Flying Out

Hi everyone, I’m currently updating from nearly 40,000 ft and going nearly 570 mph. I have to say that technology is awesome! I was going to post this update last night, but everything caught up with me that I had to do it while in the air. This will be my fifth STC Summit Conference and certainly not my last. I continue to attend these conferences to seek new knowledge, meet awesome colleagues, and enjoy the conference cities.

This year I’m setting some goals I want to accomplish. I have a couple of hidden goals which I will share after this conference.

Below are my four goals for this conference:

Network more and more.

It never hurts to network more while at conferences. I think that is what is most valuable during the conference. From the first STC Summit I attended in Philadelphia in 2008 to the fourth one in Sacramento in 2011, I continue to meet new and awesome technical communicators along the way. I should include LavaCon 2011, which I networked very well. It also gave me a writing gig at TechWhirl.

Learn new trends in the field

What I love about attending conferences is that there is an unlimited treasure trove of knowledge in the field of technical communication. Whether it is a new way of doing business, a workshop, or a new technology, our field is always changing. From the beginning when I started technical communication as a freshman in college in 2004, I had no idea this field changes quickly. The academics are not fully catching up with the latest and greatest trends, but I hope that can change soon.

Take notes and use them

This time I’m going to take notes and post draft summaries. Some of my notes may make their way to TechWhirl in a form of an article. I think will enjoy learning as much as I did by writing about some of the sessions I attended. I really enjoyed taking notes and reporting about them. Perhaps this time I won’t be so afraid to post something I feel passionate about.

Enjoy the City

The issue I had the last few Summits I attended was that I focused too much on the sessions instead of the city. Perhaps because I was extremely interested in every topic that I wanted to get as much as I could out of the conference that I didn’t appreciate visiting the city. Also I played a major role in planning Summit trips when I was with my college. In fact, I am making it my personal effort to enjoy Chicago. This is why I’m heading out today, Friday, to enjoy some of the attractions and then enjoy the conference.

My Backpack

If you are interested in meeting me, follow me on Twitter @RogerRenteria and talk to me.

Also please visit my social networking profiles too

LinkedIn
Google+
Facebook

In any regard, find me around the conference, I carry a burnt orange Jansport backpack much like this one. I’m cheerful, knowledgeable, and you should find that I’m quite the social professional.

USB hub provided by Adobe during one of their pre-conference workshops at LavaCon 2011

The nice folks at TechWhirl graciously published an article I co-wrote with Lauren Hart. Lauren is a TechWhirl colleague who currently work as a technical writer in Boston. During one of our Editorial Conference Calls, a couple of participants on the call shared their Doc-to-Help socks they received at a conference and the ideas took off from there.

I hope you enjoy this article as much as we did writing about “SWAG Bragging: The Best of Technical Communications Conferences.”

In this article, I discuss some of the tips and tricks that I use from the services provided by Google to make my technical communication life much easier to handle. While it is not the entire list of services, it contains some pretty nifty tips and tricks that you can use yourself if you want to discover what you can do with your Google Account.

I talk about features within Gmail such as filters, Google Apps such as backing up smart phone photos, and Google Productivity such as using document collaboration.

Please visit TechWhirl and read my article, ”Tips and Tricks for Technical Writers: Google Freely and Productively.”

Do you:

• ask your supervisor to purchase the appropriate software?
• work with what you have and impress your supervisors with your skills?
• take the work home and complete it with your own software?

You may agree that a smart technical communicator will use the tools they have available at work. In any regard, it is the skill and innovation demonstrated by the technical communicator that matters the most when it comes to documentation–including how to present it in a professional manner.

Most likely the average office computer has a current version of Microsoft Windows and Office Suite. If that is the case, you have the tools you need to make some decent and professional-looking technical documents. (Note: Adobe makes great software for documentation; I wish it were on more computers out there).

If your computer has Windows 7, you are in luck, there is a tool called Snip. Search for it by typing “snip” in the search box on the Start Menu. If your computer has Mac OS X, there is a tool called Grab. Search for it by typing “grab” in the Spotlight search box. Both of these programs can capture screenshots of windows, parts of windows, or the entire computer screen. There is a free program called Jing, which offers similar functions and has the ability to create screencasts. If you are familiar with Camtasia and SnagIt, it is their little cousin.

After capturing screenshots, what program do you use to label them?

The answer is PowerPoint. It may sound counterintuitive to use a program designed for presentations to create documentation, but it is the simplest and easiest designer tool out of the Microsoft Office Suite for this purpose. Think of PowerPoint as a versatile tool, which you can insert and arrange arrows, boxes, circles, highlighter marks, and text. Why would you not want to use Paint or some drawing tool? The advantage to using PowerPoint instead of Paint is the ability to save the screenshot and edit it later if there are changes to the documentation.

What software would you use to write documentation?

