tech comm software – Page 20

The next generation of the Web: HTML5 and CSS3 – A Blast from the Past blog post

Posted on May 22, 2012May 22, 2012 by TechCommGeekMom

@Microsoft This is another installment of my “Blast from the Past” entries originally posted in my academic blog. This one comes to us from May 8th, 2010– almost exactly two years ago! It’s interesting to read that some of these issues are still relevant today– what have you done to learn or use HTML 5 and CSS3? I admit, I while I still do have some understanding, I think I need more. Even Adobe has gotten up to speed with their release of their Edge product, so it proves that things are moving fast!

–techcommgeekmom

One of the things that I think is critical to technical communication is the emphasis on the technical. After all, talking one-on-one in person is communication, and there’s been communication since cave people bonked each other on the head with clubs. Technology has always been emerging over the centuries. Just last night, during my son’s Cub Scout meeting, the denner was giving a presentation about electricity, and mentioned the invention of the telegraph. It occurred to me, and I brought it to the attention of the boys, that the telegraph was probably the first form of e-mail, if you think about it.

So, fast forward to today. I came across this article, which talks about the future of web-based coding languages:

Geek 101: HTML5, CSS3, and You

It basically talks about the history of HTML and CSS, and the next generation of these web development codes. I already have a general handle on these, since I’ve not only had to work with these codes professionally, but also had to revive my skills and learn CSS in order to create my e-Portfolio for PTC 601. So, does this mean I need to learn a new set of codes? What kind of adjustments need to be made for HTML5 and CSS3? Time will tell if and how I will learn more about these codes. Hopefully I will so I can stay on the cutting edge of things.

How does this relate to technical communication? Well, someone will have to write about it and tell how to use it. Additionally, part of being a technical communicator is not only creating the communication itself, but actually knowing how to put it out in the world, be it by webpage, fax or printed document. HTML5 and CSS3 are part of that, so it’ll be important to start to learn about these new technologies. If it means that being able to post animations and video without specialized players (like Flash) into any browser that supports HTML5 and CSS3, then that’s actually a GOOD thing. Apple has been embracing it since they don’t want to use Flash or other players, for example. This will open up a larger arena for the world, by removing some limitations that make things more readily accessible.

So, you need to allow this geek girl here her excitement into technology geekery. This is part that makes technical communication fun, at least for me.

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The Bear Grylls of Technical Communications?

Posted on May 11, 2012May 14, 2012 by TechCommGeekMom

My techcomm, m-learning, and e-learning friends–I need to advise you of a painful truth about the world. It’s rough out there. The world economy has been such a mess for the last five years or so, and it’s been slow to recover from the bad times. At least from my own experiences, I can say that just in the last three and a half years alone, I was laid off, unemployed, working, then laid off again to now where I’m semi-working (working part-time, just finished school) and have a few projects, but nothing that’s long term as of yet. In other words, it’s a jungle out there, and I know from first hand experience that technical communicators need to be survivalists out there, like Bear Grylls or Les Stroud (SurvivalMan). Just like those on that show, “Survivor,” we need to outwit, outplay and outlast others to stay in the game. One has to start thinking out of the box as to how to continue in the world as a technical communicator.

Within the last two days, I encountered two things that addressed this very notion. The first was an article by Miriam Lottner, who writes the Documentation Management and Technical Writing Blog for Tech-Tav Documentation, Ltd. in Israel. She wrote an article called, “Getting to the top and staying there” that addressed the issue of technical communicators looking for jobs where she lives. As someone who contracts technical writers herself, she addressed what she looks for and what she feels are skills that are needed to get ahead today in the technical communications field. She recounted a story of being able to place a person for a very specific project because they had skills that others did not have. The main point of her article was that to stay ahead, one needs to push away the obsolete skills that nobody wants to know anymore, and brush up on or learn new skills, because technology is always changing. She even mentions that she is in the process of writing a book about HTML5 to help other learn and get ahead. (I’m looking forward to getting a copy! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Miriam on Skype, and she’s a sharp cookie who loves techcomm, so I’m sure the book is going to be fabulous!)

Fast forward a day, where I was at the home of a fellow member of the Society of Technical Communications (STC-Philly), along with some other local NJ members, and we sat together to listen to a virtually shared meeting presented by the STC-NYC chapter. The NYC chapter was having speakers Ross Squire and Donna Timpone present a talk called, “Technical Communications: Your Annual Career Tune-Up.” It was an interesting presentation, because while there were great tips to remind those who were participating about making networking connections, it was emphasized that with technology moving so quickly these days, it really benefitted technical communicators to get out and learn new skills. Going back to school or taking an online course on something new was encouraged to not only boost one’s skills and provide someone with additional experience that could be brought into a new job, but the use of social media to make networking connections was also important. Being passive doesn’t work anymore if you are looking for employment of any kind, whether it’s to move up or just find something at all. Staying on top of the game is what is key these days. A key point to Ross’ and Donna’s talk was that e-learning and m-learning, both in acquiring information and putting out information was going to be vital. In other words, being on both the receiving and sending sides and understanding those roles will be crucial. Understanding and participating in social learning is highly important. In other words, if you want to play the game, you have to start gaining the survival skills.

