The PDF roadblock
Getting attractive PDF output out of XML is a serious technical challenge. But in some organizations, the PDF requirement is being used to prevent to unwanted workflow changes.
Pitting tech comm and tech support against each other
Technical communication and technical support should be allies. After all, tech support needs the information that tech comm produces. Tech comm often has only limited customer contact; tech support has oodles of daily customer contact.
And yet, there is a common organizational pattern where tech comm and tech support are in conflict.
It’s not easy being…clean
This article was originally published in STC Intercom in March of 2011.
A standards-based workflow is challenging. This article discusses the issues with DITA (an XML standard for technical communication content) and XSL-FO (Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects, a standard used to create PDF from XML (http://www.w3.org/standards/xml/publishing).
Webcast: DITA Best Practices
In this webcast hosted by Scriptorium, author Tony Self discusses his new book, The DITA Style Guide, and how it fits into a DITA workflow.
The battle to separate the personal and the professional
Social media is inexorably coalescing our personal and professional identities. What happens when baby pictures, political views, drinking habits, and hobbies collide with your corporate persona?
Webcast: Attractive DITA: it is possible!
In this webcast, Sarah O’Keefe discusses the challenges of getting attractive output from DITA and demonstrates Scriptorium’s approach to web-based help and PDF.
The technical communicator’s survival guide for 2011
At the 2011 North Carolina Technology Association annual meeting, Gartner analyst Michael Smith discussed how IT needs to show business value or risk being marginalized within an organization.
Contemplating the tablet in tech comm
Ebooks and tablets are helping people read more than they did before: in a recent survey, 66 percent of portable device owners said they were reading more.
That statistic should prompt all technical communicators to think about if—and how—ebooks and other tablet-compatible formats (including apps) fit into their content delivery.
Social media: marketing in every message
Social media has transformed the work of technical communicators, but we’re far from alone in feeling its impact:
Webcast: Calculating the ROI for XML and DITA topic-based authoring
In this webcast, Sarah O’Keefe discusses how to calculate the return on investment of an XML/DITA implementation for technical content.
If you are considering XML and DITA, but are trying to figure out whether you can justify the cost and effort, this session is for you.
