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Assist your end-users first: technical writing, copywriting, HTML Help, usability, and multimedia - by Epic Trends
Connect with your customers-and fuel your sales-through user assistance: technical writing, multimedia, web content, copywriting, usability, user interfaces, demos, tutorials, html help, and online Help.
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A fab makeover for an online Help authoring tool . . .
Monday, May 30, 2005
FAR, the inexpensive, and therefore popular, online Help authoring tool, has really grown up. I had not looked at FAR in about two years and was pleasantly surprised. Heck, no, more like ecstatic. More like tap dancing around my office. This latest version provides a complete solution to a more expensive tool that I recently found I can no longer use.*
FAR's latest release on May 5, 2005 packs more than a fistful of features into a modest bundle for an even more humble price of 49.00 USD. I was amazed at such a reasonable price for so many features. And that statement comes from a bona fide, card-carrying, self-employed cheapskate.
FAR HTML release notes
Better still, the features that I tested worked just the way I had hoped they would. Please take a short break while I tap dance just a little more. :) My favorite features:
• Javascript index and table of contents. These run on the client or server, without delivering extra applets or ActiveX controls.
• Form buttons for the table of contents, index, and full-text search tabs. You can edit these buttons or use your own .Gif files. FAR provides all the code for you. I believe this feature has been in FAR for a couple of versions.
• Full-text search features that work anywhere: web site, intranet, CD, DVD, or hard drive.
*If you want the sordid details about the tool I can no longer use, check out the previous entry in my blog for today.
One of my favorite online Help tools broke
One of my favorite online Help tools broke . . .
Monday, May 30, 2005
Until recently, one of my favorite Help authoring tools, a Dreamweaver plug-in called DevaTools, gave me great navigation for my web sites and web-based Help. I used it for indexes and tables of contents--until I upgraded to Dreamweaver MX 2004 and the associated version of the DevaTools plug-in.
Suddenly, I could not generate an index with DevaTools. After several weeks of my testing and contacting DevaTools support, I concluded the plug-in was just not going to run on my computer. And DevaTools support could reproduce my problem, intermittently. However, neither of us could pinpoint the problem. DevaTools support suggested that I find another tool. I decided on FAR, from HelpWare. For my review, click the following link:
A fab makeover for an online Help authoring tool
Important note
I do not know if my experience with DevaTools is typical. I posted questions to the HATT and Microsoft.public.helpauthoring online communities. However, no one has replied to indicate that they also shared my experience with this product. My only advice is that, if you decide to purchase DevaTools for Dreamweaver MX 2004, test the product thoroughly on your files for several days before purchasing it. My experience does not apply to earlier versions of DevaTools. DevaSearch for all versions of Dreamweaver seems to run fine on my computer. I will continue to use DevaSearch in my authoring, where appropriate.
Quick tips for web copy writing
Thursday, May 26, 2005
On the web, you get the privilege of speaking to one person at a time in the privacy of their home or office. Therefore, writing web copy is not the same as writing copy for magazines, television, radio, or other media. These basic tips can help you get started in writing web copy that makes readers lean forward in their seats.
Quick tips for writing web copy
The best ways to tick off your users
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
I enjoyed reading this article about the best ways to make sure your users wish they had never bought your software. From ToastyTech.com and hot out of the oven.
Good user interface design tips (if you want to whiz off your users)
Google launches blog with AdWords tips
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Run, don't walk, to this blog. It has only three items on it so far, but this blog looks very promising.
Inside AdWords
Link correction: Elegant and harmonious headings for web sites
Thursday, May 19, 2005
I enjoyed this article from Mark Boulton at Mark Boulton.co.uk. Coding .CSS is one thing. Knowing how to make your headings look elegant is quite another. This article gives you the nuts and bolts about typography settings and sizes.
Five simple steps to better typography
Practical and cheap usability testing
Thursday, May 19, 2005
This writer, Chris Nagale, thinks like I do. One usability test is better than none at all.
Practical (and cheap) usability testing
Essential bookmarks for web developers and designers
Thursday, May 19, 2005
This list looks like it will keep me busy many weekends. I've read a few of the links in the list already and am look forward to revisiting them. All are white orchids in the hot, sweaty cyber jungle.
Essential bookmarks for web developers and designers
A compromise for web site layouts: fixed and fluid
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Get the advantages of both a fixed layout to a web site and a liquid layout. Progressive layouts are fixed under and over certain screen resolutions, but fluid in between those resolutions. While I haven't tested this approach, the article displays good examples. This could possibly be the best of both worlds. Implement with CSS and a dash of Javascript.
Progressive layouts
CSS menus that give the ultimate in usability
Thursday, May 19, 2005
I can't wait to give the following menus a whirl. Accessible dropdown menus at last.
This technique is a bulletproof way to ensure browser compatibility and to maintain usability even for people who have old browsers or difficulty accessing dropdown menus, either because of a disability or a low level of comfort with the dropdown paradigm. It also does a much better job than standard dropdown menus of orienting the user within the site.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/hybrid/
Thursday, May 19, 2005
This article gives an intelligent discussion of usability versus search engine optimization.
Is search ruining the web?
Monday, May 16, 2005
You might be surprised to learn that the best demos require more work before you ever touch that screen recording software.
Pro product demos: The basics
Gates: Longhorn To Focus on Visual Improvements, Usability
Monday, May 16, 2005
Longhorn will include several visual improvements, such as icons that show content from the documents they represent. The software also is expected to introduce more intuitive ways of organizing files as well as faster searching.
Gates: Longhorn To Focus on Visual Improvements, Usability
Elegant and harmonious headings for web sites
Thursday, May 12, 2005
I enjoyed this article from Mark Boulton at Mark Boulton.co.uk. Coding .CSS is one thing. Knowing how to make your headings look elegant is quite another. This article gives you the nuts and bolts about typography settings and sizes.
Five simple steps to better typography
Product that tests usability of your web site
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Check out aDesigner from Alphaworks.
aDesigner
New XML publishing tool for online Help, PDF files, and more . . .
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Quadralay Launches WebWorks ePublisher Pro
Quadralay Corporation announces the launch of WebWorks ePublisher Pro.
The new desktop ePublishing software leverages XML and allows users to
create customized content for the Web, intranets, professional online
Help systems, portable devices, enterprise-ready XML, or PDFs. WebWorks
ePublisher Pro provides greater flexibility and ease of use for Help
authors, technical writers, documentation professionals, and other
content providers wanting to produce content for common online formats
directly from Microsoft Word or Adobe FrameMaker files. Authors can use Microsoft Word to write, maintain,
and update content, then use ePublisher Pro to manage and deliver
multiple online formats such as HTML, XHTML, DHTML, or the
cross-browser, cross-platform information system WebWorks Help. WebWorks
ePublisher Pro includes support for more than 45 languages, including
out-of-the-box support for double-byte languages. WebWorks ePublisher
Pro for Word ships in June 2005, and is available for purchase by
authors for US$1,000, and internationally for US$1,100. WebWorks
ePublisher Pro for FrameMaker ships in July 2005, and is available for
purchase by authors for US$1,395, and internationally for US$1,515.
http://www.webworks.com
If your software customers are Asian . . .
Monday, May 09, 2005
The following article from Kathy Sierra describes why Asians and Westerners see pictures (read +user interfaces+) differently . . .
Context matters
Whoo hoo, a fellow evangelist for consistency . . .
Monday, May 09, 2005
I love finding kindred souls on the web for my obsession, OK, addiction, for consistency. Check out the following article from Gerry Gafney at www.sitepoint.com:
Why consistency is critical
Exclusively for you history buffs . . .
Friday, May 06, 2005
Fellow history junkies, I enjoyed this short read from Jerry Reimer at arstechnica.com:
The history of the GUI
Web usability for visitors who are visually impaired
Monday, May 09, 2005
When designing your web site, don't forget the folks who use screen magnifiers. The good news is that your web site might already follow the recommendations in the following article. If not, you still get more good news: incorporating the recommendations is easy. Read this article from Trenton Moss and www.out-law.com.
Web accessibility for screen magnifier users
Friday, May 06, 2005
These dialog boxes will do anything to please. They compromise their identity. They flaunt their lack of usability. They do too much and go too far. The names and interfaces in this article have been changed to protect the misguided. One of the most common mistakes I see in software is a dialog box that acts like a window.
Desperate dialog boxes
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Weary of looking for obscure notes, ideas, or email? Tired of looking for photos on your hard drive?
Find out the solution that all the digerati are dying for . . .
Tagging helps unclutter data
What to think about before you hire a technical writer . . .
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Hiring a technical writer or proofreader can save you time before a product release. Good product documentation has many benefits, the most important being that you will have fewer support calls and better sales.
Your least expensive option is to write your documents yourself and hire a proofreader. Cheap online proofreading services do not produce consistent quality. If you hire a writer with a background in hardware and software, you will spend more money and wait a little longer, but you will get better quality service and documentation.
Outsourcing your documentation
Great guidelines do not change overnight
Monday, May 02, 2005
Great guidelines for user interface design do not change overnight. They withstand the test of time. In an industry like ours, that is a rare thing. However, if you plunk down the pesos for a book on user interface guidelines, your investment will not go out-of-date in three months.
Follow guidelines from companies who have already invested millions in usability testing. The list includes books and web links.
Windows
The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design [Microsoft, 1995].
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnanchor/html/anch_uidesigndev.asp
Macintosh
Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines [Apple Computer, Inc. 1993]
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000957
Other platforms, cross-platform
Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines [Sun Microsystems, 1999].
DSF/Motif Style Guide: Rev 1.2 [OSF, 1993].
Design Guide for Multiplatform Graphical User Interfaces [McFarland and Dayton, 1995].
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