In reading Miriam’s article, and listening to Ross and Donna, I felt a certain satisfaction knowing that in many respects, I’m on the right track with getting my own career started. Less than 3 years ago when I got laid off the first time, I started taking matters into my own hands by starting with my online courses for a graduate certificate in technical communications essentials. I’m glad I kept up with my classes, because now I’ve been laid off again for a while, but I’m about to graduate with my Masters degree in technical communication, and after looking at trends and issues in techcomm, e-learning, and m-learning, I feel like I’m ready to get out there. It may be a little rough and bumpy sometimes, and no doubt I’ll be on my own to struggle to survive, but I believe I have what it takes, and I will be a tech comm survivor. Heck, while I’ve finished my classes and have yet to still get my Masters degree in my hands in a few days, I’ve already started boosting my skills set with learning some new software that will be coming in handy as I move forward with my career in the near future. Learning never ends. If I hadn’t taken some courses or taught myself other IT skills years ago, I wouldn’t even be where I am now.

(Addendum: Look above at the ID/TC Educational Resources if you are looking for some ideas of further e-learning, m-learning or tech comm learning!)

The Boy Scouts have among their important mottos the saying, “Be prepared.” This is so vital these days.

So, do you have what it takes to be the Bear Grylls of technical communications? If not, you need to do some boot camp training soon….

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I’d like to thank the Webby Awards for this honor….

Posted on May 3, 2012May 3, 2012 by TechCommGeekMom

Okay– I didn’t get a Webby Award. How could I? I just got started here. However, I’m feeling like a movie star right now, because I’m very excited about an opportunity I’ve been given–and yet never expected.

Do you remember, when I first started this blog, that I wrote a blog post talking about needing to learn about tech comm and e-learning tools of the trade? It was basically a rant about the importance of new technical communicators coming out of schools or learning program needing to know some of the tools of the trade, even if it’s an old one, and it doesn’t matter which one, just so the tech comm student can get a basic foundation? I still feel rather passionate about that. In a good program, you are often given really great skills that you almost don’t need to know the tools, as theoretically, as long as you have the aptitude to do great technical communications, the tools will come later. I agree with that…however, it’s not realistic in today’s job market. Speaking personally, I know that I can learn lots of software applications pretty quickly, but I just need to be shown how they are used first– that’s all. And I know that my technical communications skills are solid. The problem is that right now, job descriptions are very specific in letting applicant know that they want this software package or that software package. If you don’t have any skills for using any of the software package in that genre, you are out of luck. I recently applied for a position, and I was told that they wouldn’t accept my application merely because they were fairly strict on a person having X amount of years on a particular software package. And this was even though I was totally qualified on all other fronts for this position.

Anyway…you get the point…back to our story…

Well, lo and behold–and little did I know–what kind of doors that blog posting would open. Shortly after that posting, I was contacted by Adobe, who surprised me by letting me know that the Adobe TCS team had read the blog post. They liked my writing style and what I had to say here–which for a new e-learning commentator, is definitely encouraging! They also let me know that they do their darndest to get the Technical Communications Suite software out to academic technical communications programs out there, and are working on adding more schools all the time. (Good news for future technical communicators!) .

So after some back and forth conversations through global email, Twitter, Adobe Connect and good ol’ telephone, I am thrilled to announce that on 5 June 2012 at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT, I will be the presenter of an Adobe webinar titled, “Transition from Content Consumer to Content Creator: Dual Viewpoints.” Here’s the webinar description:

The technical communications world is changing quickly with technological advances. It can be a difficult transition from content consumer to becoming a content creator. If you are new to the technical communications field and trying to find some direction, how do you make that transition and learn the tools of the trade? Join technical communicator Danielle Villegas, who blogs and tweets as TechCommGeekMom, as she discusses the challenges of being a content manager, pursuing a professional course in Technical Communication, and moving ahead in a technical communications career. Danielle will concentrate on content for mobile devices while sharing her first hand experiences learning about the most desired skills. She will be discussing how visual and web design, technical writing and editing, and content management skills come together to create good technical content.

You can register for the webinar at http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=2024625&loc=en_us.

