TechWhirl Recap for December 23 2011

Subject: TechWhirl Recap for December 23 2011
From: INKtopia Admin <admin -at- inktopia -dot- net>
To: Techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:24:45 -0500

*TechWhirl Recap for December 23 2011*



This week’s update is supported by Platinum sponsor ComponentOne & their
Doc-To-Help Help Authoring Tool <http://goo.gl/QcMWA> | http://goo.gl/QcMWA



*From the Desk of the Editor*

It’s a been a pretty quiet week as the TechWhirl staff (that would be Al
and me) get ready for the holiday. No matter whether you’re into
Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Festivus, or just anticipating a few
days off, we sincerely hope the holidays bring you everything you could
hope for.



If you’ve had a chance to listen to the TechWhirl holiday
podcast<http://techwhirl.com/topics/podcasts/>,
you know that Al got his wish already, and in that same vein, I’m happy to
be plunging into TechWhirl fulltime after a lengthy contract stint and the
resulting weekend warrior status. Actually my Christmas wish has been
fulfilled, with a great team of writers on the SWU, but I have no
compunctions about hoping that it continues to be fulfilled with new
editors and writers joining our gang during 2012. Most of the SWU is
already enjoying the holiday status, but a few of them stuck around long
enough to be a part of the podcast and enjoy their 59 minutes of holiday
fame.



We managed to put a few more gifts under the TechWhirl magazine tree, with
a review of Joe Welinkse’s book on user assistance for mobile apps, and an
eye-opening guide to being more efficient in Word from the Users’ Advocate,
Geoff Hart. Try not to read them this weekend, they’ll be around after the
big celebrations are done…



Have a happy, merry, jolly, joyous, restful and non-fattening holiday



- The gang at TechWhirl
In Case You Missed it: This Week @ TechWhirl

New on http://TechWhirl.com <http://techwhirl.com/>:

· Podcast: TechWhirl’s Christmas Playhouse for Technical Writers |
http://goo.gl/sZkct

· Lovingly curated by humans, it’s Tech Writer This Week |
http://goo.gl/ETjti

· Book Review: Joe Welinske’ Developing User Assistance for Mobile
Apps, written by Mike McCallister | http://goo.gl/Xn1FO

· Users Advocate Column, Save Time by Mastering the Basics:
Efficient Movement within a File, by Geoff Hart | http://goo.gl/oGnEb

Letters to Santa:

· Nancy Allison: Wish List from a Very, Very Good Tech Writer |
http://goo.gl/WgKaE

· Cheryl Voloshin: The Perfect Tech Writer’s Letter to Santa |
http://goo.gl/8t7sH

· The Tech Writer Curmudgeon: Holiday Negotiations |
http://goo.gl/mqzop

Tech Comm News:

· WritersUA Announces Results of Annual User Assistance Tools
Survey | http://goo.gl/My5bQ

· Acrolinx and Partners Launch ACCEPT International Research
Project | http://goo.gl/dANxv
What You’re Talking About

A quick *What you talkin’ ‘bout* to our Tech Writers and their discussions
in our email discussion group <http://goo.gl/YUrbb>:

- Most Whirlers seem to be taking a long winter’s nap, but Kevin
McLaughlin stayed awake long enough to request some feedback about the
possibility of caution fatigue when he stated “Too many notes! Take some
out.” Respondents, noted that in addition to compliance and regulatory
concerns, judicious use of notes, cautions and warnings benefits users, but
reviewing long-standing docs for note creep is probably worthwhile.
- Will Husa began experiencing “WORD weirdness” on a 30-page document
that would not print the final page, even after converting to PDF. After
several suggestions for Maggie-ing the document (copy everything but the
last paragraph mark and paste into a new document) and checking for text
hidden in field codes, Will cobbled together a solution that included an
extra section break.


Social Media and the Chance to Follow TechWhirl:

- Our Google Plus Page – what’s happening behind the scenes |
http://goo.gl/SO0R4
- Will you be our Friend? Please, you know you want to click |
http://goo.gl/tDrW7
- Want all this TechWhirl goodness a few characters @ a time |
http://goo.gl/itjDg
- Updates from TechWhirl delivered to your email in box |
http://bit.ly/tjshxU
- Or, try our RSS feed (great on Flipboard) | http://goo.gl/msLzu

SPONSOR-Luv

We want to send a very special “thank you” to our sponsors for their
support. No Mr. Potters in this group, our world would not be the same
without them.



*Platinum A*: Adobe Systems
Incorporated<http://www.runaware.com/clients/adobe/techsuite/>

*Platinum B: *Madcap
Software<http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/flare/overview.aspx#whatsnew>,
ComponentOne Software<http://www.doctohelp.com/?utm_source=techwrl.com&utm_medium=125x125%2Bbanner%2Bad&utm_campaign=doctohelp>
**

*Gold*: Society for Technical Communication (STC) <http://www.stc.org/>, EC
Software <http://www.ec-software.com/>, Vancouver Island
University<http://pr.viu.ca/techcomm/>
,

--


TechWhirl.com
Online Magazine and Discussions for Today's Tech Writer

Follow TechWhirl on
Twitter: @TechWriterToday
Facebook: facebook.com/techwriterlist
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.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
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -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: TECHWR-L Premium Jobs, Events, and Announcements
Next by Author: TECHWR-L Premium Jobs, Events, and Announcements
Previous by Thread: Re: Fishing for a new documentation title
Next by Thread: Need a little help in wording


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


Sponsored Ads