Read the Full Case Study and Start Your Free Trial Today at madcapsoftware.com Aerospace and Defense Training Solution Company PLEXSYS Moves to MadCap Flare to Modernize its Documentation and Cut Production Time by 20% By replacing previously used software with modern HTML5-based Help and print documentation, PLEXSYS has delivered a more intuitive user experience, resulting in reduced support demands from the product support team. LATEST CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY We’ve effectively halved our work time using Flare. It has enabled us to do a whole lot more without scaling our team as much as we would’ve needed to if we had remained using other products. JENNI CHRISTENSEN Training and Technical Documentation Manager, PLEXSYS
Transcript
Read the Full Case Study and Start Your Free Trial Today at madcapsoftware.com
Aerospace and Defense Training Solution Company PLEXSYS Moves to MadCap Flare to Modernize its Documentation and Cut Production Time by 20%
By replacing previously used software with modern HTML5-based Help and print documentation, PLEXSYS has delivered a more intuitive user experience, resulting in reduced support demands from the product support team.
LATEST CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
We’ve effectively halved our work time using Flare. It has enabled us to do a whole lot more without scaling our team as much as we would’ve needed to if we had remained using other products.
JENNI CHRISTENSENTraining and Technical Documentation Manager,PLEXSYS
InfoPlusMonthly newsletter from the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators
September 2020
HighlightsThis month weexplore Screen-casting in the TechCorner section.
Also see what theISTC local areagroups have beenup to — virtually, ofcourse!
Plus all the latestindustry news andevents, webinars,listings and moreinside…
ISTC news
By Carol Leahy, ISTC PresidentI am very pleased to announce that a minionline event will go ahead on Tuesday 29thSeptember. The online event will kick offwith the ISTC AGM at 1pm. This will befollowed by the UKTC Awards ceremony.Two of our confirmed speakers for TCUKMetro have agreed to present their talks asa webinar instead. These will kick off about2:45pm. Each will last about 30-40 minuteswith time for questions at the end. Theonline event will be free to attend, thoughwe will ask you to register your attendanceso we can see how many people areplanning to attend on the day.
X 1:00pm-2:00pm: ISTC AGM. This is opento members only.
X 2:00pm-2:30pm: UKTC AwardsCeremony.
X 2:45pm-3:30pm: Webinar: Matt Reiner –How to Rapidly Create DocumentationWithin an Agile Process.
X 3:45pm-4:15pm Webinar: Nancy Larbi –Tech Writers Beyond Borders.
To register your attendance, please emailthe ISTC office [email protected]. A link toattend the conference will then be sent toyou.
The ISTC is the largest UKbody representingscientific and technicalcommunicators. If you areinvolved in technicalwriting, technicalillustration, orcommunicating technicalinformation in other ways,it’s the professionalassociation that cansupport your career.Interested in membership?Find out more here.
This free newsletter isemailed to about 1500people. As well as ISTCnews, containslistings and articles ofgeneral interest to theprofession. Subscribe here.
Advertising: Felicity Davie
Editorial: Nadine Cornwall
Layout Editor: Bob Hewitt
Blogs Editor: Ginny Critcher
ISTC Office: Unit 19 OmegaBusiness Village ThurstonRoad Northallerton, DL62NJ
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Ask the experts!Localization intoany language• Software products•Online help •E-learning•Websites
FIND OUT MORE
Complexity made clear
The ISTC groups offer an opportunity fortechnical communicators to network andshare knowledge and expertise. They areopen to everyone (you don’t need to be anISTC member) and are free to attend. Thegroups meet at intervals during the year andhold talks, peer discussions, demonstrationsand social evenings. Joining a group is anexcellent way to meet like-minded people inyour area and get to know fellow specialists.
We will be holding a Zoom meeting on 10thSeptember at 6pm to discuss ‘FinancialInformation’ — do join us if you areinterested!
Please email Deb Stevens for moreinformation and/or the joining instructions:[email protected].