Make sure you sign up and mark your calendars!! 🙂

I am truly honored and thrilled with this opportunity that Adobe has given me! Many thanks to them, again, for the opportunity!

OK, so it’s my first webinar and all, and I’m sure I won’t win a Webby Award for it, being that it’s my first time out of the gates, so to speak. But it makes me feel like a movie star for this brief shining moment, and I can’t wait to share my experiences and thoughts with the tech comm audience out there!

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Tools? We don’t need tools. (Or do we?)

Posted on March 21, 2012 by TechCommGeekMom

One of the things that is highly debatable in the tech comm world, as well as the e-learning and m-learning world, has to do with software. It’s always the eternal question.

WHAT’S THE BEST SOFTWARE TO USE?

I’m here to tell you….I have no idea.

Really.

I’m not joking.

One of the regrets I have about the Masters program in technical communications I’ve been in is that while we were introduced to several different types of software, most software applications used were either free or low cost, or we’d have to use the free trial version as quickly as possible, but they were not necessarily the industry standards employers use. If it weren’t for the fact that I would read industry magazines and look at plenty of “help wanted” ads, I wouldn’t have any idea what these software packages werethat many tech comm and e-learning professionals use. The arguments that my school made for not teaching us some of these software packages was a) it was too expensive, and b) upgrades on packages are made so often that they’d never be able to keep up with the constant upgrades. While I understand both arguments–and they are valid ones–I don’t agree that they are doing us any favors. I am taking classes through a technical institution, and it seems unfair that many types of similar or more expensive software packages are being purchased and licensed for the engineering students, but not for tech comm students. We can access MS Office products…and that’s about it. No Adobe. No MadCap. Nothing like that. And yet, that’s what prospective employers ask for–not only technical communication know-how, but experience using “X” software or something similar.

I know that it can be expensive, but it’s more expensive long-term not to help us learn the basics of these packages. I’ll use the example that I’ve mentioned to some most recently. The first version of MS Word that I ever used was the very first one–Word 1.0. Yes, it was a long time ago, and I know I’m old, thanks. But the point is, I haven’t taken a training session or class on how to use Word since learning that first version. I’ve just figured out the upgrades through trial and error, like most people, but I already understood the basic concepts. If I was taught from an “old” version of Flare, Robohelp, FrameMaker, etc. I’m sure that I would figure out the upgrade pretty quickly, since I already understand how the software program works generally. See my point? The software packages that I just listed, and more of them, are a technical communicator’s bread and butter. While exposure to using MS Office in a creative way, and using free products is good to understand concepts, it’s not what will help burgeoning technical communicators like myself find work. I can write storyboards, and I understand the basic principles of instructional design, but if I can’t use Captivate, Lectora or Articulate to expedite those things, then none of that matters unless there is an employer willing to either train me or let me figure out how the software works.

As I just mentioned, this applies to the e-learning and m-learning world too. If you don’t know how to use Captivate, Lectora, Articulate, or one of the other great instructional design software packages, you are up a creek. Add the mobile factor in it, and considering that not all software packages– for e-learning or tech comm– have kept up with the mobile revolution…it really makes things difficult, to say the least.

My main argument is that if you learn one package, more than likely you can figure out the others–there’s just a slight learning curve. Bringing back that MS Word example again, up until the time that I started using MS Word, I was a diehard WordPerfect user, and had used that for many, many years. (Okay, you can stop with the old jokes now!) Because I understood how to use WordPerfect, I understood how to do word processing, and it was just a matter of learning which types of buttons or commands were the same, and which ones were different. I haven’t used WordPerfect for many years, but I’d bet you that I could figure out whatever the latest version is, simple because I know how to use a word processor in general.

I’m not promoting any specific product here–I mean, I’m willing to learn any of them! Part of what holds me back is the cost. It’s expensive to try to buy these packages, even with my student discount when applicable. I was looking at one of these software packages just today, and for a single license it was $1000.00! Really? I supposed if I was in business for myself and I already knew the software, I could consider it an investment and make it a business write-off in my taxes the following year. But a thirty-day trial isn’t long enough in most cases, or they are limited as they will only allow you to use the product, but not save your work. Or, let’s say you have one of those thirty-day trials with full access, and you get hooked, but then you can’t afford the software. What good is any of that? You can see why this would be incredibly frustrating to a fledgling technical communicator.

So, if I am to learn any software products, and I can’t spend a fortune to buy all of them, which ones are the best to learn that would allow me to adapt to other software packages easily? Should I learn Flare, or should I learn Framemaker and Robohelp? Should I learn Captivate, Lectora or Articulate? These are all industry leaders. But for all I know, some other product might work better and be the best at teaching me how to be adaptable to all of these.

Any suggestions? Please comment!

This topic totally exhausts me.