What is a screencast?

So, what is a screencast? In short, it is a video that demonstrates the proper use of a software application. The process is recorded using the actual software, so that the video accurately mimics the behavior of the application.

The visual aspect of screencasts makes them very effective teaching tools. Many also include an audio track that provides an explanation of each step of the video. Most consumers are used to video, and many find it easier to absorb than complicated written instructions.

Screencasts are usually delivered in digital format, such as on a software product CD, or via download from the Internet.

Related posts:

• Screencasts | An Overview
• How to create a screencast
• interactive screencasts

Interactive screencast

An interactive screencast can create a more engaging learning experience for trainees. By involving them in the learning process, you increase the chance that they will pay attention and retain the information presented in the video.

Popular interactive elements include:

• Quizzes
• Menus
• Branching content

Quizzes are especially effective because they allow you to test whether the viewer has learned the skills and concepts in the screencast. By adding quizzes after each section of the screencast, you can provide an interactive assessment of whether foundational knowledge has been taught before the viewer moves on to more advanced material.

Menus and branching content allow viewers to choose what sections of the instructional content are most interesting or important to their learning experience. Each trainee may already possess some of the knowledge or skills in the training, so allowing them to choose a learning path will help make their time productive and interesting.

Related posts:

• Screencasts | An Overview
• How to create a screencast
• What is a screencast?

What's your technical writing personality type?

Examine any large team of technical writers and you'll likely find a wide array of personalities. Few will fall into the "Tina the Tech Writer" stereotype. Also, each personality will bring different strengths and weaknesses to the team.

Personality can also have a strong influence on your ability to perform technical writing tasks. For example, a highly social writer will have a much easier time interviewing SMEs and contributing during meetings. A less social writer may have an easier time surviving as the sole writer on a project or staying focused and productive for long periods of time.

Because personality has a strong influence on technical writing skills, it may help to take a look at how psychologists categorize personality types.

How personality type is measured

One of the more popular personality tests is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I first took this test while working on my undergraduate degree, as part of the career guidance process.

The MBTI breaks personality into four aspects. Each aspect is a range, and a person will usually lean toward one end or the other. These aspects are detailed below.

Extroversion (E) / Introversion (I): Extroverts draw energy from frequent social interaction, and focus on people and the world around them. Introverts draw energy from thought and reflection, and have an inward focus.

Sensing (S) / Intuition (N): Sensing depends on information drawn from immediate surroundings. Details and facts are essential. Intuition depends on abstract information, connections between ideas, and possibilities and patterns.

Thinking (T) / Feeling (F): Thinkers rely heavily on logic when making decisions, and strive for objectivity. Feelers rely on empathy and emotions when making decisions, and strive for harmony.

Judgment (J) / Perception (P): Judging types rely on their knowledge of right and wrong, and prefer to nail down decisions as soon as possible. Perceiving types constantly question the status quo, and prefer to keep options open.

Personality type is determined by combining an individual's scores on these four categories. For example, you can be an ENTP (extroversion, intuition, thinking, and perception) or an ISFJ (introversion, sensing, feeling, and judging), or any combination of the four aspects. If you're curious what your type is, you can take the test for free online.

How personality type impacts your technical writing skills

Your MBTI type and the descriptions for each trait can be used to analyze your strengths and weaknesses as a technical writer. For example, here are a few common type combinations, and some generalizations we can make about writers who fall into each type.

ESFJ - ESFJs are great at building relationships with SMEs, working with other departments to nail down decisions, and tracking project details. They make great editors, and are experts at writing content that covers all the details. ESFJs need to be careful to consider all sides of a problem before deciding on a solution.

ENTP - ENTPs excel at sharing their ideas with others and gaining the consensus and cooperation required to make those ideas a reality. They add excitement and vision during meetings. As writers, they easily convey complicated procedures in a clear manner. ENTPs need to watch out for practical details that weren't considered, and be careful to ground their ideas with feedback from others.