This month’s report is from Erika NortonAgain, the seven of us held a virtual meetup;this time we reflected on how lockdown wasgoing for us. We started with Amanda whosework has not changed much becauseworking from home is normal for her, but shehas ended up with extra people at home.This has meant her family has had to agreeon who works where and where the quietarea for calls is located (table in herbedroom). She has also found that going outhas become more important — she hasmade a point to go do something each dayincluding buying a basketball set so thefamily could play.
Don has realised that although he wassurprised how much he enjoys working fromhome, he misses his exercise and havingcolleagues around. He has incorporated ahalf-hour walk to get him to his work room.
Cecily meanwhile has discovered thatalthough having a separate room from her
ISTC local area and special interest groups
husband to work in is better, she misses thebackground noise of the office. However, herwork organised a 15-minute daily non-work-related Zoom catch-up meeting, which shefound very useful. During the pandemic twonew people have been employed: one is
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
active on this chit chat area and thus shefeels like he is part of the team and a friend.The second is much quieter, so it has notworked as well for him.
On that note Liz changed jobs during thispandemic, so has not yet attended her newoffice. However, she has made a point ofjoining in with the social meetings andquizzes her company has instigated and isreally enjoying getting to know her newworkmates. Even better is the very shortcommute – she switches off the PC, walksout of the room and is home.
Darren’s discovery was how much he loveshaving the radio on. Both he and Amandastart with Radio 2 and move on to Radio 3,while Liz can’t listen to music or words whenshe is working. The rest of us find it dependson what we are trying to do, with Brianhaving the big advantage of having retired.
For all of us, we found we miss ourcolleagues and exercise, but working fromhome when you have a reasonable area inwhich to do so has been a good experiment.Most people who were in an office would behappy to work from home more, but feel it isimportant to have both work-related and funconversations.
Next month we will again be meetingremotely on the 1st September at 7:30. Thetheme is tbc. To suggest a topic or get a linkto join, email Darren Mitcham [email protected].
Submissions to the newsletter are alwayswelcome. If you have an article or othercontent you would like to see included inthe October edition of InfoPlus, pleaseemail your copy [email protected] 21 September 2020.
Every effort is made to ensure thatInfoPlus is published and distributed asearly as possible in the month to which itrelates, generally on the first working day.However, occasionally it may not bedistributed up to a week into that month.Please bear this in mind when submittingtime-sensitive information.
■ Reach an engaged,specialist audience ofcontent professionals!
■ Join MadCap, 3di and manyothers who advertise in thise-newsletter!
■ Ideal for product releases, news,courses/events, brand awareness,and recruitment!
The appearance of external hyperlinks does notconstitute endorsement by the ISTC of the linkedwebsites, or the information, products or servicescontained on those sites. All external hyperlinks wereaccurate and working at the time of writing. However, theISTC does not exercise editorial control over theinformation you may find at these locations so cannot beresponsible for changes to content. The ISTC disclaimsany responsibility for the accuracy, completeness andavailability of any linked site.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Some area group meetings are posted on Eventbrite. Where this isthe case, we ask anyone expecting to attend to register onlineusing this event management service. You can see a list of ISTCrelated events by visiting: www.eventbrite.com/org/495786380.
If you’d like to attend one of the groups, please get in touch with theleader or email [email protected]. If you’re interested in setting upeither a new area group or a special interest group, contact our AreaGroups Manager, Tom Dumic, at [email protected] groups:
Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitterand Instagram, and watch us on YouTube tokeep up to date with news, events andactivities, and to chat with your TechCommcolleagues.
If you’re new to the ISTC and are wonderingwhat TCUK is, it’s our excellent (yes, we’rebiased, but it is) annual conference.
The ISTC page:www.facebook.com/istccommunity
The ISTC group:www.facebook.com/groups/490570891153888
The TCUK page:www.facebook.com/techcommuk/
ISTC: @ISTC_org
TCUK: @TCUK_conf
ISTC_org
www.youtube.com/user/istctechcomm
With the latest releaseof MadCap Lingo 11r2, the team atMadCap have addedcode snippet support,find and replaceenhancements andmore.
