Technical Writing Glossary

I think this is a neat idea and is an excellent resource for aspirants and practising pros alike. Check it out.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~mbuckler/glossary1.shtml
write to me: Suman[at]sumankumar[dot]com

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Participative Help Design

Participative Help Design

I used a weblog script to create online help for -uh- using weblogs. I used a plugin to pull help topics as alphabetical links. The script has in-built search. So, there, I had an index and a search. And I left the 'Comments' feature alone. And guess what, I had users commenting on individual topics, which resulted in fine tuning the help and making it user-centered.

So, I conclude that user-feedback even after the documentation is released is invaluable and is much more relevant; users give feedback based on how they use the Help system. I'd say it is a nice way to fill gaps that you may have overseen during your project. I am talking from experience!

I used Nucleus: http://nucleuscms.org. People ask me why not MovableType; simple, it is not open-source like Nucleus. So, experiment with blogs and tell me if you can, how it helped you.

write to me: Suman@sumankumar.com

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3rd STC Chennai Meet this sunday.

3rd STC Chennai Knowledge Sharing Session this sunday, April 4th.



This month's knowledge sharing session will be held this coming sunday, april 4th at Cognizant's office at 10:00 a.m. Please do spread the word around.



Day & Date : Sunday, April 4, 2004

Time : 10 to 11 a.m

Venue : Cognizant Technology Services (CTS), 3rd Floor, Conference Room, Whites Road, Royapettah.

Contact Person : Kiruba Shankar . phone : 52133619 (res) , 52150505 (off)

RSVP : kiruba @ kiruba.com

Door Charge : Rs.20 ( Snacks will be served )



We are planning to get a video camera along so we can record the presentations and discussions.

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Localization and Internationalization

Localization and Internationalization

Internationalization: Writing in a neutral, simple language so that the document can be translated to other languages without much trouble. There are standards for it like the The European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA) Simplified English. The AECMA Simplified English (SE) dictionary is defined in the AECMA standard PSC-85-16598 developed by the aerospace industry.



Localization: The actual process of translation.



At least, that's what I have understood.



Now you know why you have to keep it simple when you write that manual, don't you?



Important note: Robohelp gives a lot of trouble in translations. That's what I have heard at least.



write to me: Suman@sumankumar.com

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In Denver

Guys I am in Denver. So updates will be erratic. I should be back in India around 18th of March. Until then, bye!

Suman

write to me: Suman@sumankumar.com

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Next STC Chennai Meeting On March 7 : This will be the second knowledge sharing session. The first meeting was a wonderful success and we hope the second one will be even better. Take a note of the details..

Day & Date : Sunday, March 7, 2004

Time : 10 to 11 a.m

Venue : Cognizant Technology Services (CTS), 3rd Floor, Conference Room, Whites Road, Royapettah.

Contact Person : Kiruba Shankar . phone : 52133619 (res)

RSVP : kiruba @ kiruba.com

The theme of the meet is "Bring a tech writing friend".

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I am engaged

I got engaged to Chitra on 25 Jan 2004. I was busy traveling and making arrangements. The other news is that I have published my first novel; visit http://sunnu.blogspot.com to read 10 free chapters. If you like what you read go right ahead and buy the novel at http://cafeshops.com/sunnu.

I will resume posting on this blog tomorrow; let me find a nice topic. Thanks people.

write to me: Suman@sumankumar.com

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