INTP - INTPs are skilled at troubleshooting and solving theoretical problems, inventing new solutions, and explaining complex concepts in a simple way. They are big-picture writers who excel at brainstorming and outlining, but often struggle with detailed editing, proof reading, and repetitive tasks.

These are just a few of the combinations possible, and if you look at any large technical writing team, you'll likely be surprised at the diversity of personalities. This diversity of personality types helps the team function; each member brings skills and strengths that contribute the team's ability to get the job done.

If you've taken the MBTI or a similar personality test, feel free to share your results by leaving a comment. Also, be sure to tell HelpScribe readers how your type contributes to your abilities as a technical writer!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

• Technical writing and communication

How help search should work

Thanks to Internet search engines like Google, software users have become more comfortable using search as their primary means of accessing help content.

Every help authoring tool seems to have a different approach to presenting search results. Offerings range from ranked results to alphabetical lists, with additional features thrown in such as the inclusion of chunks of topic text with highlighted search keywords. Each method of presenting search results offers different benefits to users.

Since help tools offer mixed approaches, I feel perfectly comfortable throwing my own opinions into the mix.

Two kinds of search users

In my experience, there are two types of searchers.

The first type is looking for the "needle in the haystack." They already have some expertise using the software, and use search to comb every chunk of content that contains their keywords. Overview information is not important to them; they are searching for a specific detail that could be anywhere. This type of user depends on full-text search functionality; search highlighting and summarized descriptions showing the context of the keywords are important to them.

Let's call these searchers "haystackers."

The second type of searcher uses search to develop a basic understanding of how to use the software. For example, when using a photo editing application, they may search on "editing images" to find overview information and procedures to help them get started.

This type of searcher is looking for topics that teach the basic concepts related to their keywords. Desired results might include "Overview of editing images," "Importing images for editing," and "Saving edited images." This type of searcher does not want to wade through a huge list of topics; they only want to see the topics that focus on the keywords they entered.

Let's call these searchers "generalists."

Building a better mousetrap

So how do we present search results that are helpful to both haystackers and generalists?

First, we have to summarize the needs of both types of searchers.

Haystackers want:

• A complete list (all topics containing the keyword)
• An alphabetical list of results to keep track of which topics they've already combed for details
• Context summaries that hint whether a topic contains the details they're after

Generalists want:

• Ranked results so they know which topics are the most relevant
• Clear indication of overviews and important procedures (scannable results)

Now that we understand the needs of both types of users, we can build search results that meet those needs.

While ranking topics is important for generalists, I think that results must be presented in alphabetical order. Ranking means nothing to haystack searchers, and alphabetical presentation is essential for keeping track of which topics they've already searched. Therefore, a great search tool should rank topics while maintaining the alphabetical organization.

Instead of reordering topics to show rank, visual cues should be used. Highly relevant topics can be shown via bold formatting, or with a numerical rank following the topic title.

For example, if a user searches on "editing images" in a photo editing application, we could present results in the following manner.

Search results:

 Designating a network publish location
 Displaying the contents of the image recycle bin
 Editing image colors [2]
 Entering image titles manually
 Overview of the image editor [1]
 Sending images via email

This method of presenting images meets the needs of both types of users. Haystack searchers get a full list of results, organized alphabetically. Generalists can find the "big picture" topics quickly, and rely on numerical rankings for guidance.

We could go a step further and add context information for haystack searchers. For example...

Search results:

 Designating a network publish location
  "...so that you can publish your edited images to a network..."

 Displaying the contents of the image recycle bin
  "...allows you to retrieve image edits that were deleted..."

 Editing image colors [2]
  "...you can edit the color of your image before saving..."

 Entering image titles manually
  "...can edit the title of your image manually by..."

This method of presenting search results gives context information to user searching for specific details, but still allows new users to find basic overview information quickly.