Use Word with style. After the screenshots are labeled in PowerPoint, the slides can be saved as images and inserted into Word. Save the PowerPoint presentation as slide images.

You can save PowerPoint slides as an image in order to export into Word.

While this may be an alternative way to create documentation, it can look extremely professional. If some of the documentation entails multiple pages and various sections, utilize Word Styles to maintain consistent fonts, indentations, colors, and overall design. It’s not difficult to learn Word Styles if you haven’t done so, and it can establish experience with document design when you may have the opportunity to use advanced programs such as Adobe InDesign, FrameMaker, RoboHelp, etc.

While your office may not have the greatest tools in the shed, at least you have the fundamental software available to create simple and helpful documentation that your supervisors and co-workers can greatly appreciate.

WriteTechie WordPress Example showcasing how you can use boxes and a color-coded system to show users how to use the WordPress administrative interface.

If your company has the available funds to purchase more advanced software, go right ahead and take advantage of the opportunity. Otherwise, the tools you have to create great and professional documentation is sitting on your computer. Why not use them?

Creating Different Versions

The great advantage about using PowerPoint for labeling screenshots is if your manager or team leader needs an image updated or wants to see alternative screenshot designs; you could create and edit them quickly. For example, I created another version of the screenshot for saving PowerPoint slides as images. Instead of using a standard callout box, I used a callout bubble.

This screenshot is an outtake of the first example. Note instead of a standard callout box, it is a callout bubble.

Last note

If you don’t have Word or PowerPoint, you can use Apple iWork, OpenOffice, LibreOffice or your favorite office suite in a similar way to create and design documentation. There may be some compatibility issues and programs may render images and documents differently due to differences in how the software works, but it is still better than a lack of documentation with corresponding images and labels.

Ever since I began this blog about technical communication less than a year ago, I kept statistics about usage and filtered it down to mobile users and to-date my site has been visited over 130 times by iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. While that is a small number of visitors, there are larger sites out there that can definitely benefit by transitioning over to mobile-friendly formats. It is important to design websites that contain a mobile-friendly version because of the influx of mobile devices out in the wild. For example, TechCrunch’s MG Siegler mentioned that Apple sold over 315 million iOS devices and in 2011 sold 172 million of them.

What Constitutes a Mobile Friendly Site?

A search for, “what is a mobile friendly site,” returned some useless results. I don’t blame Google, but it appears that everyone jumped on the “mobile friendly site” bandwagon and someone forgot to write a description for what a mobile friendly site has. Even Wikipedia doesn’t offer a great description for a mobile friendly website.  So, it is up to me to define what a mobile-friendly site is.

A mobile-friendly site is a website which content is rendered in a manner that is easily readable for mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablet devices. That said, it must include similar features found on a standard website, such as navigation, search options, and share functions.

Why include share functions?

Mobile device users are more likely to utilize the latest in social networking and it is important to have those features on a mobile friendly site. In addition, why exclude a feature from the mobile site? Apple integrated Twitter in iOS, Microsoft heavily invested in Facebook and introduced Windows 7 Phone, and Google created Android–installed on over 300 million devices.

Why Mobile is Important

According to Google, by 2013, more people will use mobile devices than PCs to access the internet. People expect that their experience on a mobile device will be similar to a computer screen. Visitors do not want to view a full-sized standard website on their iPhones or Android Phones. Websites that show up without a mobile equivalent can be difficult to read on a small screen. Websites with fancy features designed for computer screens can break or not render properly on mobile devices.

For example, citizens from the City of Albuquerque could benefit from a mobile-friendly website.

City of Albuquerque Website

It could be made mobile-friendly, such as the City of South Padre, Texas.

South Padre, Texas - Mobile Website

Likewise, my website contains mobile friendly features which make it much easier for users on mobile devices to navigate and read.

WriteTechie Mobile Drop Down Navigation

WriteTechie mobile site as seen on an iPhone

Mobile-un-friendly sites simply look clunky and difficult to read on a small screen.

WriteTechie Site shown on an iPhone

Mobile-friendly articles appear cleaner and easier to view than the standard website.

WriteTechie Article as seen on mobile reader for iPhone

WriteTechie Article mobile view as seen on iPhone

I noticed something quite funny about the mobile reader for iPhone, it’s the same kind of feature that Safari has for the computer and something I believe is on the iPad too.

WriteTechie as seen on Safari Reader

Make the move to mobile friendly

Now that you have seen examples of how WriteTechie is rendered, what does that mean for you? Are you going to rush to make your website mobile-friendly? Not so fast…

While my website is built to show up on various devices without failure, there are some important thoughts to consider:

• Can your site easily be converted into a mobile friendly format?
• This can be painless if your site is built using cascading style sheets
• Can certain standard features be included on the mobile-friendly site?
• Search, Social, Navigation?

