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.
Gurpreet Singh wondered: <<Are there any industry defined specific
review/test cycles that one can apply in testing or reviewing
documents, for both online and print media? Are these different for
print and online help?>>
I'm sure there are specific standards for specific industries, but
you'd have to name the actual industry you're working in to get focused
advice. I think reviews for print and help are more similar than they
are different, though the details differ; for example, in print, you
have to flip to the specified page to confirm that a cross-reference is
correct, whereas in online help, you have to click a hyperlink.
Specific and more major differences relate to how the different media
are implemented. For example, print isn't context-sensitive, so you
have an extra step in reviewing help: does the right topic come up when
you click the Help button? Conversely, in print layouts, you have to
check for good/bad page breaks, which isn't a problem in online
material, where the pages are infinitely long, and the "page breaks"
are defined by the reader as they scroll.
<<Does STC, or any similar organization provides guidelines/best
practices over this?>>
STC doesn't provide anything official, but I suspect various
professional societies that focus on "Quality" are likely to have at
least draft standards. In the meantime, an article of mine that
provides a general overview of designing an effective review process
will be appearing in _Intercom_ magazine later this year. You can find
a preprint at: http://www.geoff-hart.com/resources/2005/reviews.htm
<<What kind of review process does your organization use, for both
online and print media?>>
Since my organization is "me and me alone", the review process is
somewhat informal. <g> But the abovementioned article describes the
review process I've developed and implemented elsewhere.
<<Is the review process for online help different from the review of
print manuals? If yes, then what are the major differences between
both.>>
As noted above, the fundamentals of the review process are identical.
The processes diverge when it comes to evaluating specific features
that differ between the two media. If you can come up with a good list
of ways that online help differs from print, that will help you focus
on steps that must be added to the review.
<<I tried to search STC and other similar organizations but failed to
get some good information on the subject. Is it because I'm not a
member and this kind of information is only for members?>>
If you were a member, I could tell you that. But since you're not...
<g> STC does restrict some of its information to members, but I don't
know whether they have information on the specific topic you're asking
about. If they did, I suspect you could find it by contacting their
Management, Quality, Single-sourcing, and Editing SIGs. These are the
groups most likely to be involved in creating such information.
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that easy. Watch the demo at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
