Tech Writer Today Magazine - TechWhirl
Technical writing and technical communications news, articles and resources for technical writers and technical communicators.
Adobe Systems kicked off the LavaCon Conference 2012 with a half-day session full of knowledge, commentary and predictions about content strategy and technical communication. TechWhirl was there from start to finish and presents a Storify view of the Adobe Day happenings. Scott Abel, the Content Wrangler, opened Adobe Day with a compelling case for "Why We Need to Create Structured Content." Continue reading ...
What's so exciting about RoboHelp 10? Aside from moving away from the X versioning symbolized in Adobe Acrobat and the Apple MacOS, that is? Quite a bit, indeed. RoboHelp 10 offers many new features, but I’m focusing this review on two areas important to technical communicators: producing online help for mobile applications and simplified review workflows with PDF comments enabled for Adobe Reader. Continue reading ...
FrameMaker is as close to an industry standard tool that we technical communicators have. FrameMaker isn’t for everyone in every circumstance, but absolute cost should be the last factor to consider; value for your money should be the first. I can honestly tell you that I have four different versions of FrameMaker installed on my machine, and I see the value in every upgrade. Continue reading ...
For the last decade or longer, the idea of “online help” really has been something of a misnomer. With more applications living on smart phones and other mobile devices that can access the Internet at will, the promise of genuinely online help can now be realized. The most extensive upgrades in the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 4 come to RoboHelp 10. Continue reading ...
Looking at the structured version of this authoring tool, I found the newest release of FrameMaker isn’t one of those mind-blowing updates, where you have to re-learn the whole interface. One of the core goals for this release was to get authors working more efficiently, so you’ll find that Adobe implemented all those little things you’ve been dying to have, like robust keyboard shortcuts and better scrolling/selecting. Best of all, the entire application is noticeably faster, especially if you’re working with a large file. Continue reading ...
Adobe Systems has provided some tantalizing hints as to when it would release the new Technical Communication Suite 4.0, and what might be in it. The when is today, July 24, 2012. And the what addresses a lot requests and requirements that TCS users have been asking for. The TCS team was listening, and the result is a nicely integrated set of tools that meet the future of technical communications head on. Continue reading ...
Somehow, I never really thought of a pre-conference session as one of those can’t-miss, full house events. I am happy to rework my thinking after attending Adobe’s Thought Leadership & Content Strategy event that took place prior to the start of the STC Summit 2012 in Chicago. The well-known leaders Adobe brought together spoke to a standing room only crowd (really!) on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for technical communicators in the next decade. It was facilitated by Tom Aldous, Director of Business Development and Product Evangelism for Adobe Technical Communication. While there were some differences of opinion and prediction, consensus revolved around one key phrase—"Adaptive Content"—and one prefix that can be attached to much of the technical communication strategy and tactics that will emerge over the next decade—"Multi-." Continue reading ...
Matt Sullivan is the Director of Training for roundpeg, inc, which is a certified Adobe and Web Technology training company. In addition to his director's role at roundpeg, Matt often represents Adobe products at conferences throughout the year. He is an Adobe Certified Trainer for their eLearning and Tech Comm Suite products, as well as an avid surfer, volleyball player and skier. He was kind enough to sit down with TechWhirl a little while ago to discuss training, Adobe and the world of technical communications during an hour-long interview. Continue reading ...
Adobe Systems Inc. today announced a limited offer on all new purchases of the industry-leading help authoring tool, RoboHelp, which entitles buyers to a complementary 'robot'. The robot, codenamed, HelpRobo, or HR for short, will be programmed to help RoboHelp users with many common administrative and support tasks. Continue reading ...