Keep in mind that not all websites are built the same. My blog is for leisure reading and that may not translate well for websites that might sell products and services such as Amazon, Southwest Airlines, and Comcast. Those websites are designed to interact with visitors and they should work very similarly to their standard website counterparts.

For more information about mobile friendly sites, below is a list of sites that get you started designing mobile websites and understanding mobile devices.

Farewell quad-color G+ button, we hardly knew you and we may forget about you.

Say goodbye to the quad-color G+ button. We loved you, but Google migrated to the new red +1 button today.

One week ago, the folks at Google Plus announced the change on their Plus One Developers blog. What this means is G+ is moving forward and not looking back. It appears that almost instantly the new +1 button appeared everywhere around the internet–including here.

According to the Google+ Page, there were mixed reaction about the new change, but it appears that the change makes it identifiable when compared to other share buttons that are next to each other.

New G+ share button alongside Twitter and Facebook

This new change also keeps the logos consistent with the G+ favicon and G+ badges. This update is probably the most likely reason why they chose to change the +1 button. What do you think? Do you like it or dislike it?

Have you noticed the change? Need to freshen up your +1 button and badge collection? G+ has you covered.

• +1 Button on Google Developers - https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/+1button/
• Google+ Badge on Google Developers - https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/badge/

In this interview, I spoke with Neil who has been in the field of technical communication for more than 33 years. While my intent was to cover content strategy with him, we talked a little bit about why technical communication is fun too! Please stop by TechWhirl and read the latest article: “The More Things Change…Technical Communication Insight from Neil Perlin.”

Author’s note: I use the term “technical communication” everywhere, however the style guide for TechWhirl utilizes “technical communications” instead.

iFixit has several thousand guides and user-contributed solutions for a variety of devices, appliances, and vehicles on the website.

I first used iFixit when my MacBook had a hard drive attack in 2010. I was worried how complicated and costly it may be to replace my drive in my beloved Apple laptop. As a college student, the economics are simple: buy a $50 hard drive from NewEgg.com or pay about $150 in repair costs from the Apple store.

If someone has the patience and organization to take apart their devices, this website makes repairs extremely affordable and easy. The benefits may outweigh the risks if users are comfortable with the slight risk of damaging their own property.

This example shows the color-coded system which the dots and circles correspond to the correct screwdriver size.

What can we learn from this website that we, as technical communicators, can apply elsewhere in help documents? iFixit’s manuals are extremely useful because of these simple principles:

• Step-by-step instructions
• High quality large photos
• Consistent directions and warnings

Their manuals are helpful because of the quality of the content available. For example, each step has specific directions, color-coded labels, and sometimes a warning symbol for disassembling devices.

One issue I have with computer manuals is the diagrams and pictures hardly show the positioning of tools or hands to demonstrate how something can be taken apart.  This human and practical element is great to have because users can relate to and follow instructions easily without imagining where hands or tools are placed. It also does not benefit the user to display arrow pointing to where the tool needs to go either. A computer-generated arrow never should replace screwdrivers, spudger tools, or hands. Let me repeat, arrows are great but not the same.

This example shows simple instructions, a clear picture, and a warning symbol for repairing a MacBook.

The second aspect I truly believe is important is user feedback and contributions. iFixit’s manuals are editable in a wiki so if anyone reads a repair manual and finds an improvement, they can add it to the manual.

In conclusion, we can see how iFixit’s examples can be a model for how we can write online repair and assembly manuals. Their approach is rather innovative and simple and we can learn how to improve our documentation with real-world scenarios and user feedback.

I recommend that you use this site, contribute your technical communication expertise, and buy replacement parts from them. By supporting iFixit.com, not only do you save money, you learn something new and keep fewer devices from becoming trash and causing further environmental issues. For more information, read their mission and manifesto.

First is first, let me lay down the groundwork for my thoughts on the current state of social media:

• Facebook is a playful social network
• LinkedIn is the professional networking site
• Twitter is the established quick and short messaging site
• Google+ is emerging as a new player in the field of social media
• MySpace is in the digital graveyard along with other less prominent social networking sites

Facebook – the playful network

Facebook is the social playground

Historically, Facebook was an exclusive club designed only for college students. It was when the company began opening its network up to allow major corporations and geographic regions to join, the problems started becoming mainstream. I will admit, college students freely expressed themselves on the site and it was more of a status symbol by networking with the most friends, posting on various groups, and having photos of yourself after those so-called social gatherings. Problems on Facebook constantly plagued students and college administrators. When Facebook opened up to the public, it was a huge social experiment and train wreck at the same time. Suddenly the popularity of Facebook made it possible for everyone to connect with each other and may inadvertently caused some generational clashes–mostly between mom/dad vs. son/daughter. Parents would often want to check up on their kids and sometimes it got ugly.