MadCap Lingo is a powerful Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tool fortranslators, as well as a powerful translationmanagement solution for contentdevelopers.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Our Business Affiliate programme hasbeen in place for over 16 years. It enablesorganisations to take advantage of arange of benefits, and to contribute topromoting technical communication as aprofession. Find out more here.
A full list of our current Business Affiliatesis found here.
Business affiliate news With this new release, MadCap Lingo 11 r2introduces enhancements to support thetranslation process, including:
■ Code Snippet Support
■ Git for Windows Integration
■ Enhancements to Find and Replace
For further details, follow the link here:MadCap Lingo 11 r2.
Having had a presence in the Hull area forover 20 years, the company is delighted tohave now moved into new premises at theHumber Enterprise Park in Brough.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
clients across multiple engineering sectors,delivering excellence in the design andanalysis of complex systems and structuresto clients, whilst continuing to collaboratewith the 600 strong engineering teamsacross the rest of Morson Projects.
For further details, follow the link here:Morson Projects Move.
Industry and generalnews
On August 11, 2020 researchers at Amazondetailed advances made in Sockeye 2, anew iteration of the e-commerce giant’sopen source, sequence-to-sequence toolkit
for neural machine translation (NMT).
Amazon introduced the original Sockeye inJuly 2017, after acquiring Pennsylvania, US-based Safaba. Since then, Amazon hasforged ahead with localisation projects viamachine learning offerings, includingmachine dubbing and estimation oftranslated subtitles. Amazon’s Sockeyetranslates from English to a given language.
For further details, follow the link:Amazon Translate.
The Chartered Institute of Editing andProofreading (CIEP) has seen an increase inupgrade applications from their memberssince the start of the year, with the first threemonths the busiest since 2015, a reflectionof members’ desire to further their careerdevelopment during this difficult period.
The CIEP, formerly the Society for Editorsand Proofreaders (SfEP), is a non-profit bodypromoting excellence in English languageediting. The organisation sets anddemonstrates editorial standards, as well asproviding a community, training hub andsupport network for editorial professionals.
For further information about the CIEP, visitwww.ciep.uk.
Tech corner
By Nadine CornwallA screencast is a digital video recording ofyour computer screen and usually includesaudio narration. Screencasts are just one ofmany different types of instructional videos –and can be used effectively to enhance andanimate your technical documentationbeyond the written word.
Benefits
■ 80% of viewers can recall a video theyhave seen in the past 30 days.
■ Viewers can absorb the information attheir own pace.
■ Screencasting is a simple task and thereare many software options available.
One important consideration is output. Mostscreen recorders create MP4 or MOV files,which output to large files, difficult to post /distribute. However, GIFS are much smallerin size and far more effective.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
In this example, we will look atScreenToGif, a Windows-based applicationthat works well at getting full-screenscreenshots and is a quick process.
The ScreenToGif screen recorder offers threedifferent methods of capturing a screen. Youcan either take a screenshot, record a video,or use the sketch board.
2. Consider any options, for examplewhether you want to record as fullscreen 1080P or at a different ratio.
3. Clarify demo content and agree nextsteps if team consensus is required.
4. Storyboard the demos, then prepare thedemos and scripts.
5. Start recording the GIF animation byclicking on the Recorder icon.
6. Use the editor to tweak each framecaptured.
7. Save your files in GIF format.
Blog newsBy Ginny CritcherHello again! Here’s the latest blog round upfrom the popular blogs on technicalcommunication.
Mozilla has laid off the writing teamresponsible for the MDN Mozilla DeveloperNetwork. Someone has created a websitefor developers to share their appreciationof the site - Thank You MDN! :
https://www.ilovemdn.org/.
Rhonda Bracey has written a post onhow comments can go missing in Word'sSimple Markup view:
On the Cherryleaf blog, there have been anumber of posts on writing policies and
Ginny has a background as a skilledtrainer and information designer, andis responsible for the development ofCherryleaf’s training courses. Inaddition to her skills in informationdesign, she has over twenty years’ experiencein teaching and training throughout the world.She is Cherryleaf’s representative to the ISTC.
Do you have experience in Screencastingor similar — would you like to respond tothis article? Or do you want to share themore technical aspect of your role in afuture issue of ?
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
All of our centres have now re-opened, withthe necessary social distancing measures inplace.
Provides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Bromsgrovewww.armada.co.uk/course/indesign-training.
procedures, including one on how the Fireand Rescue Services approach this:
Do you have a blog? Seen an interestingpost? Let me know so I can include it in mymonthly review. [email protected].
Provides the same comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, as our in-class course; but you participate ina live course remotely.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£295 + VAT. Live Online coursewww.armada.co.uk/course/indesign-training.
Provides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Milton Keynes£295 + VAT, Live Onlineparticipationwww.armada.co.uk/course/indesign-training.
Do you know of a training course that will be of interest toreaders? If so, please send details [email protected]. If you would like to promote yourcourse or event, why not consider giving ISTC members adiscount for courses and events listed in our newsletter. Formore information, please [email protected] note that listings are a service to members; a listing
does not imply ISTC endorsement.Courses run by ISTC Business Affiliates* that arenotified to us by the copy deadline will be listed. Forothers, we cannot guarantee listing if space is limitedand details may be abridged.*Armada, Cherryleaf, ESTON Training, Firehead, and
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Learn how to create and editimages using the de facto standardin the graphics industry. Techniquescovered include colour correction,working with layers, compositingimages and preparing images foruse on the Web.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Bristol£295 + VAT Live Online participationwww.armada.co.uk/course/photoshop-training.
Learn how to create and edit vectorgraphics quickly and effectively, inthe leading application for vector
graphics. The comprehensivetoolset and features availableprovide everything you need toproduce extraordinary graphics forprint, video, the web and mobiledevices.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Bromsgrovewww.armada.co.uk/course/illustrator-training/.
Learn how to create and edit vectorgraphics quickly and effectively, inthe leading application for vectorgraphics. The comprehensivetoolset and features availableprovide everything you need toproduce extraordinary graphics forprint, video, the web and mobiledevices.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£295 + VAT. Live Online coursewww.armada.co.uk/course/illustrator-training/.
Learn how to create and editimages using the de facto standardin the graphics industry. Techniquescovered include colour correction,working with layers, compositingimages and preparing images foruse on the Web.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Bromsgrove£295 + VAT Live Online participationwww.armada.co.uk/course/photoshop-training.
Provides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Sheffieldwww.armada.co.uk/course/indesign-training.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Training in core technical authoringskills for new and experiencedtechnical authors.Attend the complete programme, orjust the module(s) relevant to yourexperience.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£995 + VAT. Armada, Live OnlineTraining.www.armada.co.uk/course/technical-author-training.
• Introduction to technicalauthoring (1 day)
• Intermediate technical authoring(2 days)
• Advanced technical authoring(2 days)
Training in core technical authoringskills for new and experiencedtechnical authors.Attend the complete programme, orjust the module(s) relevant to yourexperience.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£1,195 + VAT. Armada, Bromsgrove.www.armada.co.uk/course/technical-author-training.
Provides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10).£345 + VAT. Armada, Reading£295 + VAT, Live Onlineparticipationwww.armada.co.uk/course/indesign-training.
We offer online training courses in:
https://www.cherryleaf.com/training/technical-author-basicinduction-training-course/. Cherryleaf isoffering a 10% discount to ISTCmembers for this course.
https://www.cherryleaf.com/training-courses/technical-writing-for-developers-training-course/. Learn to write clearly bytaking the same technical writing coursesthat Google engineers take.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
https://www.cherryleaf.com/training/technical-copywriting-training-course/.This online technical copywriting trainingcourse teaches you how to write clear andeffective marketing copy, in astraightforward and efficient way. Let usshare with you the best practices we’vedeveloped for writing copy for software(SaaS and desktop) and other technicalproducts.
https://cherryleaf.teachable.com/p/advanced-technical-communication.Cherryleaf’s advanced technicalcommunication skills course provides youwith access to a collection of onlinemodules in technical communication,under a low-cost monthly subscriptionplan. Each module is self-contained, soyou can to choose to take just a singlemodule, if you wish.
