RE: Creating Technical Documents in Word

Subject: RE: Creating Technical Documents in Word
From: Paul Hanson <twer_lists_all -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: "dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net" <dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net>, "TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2018 15:34:23 +0000

Based upon my description below, what tool should I be using instead of MS Word?


Paul Hanson
My blog: http://prhmusic.blogspot.com Â
Me Playing Drums: http://prhmusic.blogspot.com/p/videos-of-me-playing-drums.html
Twitter: @prhmusic



-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2018 5:10 PM
To: TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)
Subject: Re: Creating Technical Documents in Word

In the immortal words of Nancy Reagan, just say no.

I know thatâs flip and probably unrealistic, but I think itâs also true.

Unless youâre creating one-off, short documents that arenât part of a larger documentation set, Word is probably the wrong tool.

Richard Hamilton
-------
XML Press
XML for Technical Communicators
http://xmlpress.net
hamilton -at- xmlpress -dot- net



> On Mar 8, 2018, at 11:25, Paul Hanson <twer_lists_all -at- hotmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
> If I had that need, I would create a bookmark at whatever line number I needed and insert a cross-reference. It'd be kind of cool to set up, but I have no real reason to do so in the work I do. Instead, I have other plans for MS Word. I have 300-ish Word docs linked to my RoboHelp project. The majority of those MS Word documents are maintained by other teams in my department (disaster recovery documentation) and I use RoboHelp to assemble a browser-based output. I created a "standards" document with the standard headings I wanted to have in each MS Word document as well as the standard header and footer. For each heading in the standards document, I assigned a bookmark. Then, in each of those 300-ish Word documents, I use a field to create a cross-reference back to the standards document. For example, I have each of the headings set up to use the "Title" in the document as part of the heading, followed by a dash. If I want to use the "Title" in the document as part of the heading, followed by a > instead of a dash (I don't, but for the sake of this example, let's say I do), all I have to do is replace the - with > in my standards document and run a macro. The macro processes each MS Word document in my directory structure and refreshes all fields in each MS Word document. Thus, in a matter of minutes, I can make global changes to 300-ish Word documents. In the near future, I'm going to investigate adding screenshots in my standards document so that if I have the same screenshot in multiple MS Word documents, I can follow the methodology I have in place for the headings. This is a new idea to me that I haven't fleshed out entirely, but, in theory, I'm very excited about it.
>
> All I'm saying is MS Word is a powerful tool for my daily work.
>
>
> Paul Hanson
> My blog: http://prhmusic.blogspot.com
> Me Playing Drums: http://prhmusic.blogspot.com/p/videos-of-me-playing-drums.html
> Twitter: @prhmusic
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> ] On Behalf Of kafkascampi
> Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2018 12:07 PM
> To: Cardimon, Craig
> Cc: TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)
> Subject: Re: Creating Technical Documents in Word
>
> I broke out in a cold sweat when I read the words "restart each section". Word sections have felled braver men than you or I.
>
> I still produce some documents in Word, but only very short tipsheets and similar.
>
> If you are asking about numbering lines within your document, it doesn't seem clear to me from the linked article what the benefit would be. Maybe if you have them visible only to you as the author, it can help with formatting. Or are you outputting them, as in a legal doc?
>
> The article says it can be useful for reference points, but wouldn't you just be adding references like anchors?
>
> Chris
>
> On Thu, Mar 8, 2018 at 9:54 AM, Cardimon, Craig <ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com> wrote:
>> This is kind of what I'm doing now. Thoughts?
>>
>> https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-create-technical-documents-in-wo
>> r
>> d-part-i/
>>
>> Cordially,
>>
>> Craig Cardimon | Senior Technical Writer
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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 kafkascampi -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 twer_lists_all -at- hotmail -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 dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net -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 twer_lists_all -at- hotmail -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


Follow-Ups:

References:
Creating Technical Documents in Word: From: Cardimon, Craig
Re: Creating Technical Documents in Word: From: kafkascampi
RE: Creating Technical Documents in Word: From: Paul Hanson
Re: Creating Technical Documents in Word: From: dick

Previous by Author: RE: Creating Technical Documents in Word
Next by Author: Re: The Microsoft Style Guide is Online and Free
Previous by Thread: Re: Creating Technical Documents in Word
Next by Thread: RE: Creating Technical Documents in Word


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


Sponsored Ads