Notably, the issues began when people discovered inappropriate photos and inappropriate postings on Facebook and it happened to be reported on the news. It still happens todoay, but not as much as it used to. We have learned how to manage our social media much better than the heyday.

Linking professionals with LinkedIn

Now I want to switch gears and talk about LinkedIn. It is a social networking site intended to showcase one’s own career goals, resume, and accomplishments. This place is excellent for showcasing the world our professional lives. In the past year, I have received more LinkedIn connection requests from my colleagues in college than I have before. Since joining the site in 2008, I added over a dozen of my college friends who are seeking professional employment because they care about their professional life and wish to be associated with other successful peers on this social networking site. There are many benefits by using LinkedIn, such as

• requesting letters of recommendations
• associating with professional groups
• listing accomplishments and goals
• showcasing major projects
• participating in professional discussions
• seeking new employment opportunities

Social Media Study

In the study, not mentioned in the news article, the Gen Y population demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit. That finding suggests that this particular generation seeks ways to build services and products on their own rather than work for a company. The study also mentions that nearly 2/3 of the surveyed group avoid disclosing their employer on Facebook. This evidence supports the notion that Facebook is a social network intended for personal use among friends and family. However, the study reviewed data from Facebook. If the study showcased LinkedIn, it may paint a rather different picture of the state of professional social media for the Generation Y population.

Is Gen Y Taking Social Media Seriously?

Yes. And no. For those seeking professional careers, they are putting themselves out there through the use of blogs, social media, and websites. They are promoting themselves using every avenue possible. For example, I am on all the social networks, I write this blog, I also have a couple other websites out there. I am constantly networking with professionals on these networks and promoting myself. So far, it has produced successful results.

On the flip side, there are people who are not on professional networks and are missing out on employment opportunities. There is great potential to professionalize Generation Y through the use of Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. We simply need to find the right formula to demonstrate our seriousness in the workforce and show that we can play well in the big leagues too.

Websites can meltdown...

As a technical communicator, I’m reflecting on my learning experience as much as possible. This is a potential venue that any technical communicator can capitalize upon because we sit in the middle between the creator and the consumer. We write about and use the product at the same time. Below is my crash-course lesson on moving a WordPress site to a new hosting company. It was not as daunting of a task as I thought it would be.

Over the last three days, my blog site experienced a meltdown with my previous hosting provider. This event forced me to move to a better hosting company. So far I am extremely satisfied with the move, except it was more complicated than I bargained for and a HUGE lesson learning how to migrate WordPress to a new host. Was it worth the move? Yes, I  save $40 per year in annual hosting costs and have a faster-loading site.

Beware that moving a website like a WordPress blog is not an easy task if you don’t know the details regarding HTML, FTP, PHP, Apache Configuration, mySQL, Zone Files, A Records, and DNS. Thankfully the internet has instructions on fixing these issues that may arise as a result of trial and error.

Download and  backup everything

First, I downloaded my entire site to my computer–images, directories, and files. Everything in the WordPress directory had to be downloaded. I also downloaded a backup copy of the mySQL database which WordPress operates from. These two items are what make up WordPress.

Upload

Next, I uploaded the WordPress directory to my new hosting company. Also, I had to create a new database on my new host and import the data from the existing database I downloaded. These tasks were relatively simple and rather trouble-free.

Edit certain files

Then came the tricky and ridiculous tasks. When I uploaded my database, I had to update certain files and redirect where my new database was. This change somewhat caused confusion and initially broke the site. At least there was a way to figure out how to resolve these issues. WordPress.org helps users with their guide to Moving WordPress to a New Server.

Domain Name Resolution

DNS changes caused the site to go down.

It usually takes 24+ hours for domain updates to completely be resolved. Normally hosting companies manage domains, but I keep domain management separately with different company so I have more control over how my domains work. When I updated my domain name to point to my new hosting server, it did not completely work. There was an error when I changed the IP address of the server and both www.writetechie.com and writetechie.com. Each of those addresses are different and should point to the same IP address, but they did not. Both sites were going to the wrong place and causing havoc on the site.

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned a bit from moving sites and now I’m ready to move WordPress installations in the future without worry.

1. WordPress and hosting sites are fickle creatures
2. Hosting companies are rather helpful with their knowledge bases
3. Documentation found on the internet resolved configuration issues
4. Patience is extremely important–someone probably has gone through this before
5. Sheer joy once everything works the way it was–and faster too!

Avoid Website Meltdowns.

If you have any tips please share them in the comments. If you need some help moving your WordPress blog, I am willing to lend a hand. My next site move should go much smoother from now on rather than the meltdown.

Note: I took these photos of reactors on my trips out to Pennsylvania and Illinois, respectively. My passenger plane safely flew over both of these structures. I just happen to have a point and snap digital camera with a decent zoom lens.