RE: Using Word as an Authoring System

Subject: RE: Using Word as an Authoring System
From: Paul Neshamkin <pauln -at- helpauthors -dot- com>
To: "Cardimon, Craig" <ccardimon -at- M-S-G -dot- com>, "'swiseman -at- contextengage -dot- com'" <swiseman -at- contextengage -dot- com>, 'Nathaniel Wilson' <nwilson120 -dot- nw -at- gmail -dot- com>, 'Gene Kim-Eng' <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2017 09:38:34 -0500

I've been saying this since 1991, switch to Doc-To-Help (www.doctohelp.com).
Regards,
Paul Neshamkin


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
-------- Original message --------From: "Cardimon, Craig" <ccardimon -at- M-S-G -dot- com> Date: 11/29/17 8:09 AM (GMT-05:00) To: "'swiseman -at- contextengage -dot- com'" <swiseman -at- contextengage -dot- com>, 'Nathaniel Wilson' <nwilson120 -dot- nw -at- gmail -dot- com>, 'Gene Kim-Eng' <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> Cc: 'TechWhirl' <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Subject: RE: Using Word as an Authoring System
Some upper management sees no reason to use Flare. You know the argument, "Just use Word."

While I could gather my resources and arrange a meeting and maybe persuade The Powers That Be to keep Flare, this is not where I want to concentrate my energy.

This is not the hill I want to die on. There are other battles to be fought. Shrug.

Besides, I use Word only as a building block. Then I copy and paste into our online knowledge base.

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Steve Wiseman (ContextEngage)
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 2:56 AM
To: 'Nathaniel Wilson' <nwilson120 -dot- nw -at- gmail -dot- com>; 'Gene Kim-Eng' <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
Cc: 'TechWhirl' <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: RE: Using Word as an Authoring System

Well, I didn't think I would see a discussion like this :)

It's all a question of horses for courses. If you need only PDFs, no variables, no conditional text, no content reuse, a non topic-based solution (instead your docs run from start to end) - then Word is applicable. That use case is becoming less and less popular but it exists. I have customers that have massive pieces of hardware and send books to their customers and Word works fine for them.

But once a customer needs online, reuse or any of the features above, you are going to need a more professional and focused tool for technical writers. Which tool again depends on what you need.

I am against overkill and just taking tools because of their name and reputation. You should ideally have a matrix of needs and tick which tools hit the most features you need, in relation to price.

But I would recommend against using Word with some plugin or conversion tool for the added functionality. Always a tool with addons will be less integrated and effective that a tool with the features you need built in.

Good luck!

Best regards,
Steve Wiseman, CEO, ContextEngage | http://www.contextengage.com Isr +972-522-341-957 Official Paligo Resellers To arrange a quick 15 minute intro call with me, Click here

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+swiseman=contextengage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+swiseman=contextengage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Nathaniel Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2017 11:02 PM
To: Gene Kim-Eng
Cc: TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)
Subject: Re: Using Word as an Authoring System

Hi Craig,

I have been using Microsoft Word to create documentation for a few months, since I landed my new gig creating SOPs for a telecommunications company.
Microsoft Word isnât the best thing to use, but not bad either. I think it all depends on what type of documentation you need it for. The straightforward instructional guides that I create and that are shared on the Intranet really donât need anything more than Microsoft Word, so itâs fine.

Here are some of my best tips:

ÂÂ -

ÂÂ Screenshots are fairly easy to capture- I recommend saving the images on
ÂÂ PowerPoint (if you have it) before copying and pasting them into your
ÂÂ document. This way, you can add arrows or circles to highlight certain
ÂÂ areas in the screenshot.
ÂÂ -

ÂÂ To move a screenshot around on a page, right click on it and select
ÂÂ Format Picture. Then click on the Layout tab. Selecting Behind or In Front
ÂÂ Of Text will allow you to move an image around as you like. Clicking on the
ÂÂ Advanced button and then choosing to place the image in line with the text
ÂÂ or placing your text above and below the image will cause the screenshot to
ÂÂ be fixed in a given location.
ÂÂ -

ÂÂ If youâre creating steps, I recommend using the number formats and
ÂÂ bullets at the top of the screen. I number all of the steps in my documents
ÂÂ and use bullets for all information that is not a step for the user to
ÂÂ take. Also, I make use of indentation to differentiate things in my
ÂÂ documents.

Thereâs more that I could share, but this is good for a start. Hope it helps.

-Nathaniel

On Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 3:58 PM, Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> wrote:

> Consistency is essential. The DTP tools that are the most popular with
> tech writers tend to impose consistency through their structure. Word
> doesn't do that, so you have to do it yourself. Not just yourself, but
> across your entire organization. And make sure that nobody outside the
> documentation group ever gets to edit or even open any of your Word files.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
>
>
> On 11/28/2017 12:05 PM, Cardimon, Craig wrote:
>
>> At my company, we are drifting away from our old authoring system and
>> moving toward using Microsoft Word.
>>
>> Do you knowledgeable folks have any advice, suggestions, tips, or
>> tricks for me about using Word for product documentation?
>>
>
>
> ---
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy
> and content development | http://techwhirl.com
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as nwilson120 -dot- nw -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources
> and info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
> online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our
> public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | http://techwhirl.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as swiseman -at- contextengage -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | http://techwhirl.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives

Information contained in this e-mail transmission is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, do not read, distribute or reproduce this transmission (including any attachments). If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by telephone or email reply.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | http://techwhirl.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as pauln -at- helpauthors -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | http://techwhirl.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


Previous by Author: RE: Using Word as an Authoring System
Next by Author: Re: Using "Fences" as File Management Tool?
Previous by Thread: Re: Using Word as an Authoring System
Next by Thread: Re: Using Word as an Authoring System


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads