Comparing Help File Tools: A Guide for Technical Writers

Welcome to episode 082 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about Portable Document Format, or PDF. Introduced and maintained by Adobe, PDF offers technical writers many benefits, including format preservation, universal accessibility, and even document archival. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article by senior technical writer Curt Robbins. They explore the various tools that can be employed to create and maintain PDF files, including Adobe Acrobat, Canva, Microsoft Word, and Nitro PDF Pro. They also explain use cases where PDF might not be the best choice and how technical writing and documentation teams requiring smooth cloud-based collaboration should consider other options. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. >> Read the original article: https://tinyurl.com/4hw7cjan. >> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 081 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about 14 critical dos and don'ts of social media management for technical writers and IT professionals. Listeners learn both what to do and, just as important, what to avoid to achieve success and best leverage their time with social media to improve their careers and be more successful. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article by senior technical writer Curt Robbins. They explore how IT pros should consistently engage in social media, why they should leave their ego at the door and always practice sincerity and good intent, and why posting paywalled content might be a bad idea. They also explain why ranting, discussion of controversial topics, and foul language reflect poorly on IT professionals in a business context. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. >> Read the original article: https://tinyurl.com/tzssvm8b. >> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 080 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about the most popular help file development tools available for technical writers and documentation specialists. It compares Adobe RoboHelp, ClickHelp, Confluence, Help+Manual, MadCap Flare, and Paligo. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article by senior technical writer Curt Robbins. They explore the pros and cons of each of the six help file tools and how some use cases may benefit from use of one over the other. They explore how team size, project characteristics, and budget all influence the best choice of tool. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. >> Read the original article: https://tinyurl.com/bdmk2fbj. >> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 079 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about the most popular screen recording and screen capture tools available for technical writers and documentation specialists. It compares Camtasia, Loom, OBS Studio, and Snagit. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article by Curt Robbins. They explore the pros and cons of each of the four screen recorders and how some use cases may benefit from use of one over the other. They also describe how some projects can benefit from use of multiple screen recording tools for the best outcome and workflow efficiency. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. >> Read the original article: https://tinyurl.com/3y3sjvd5. >> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 078 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about the DOCX file format involved in Microsoft Word (part of Microsoft Office). It explains the relationship between DOCX and XML and how this can allow for single sourcing documents and outputting core content in a variety of environments and layouts. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article by Curt Robbins. They explore the pros and cons of DOCX and how some use cases may benefit from use of a different tool. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 077 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about the Document Development Life Cycle, or DDLC. This documentation project management approach, derived from the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), provides technical writers and documentation specialists with an industry-proven methodology for improving IT documentation. Listeners learn how to use DDLC to decrease production effort while increasing quality. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the recent article by Curt Robbins entitled "Document Development Life Cycle: A Guide for Technical Writers." They explore the pros and cons of DDLC, including the most popular tools like Adobe Framemaker, Confluence, DITA, and MadCap Flare. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. Read the original article by Curt Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/yc38mkya. Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 076 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about API documentation, including the most popular development tools, what to do to achieve success with API docs, and what to avoid. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the recent article by Curt Robbins entitled "API Documentation: A Guide for Technical Writers & IT Professionals." They explore the history of API documentation, the elements of quality API docs, and the things that should be strategically avoided to ensure success. They also discuss API doc tools such as Doxygen, Markdown, GitBook, Postman, Readme, and Swagger. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. Read the original article by Curt Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/2uackzhh. Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 075 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s episode teaches listeners about Markdown and how it can serve as a valuable tool for technical writers and documentation specialists. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the recent article by Curt Robbins entitled "Markdown for Technical Writers." They explore how Markdown can assist with version control, collaboration, and content clarity and accuracy (two of Robbins' Eight Pillars of Technical Writing, linked below). The two also provide an overview of tools that support Markdown, including Confluence and GitBook. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. Read the original article by Curt Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/3mwrz9s5. Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 074 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s show teaches listeners about a recent study about how cultural evolution is much faster than the evolution of DNA and how it affects technology and innovation. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the recent study "The Cultural Evolution of Technology: Facts & Theories" by Robert Boyd, Peter Richerson, and Joseph Henrich. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. To read the original study: https://tinyurl.com/bdhmd7vz.

Welcome to episode 073 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode! Today’s show teaches listeners about documentation single sourcing, with an overview of the advantages, disadvantages, and popular tools that are available. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article "Documentation Single Sourcing: A Primer for Technical Writers" by senior technical writer Curt Robbins. An excerpt from the article: "In the world of enterprise documentation, single sourcing has emerged as a transformative strategy that addresses the challenges of consistency, scalability, and efficiency. By creating a single source of truth for content, technical writers and IT professionals can streamline the creation, maintenance, and delivery of documentation across multiple platforms and formats." The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround. Read the original article here: https://tinyurl.com/yc9a5b2b