It contains:• DITA Fundamentals• Single Sourcing and Content Reuse• Introduction to Content Strategy• Documenting REST APIs• Managing Software Documentation
Projects
• Writing and Designing EmbeddedHelp
• Markdown• Revising and Editing Content• Trends in Technical Communication
http://www.estontrg.com/technicalcommercial-authorship/. A£50 discount is offered to ISTCmembers for this course.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Celebrating the best of techinnovation – tackling the mostpressing topics facing the techsector and society today – includingThe AI Summit – 1st to 3rdOnline.https://londontechweek.com/.
At the time of compiling the newsletter thefollowing events were going ahead. In the comingmonths, some conferences will now be onlineinstead of their usual format.
If you know of an event that will be of interest toreaders, please email [email protected] events are highlighted.
We’re holding another virtualmeeting this month and will bedeveloping our reflective writingskills further. All are welcome,19:30 start. Email Darren Mitchamfor joining instructions:[email protected]
A two-day conference focusing oneverything that can support theworld of SMEs and industry in theareas of communication, technicaldocumentation and intelligentinformation.Rimini, Italy.https://www.comtecnica.eu/en/.
Our annual conference foreveryone involved in writing,editing, illustrating, delivering andpublishing technical informationis now going to be held as a minionline event in the form of awebinar featuring presentations.Online.http://technicalcommunicationuk.com/.
We’ll be holding a Zoom meetingat 18:00. Please email DebStevens for more informationand/or the joining instructions:[email protected].
Write the Docs Prague 2020 will bea virtual conference. Your virtualticket includes live streaming of alltalks, Q&A with speakers, access tothe conference chat with all otherattendees, speakers and sponsors,access to the writing day and thevirtual job fair.Online.https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/prague/2020/.
The tcworld conference bringstogether participants, speakers,students and exhibitors for allaspects of ‘technicalcommunication’ from all over theworld to form the industry’s largestonline meeting place.Online.https://tcworldconference.tekom.de/.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
Generally, documentationexperiences are not easilysearchable, easily consumable, notinteractive, and in fact are oftenclunky, static, monolithic PDFs.Inefficient content workflows due tolack of a robust review andcollaboration framework fail to keepauthors and content contributorsinformed of the multitude ofchanges / versions in adocumentation lifecycle. In thiswebinar, Chad Dybdahl will explorehow you can scale content creationand deliver a rich, rewardingexperience for productdocumentation, across varioustouchpoints.https://2020-09-15-make-your-product-documentation-experience-driven.meetus.adobeevents.com/.
If you know of a webinar that will be of interest toreaders, please email [email protected].
In this webinar, MadCap SoftwareDocumentation Director PaulStoecklein, along with CustomerSuccess Director Jennifer Morse,will walk you through the main waysthat micro content and MadCapCentral analytics can help keepyour output relevant and useful,giving your customers the bestdocumentation experience possible– includes demos.https://www.madcapsoftware.com/resources/live-webinars.aspx.
Have you recently attended a training courseor event that you think would be of interest toour community of readers? Why not submit ashort review?
Join Scott Abel, The ContentWrangler, for a conversation withsenior user experience specialist,Kate Moran, of the Nielsen NormanGroup. Kate will share with us howeye tracking works and why it isrelevant to content design - and shewill share some results fromresearch findings to help youunderstand where that 20% numbercomes from and what it means forcontent creators. You'll leave with abetter understanding of how youcan influence what people actuallydo read.https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/9273/429165.
This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at www.istc.org.uk/our-publications/infoplus-newsletter/.
(There are different ways to solve this –hint – look for contradictions).
A. All of the below
B. None of the below
C. All of the above
D. One of the above
E. None of the above
F. None of the above
From Cecily Roberts
If you're really missing your colleagues,there's Calm Office, with sliders to controlten tracks like chatty colleagues, air con,and keyboards. Others include MedievalMonastery, Rainforest, Irish Coast and DarkNoise - plus you can create your own.
