Technical Writer's Portal

Course Outline:
If you are already a technical writer/Content Writer, and if you are unaware of the Technical writing tools, this course will introduce you to all exciting tools in technical communication.

• Communicating technology
• Need for technical communicators
• Roles and functions of technical communicators

• Software Development Life Cycle
• How Software is developed, tested, maintained and retired
• How products are installed, configured, customized and deployed
• Relating software product features and business benefits
• Working with programmers and testers
• Understanding software requirement specifications
• Analyzing product architecture
• Web everywhere
• Documentation development life cycle
• Types of documents associated with software products
• Different types of software and what they do

Technical Writing

• What is Technical Writing ?
• Role of a Technical writer
• Principles of Technical Writing, Documentation deliverables
• Printed documentation and Online Help Systems
• Working with images and illustrations

Documentation Process

• Understanding Audience/Readers
• Collecting and Organizing information
• Drafting information verbally and visually
• Producing Information

Technical Writing Process

• Document development process
• Estimating Technical Documentation
• Documentation Planning
• Selection of Tools
• Information Architecture
• Templates and Page design
• Audience Profiling
• Task Analysis
• Content Development
• Elements of Style
• Technical Reviews
• Editorial Reviews
• Formatting and pagination
• Document Conversions
• Content Publishing
• Quality Control
• Content Maintenance

Grammar and Editing

• English Grammar
• Punctuation and Mechanics
• MS Style Guides & Proof Reading

• Microsoft Word
• Macromedia RoboHelp
• Adobe FrameMaker
• Snag IT
• Ms Visio
• PowerPoint
• PhotoShop

Microsoft Word

• About Microsoft word
  • Introduction
  • Features
• Starting the Application
• Accessibility
• Formatting Text
• Font and Paragraph settings
• Bullets and Numbering
• Cross-references
• Borders and Shading
• Styles and Formatting
• Template Creation
• Working with Table
• Working with Bookmark
• Working with Hyperlink
• Creating Sections
• Generating Table of Contents
• Generating Table of Figures
• Generating Index
• Header and Footer
• Working with Reviewing toolbar
• Toolbars
• Footnote and Endnote
• Protecting the Document
• Shortcuts
• Autotext and AutoCorrect
• Watermarks/Columns/Change Case

Macromedia RoboHelp

• About Online Help
• Planning an Online Help
• Understanding RoboHelp Interface
• Creating your First Help project
• Working with Topics & Folders
• Working with TOC, Index, & Glossary
• Generating Output
• About Types of Layouts
• Applying Template and Style Sheet
• Controlling CHM Window and Skins
• Working with Links, Pop-ups, Triggers, and Drop-downs
• Working with Graphics and Text boxes
• Creating Related Topics, See Also and Keyword Link
• Playing with Marquee, Triggers, and Splash Screen
• Creating Dropdowns, Expanding, Hyperlinks and Popups
• Changing the primary layout
• Tools in RoboHelp Html
• Creating and Working with Tables
• Creating Manually/Automatically Multiple TOCs, Indexes, and Glossaries
• Creating and Displaying Browse Sequence
• Single Sourcing - Conditional Build Tags and Batch Generation
• Creating Context-sensitive Help
• Importing Files & Skins, and Merging CHM
• Understanding the Project Source Folder and Files
• Generating Reports

Adobe FrameMaker

• Introduction
• Usage of FrameMaker
• FrameMaker v/s MS Word
• Getting Started
• Accessibility
• Creating/Importing Documents
• Saving New File Formats
• Basic Text Formatting
• Working with Tags
• Working with Tables
• Tools Pallete
• Drawings Tools
• Working with Paragraph and Character Designers
• Working with Frames, Anchore Frames and Alignments
• Working with Body, Master and Reference Pages
• Page Designing and Defining Variables
• Hyperlink, Cross Reference, Pop-Ups and Image Mapping
• Generating Table of Contents, Index and Glossary
• Creating Books, Conditional Text and references
• Document Conversions

Snag IT – Image Capturing Tool

• About Snag IT
  • Introduction
  • Features
• Starting the application
• Image Formats
• Exploring the Program Window
• Capture Profile
• Image Capturing Modes
• Batch Convert Images
• Creating WebPages
• Creating simple Demos
• Companion Applications
  • Snag IT Editor
  • Snag IT Studio
  • Catalog Browser

MS- Visio (Image Drawing Tool)

• Introduction to MS- Visio
• Using various technology images
• Creating DFD’s and Architectural Diagrams
• Synchronization of images
• Creating different file formats
• Special Merits
• Installation sequence
• Types of shapes
• Behaviour of shapes
• How to Get shapes
• Templates stencil
• Connection shapes
• Staking shapes
• Group/ Ungroup
• Text Adding
• Data Linking
• Data Graphics
• Auto Linking
• Hyper Linking
• Save type – formats
• Importing into Word

PowerPoint

• Importance of Presentations
• Saving Powerpoint
• Working on Slide Master
• Applying Design Templates
• Custom Animation and slide transition effects
• Action buttons and hyperlinks
• Slide layouts
• Movies and Sounds
• Insert & edit clip art
• Create a slide background using a picture
• Customize graphical bullets
• Insert and format a table into a slide
• Add an animation scheme to selected slides
• Rearrange slides
• Customize slide backgrounds and templates
• SlideShows

Photoshop

• Introduction to Photoshop
• Cropping images and editing
• Using advanced tools for creating architectural diagrams
• Explore the Photoshop Environment
• Using the File Browser
• Basic Photo Corrections
• Working with Selections
• Basic flow mode for editing images using Photoshop
• Retouching and Repairing
• Work with selections
• Creating layers
• Creating a Mask and Channels
• Correcting and Enhancing
• Slice and Link an Image
• Creating Rollovers
• Animate GIF Images
• Painting and Editing
• Basic Pen Tool Techniques