TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
"I would like to develop a documentation standards guide to address
usage, style, naming conventions, templates and more; to be used by the doc
team, development, and possibly other teams. I would also like to develop a
formal documentation plan for the new product we are developing.
Does anyone have any examples of a standards guide or documentation plan
that they can share with me?"
We are currently working on a new version of our style guide, which is
growing into a style guide/doc procedure guide. When we are farther along
with it (probably a couple of months from now) I would be glad to send you a
copy.
A couple of thoughts on style guides, standards manuals, etc.
We are developing this style guide/standards manual/doc procedure guide for
two reasons:
1. To make the docs easier to understand and use because they are well
organized and consistent across products.
2. To make the process of writing them easier.
The second reason is one that is seldom discussed (or I just missed that
discussion). A style guide should provide a framework for the writer to
follow when developing documentation. It provides a structural drawing for
the doc much like a blue print does for a house. This should help to save
time and produce a better product. A skilled builder could probably build a
house without a blue print. But it would probably take a lot longer and the
resulting structure may not be of the same consistent quality. Same it true
for the tech writer. Without a plan and guidelines, a skilled tech writer
could produce a documentation piece, but it is going to take longer and
chances are it will not be as consistent.
We are striving for the same thing with the doc plan we are developing. The
point is to make the process of gathering info and writing easier and help
us achieve more consistent results. And I have told my writers over and over
again, if the plan fails to streamline the process of writing, then
something is wrong. When style guides, standards manuals, doc plans, etc.,
become nothing but red tape and hoops to jump through, then we have lost
sight of their real purpose.
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available 4/30/01 at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001 Conference East,
June 4-6, Baltimore, MD. Now covering Acrobat 5. Early registration deadline
April 27. http://www.pdfconference.com.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
