mentioned earlier, a case study is a soft-sell sales document. Its role is to highlight your abilities without resorting to market-speak and sales clichés. An effective approach to catch the reader's attention (who is frequently a potential client) is to explore how the solution helped end-users and the target group. How to build your [...]

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How Many Hours Per Week Do Actually Spend Working?

February 10, 2010

How much time do you spend working every week? I don’t mean being in the office, but actually working. You have 37.5 hours every week, but how much is actually spent doing what you’re paid to do? When I say working I mean developing real outputs (e.g. content); this includes illustrations, diagrams, publishing etc – [...]

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Posterous Tip: How To Add Tags When Blogging by Email? .

February 10, 2010

Do you use Posterous to update your site? I prefer to use Yahoo and Gmail to update the site rather than thru the Posterous site. Why? It’s easier to add images. You can add tags to your posts when you blog by email. Here’s how. How to add tags to Posterous blog posts 1. Click [...]

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5 UK-Based Technical Writers You Should Follow on Twitter

February 10, 2010

From Shakespeare, Graham Greene, JK Rowling to Colum McAndrew, Ellis Pratt, David Farbey. All have all one thing in common – great writing! As my career started in the Baker Street, London in the 90s, I’ve always carried fond memories of my time in England. Here are some UK based technical writers you might want [...]

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5 Reasons You Should Leave Facebook and Join LinkedIn

February 10, 2010

I’ve started to use my social networks, such as Facebook more strategically rather than adopting a ‘shotgun approach’. In other words, I try to leverage each site by seeing the opportunities it offers and then using these. Recently, I’ve started to shift away from Facebook and moved to LinkedIn. What does LinkedIn offer that Facebook [...]

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4 Points to Consider when Selecting a Style Guide

February 3, 2010

Q: I’m setting up a Technical Writing Dept. for a Financial Services company. What is the best style guide to start out with? We have no internal guidelines. This will need to be useful for both beginners and also more experienced tech writers A: The benefit of adopting a style guide is that it puts [...]

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How Al Gore Got His Groove Back & The Fine Art of Creating Great Presentations

January 21, 2010

Do you like speaking in public? It’s the last thing most of us want do. So I was surprised to read how Al Gore, an experienced public speaker, reached out to Nancy Duarte to improve his public-speaking skills. Here are a few tips for the next time you have to give a presentation. The Science [...]

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What Macaulay Culkin Can Teach You About XML-Based Technical Authoring Tools

January 20, 2010

Remember Macaulay Culkin? The child star of Home Alone peaked very early and, despite many attempts, never managed to make the same impact as an adult. Larry Kunz asks if a similar fate awaits DITA, the one-time golden child of the tech comms industry. Larry says that last week another technical writer asserted that DITA [...]

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Using Google Wave to Write Technical Documentation in Real Time

January 18, 2010

Maeve asks on LinkedIn how we can use Google Wave to write technical documents. Well, the first consideration is that Google Wave is not designed as a tech authoring tool but for collaboration and ‘almost’ real-time information exchange. Saying that, it does offer many benefits if you need to plan/coordinate/review documents in a networked environment. [...]

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