The key to presenting great search results in your help system is to assess the needs of various types of users. By balancing those needs, you can guide users through your help topics and give them a positive software experience.

Perhaps you have thoughts on how search functionality should work. If so, please leave a comment and share your thoughts or any other technical writing tips with other HelpScribe readers.

How color defines purpose in user assistance content

Of all the visual cues in your help interface, color is one of the strongest. Users will recognize and react to the color of each element in your help window before reading a single word of text.

Color allows users to determine the purpose of each element on the computer screen.

When designing the visual aspect of your help content (via CSS and so on), as well as the help interface itself, be sure to use the same color for objects that share a purpose.

For example, the screenshot below of the Mozilla Firefox help shows effective use of color.

Notice the gray background around the In this section list. This convention is used throughout the help system. Users can quickly spot the list in any Firefox help topic.

Background color is also used for menu commands. Notice the blue shading behind the Tools > Downloads command. This convention allows users to quickly recognize a menu command within a procedure.

The Back and Forward buttons in the navigation rely on color as well. Both are green when enabled, and gray when disabled. By consistently switching between these two colors, the designers quickly teach users how to determine when they can click each button.

Color can also be used to differentiate content. For example, web designers often use bright colors for advertisements and muted colors for other content. This convention draws attention to the ads, but allows users to quickly recognize and ignore such content if they aren't interested in the subject of the advertisement.

By using color to group elements, you can quickly teach users to identify the purpose of each element in your help content and interface.

Same color, same purpose.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

• Is your help window too small?
• Qualities of good technical writing

Technical writing is a necessary evil

We don't write manuals because it's fun. We write them out of necessity, because some tasks are too complex or too important for us to trust them to memory.

Is it taboo to write such a statement on a technical writing blog? That technical writing is tedious?

I think it's an honest statement.

But I'm thankful for the challenge. Because if technical writing was fun, everyone would be doing it. At parties, everyone would talk about the user manual they were writing and how they hoped to get it published.

Salaries would tank, and we'd all get paid a pittance in royalties instead.

As technical writers, the principle of supply and demand works in our favor. No one wants to write user manuals; it takes too much concentrated effort on mind-numbing subjects. Therefore, people are more than willing to pay us to do the job.

When I tell people I'm a technical writer, they either don't know what I'm talking about, or wonder why on earth I'd want to do such a thing. Wouldn't writing novels be more fun?

But I enjoy my work.

Not the subject matter, administrative details, or anything of that nature.

I enjoy that I can write one day, edit graphics the next, and write code the next. Because of the ever-changing nature of my job, I feel a certain sense of freedom. That feeling of freedom tells me I'm in the right career.

As a fiction writer, I'm worse than average.

As an artist, I've neglected my questionable abilities.

As a computer programmer, I know just enough to be dangerous.

But as a technical writer, I can write the procedures, prepare the graphics, wrap everything in valid HTML, and deliver it all by the scheduled deadline.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

• Great examples of technical writing
• How to become a technical writer
• Why software development documentation matters

Free marketing plan template for MS Word

A thorough marketing plan is vital for communicating with your target audience in the most effective manner. A thorough template will help you reach that goal by prompting you for vital information and helping you structure your plan. Here are some free MS Word plan templates to help you reach out to new customers.

• Business marketing plan (basic) from Microsoft Office Online - View details
• Nigel Temple - A marketing plan structure that can serve as a foundation for your word document. View details
• Office Arrow - This marketing plan template requires registration to download, but at the time I'm writing this, basic registration is free and includes access to business templates. View details

Be sure to choose a template that helps you identify key strategies, evaluate your competition, and target key markets for your business.

Related:

• Free examples of proposal writing templates

Free examples of proposal writing templates

Writing a convincing proposal is essential for winning new client contracts. A proposal template will help you in writing such a document. Here are some examples of free templates that may meet your needs.

• From Microsoft - Several styles to choose from. Professional appearance, best for those already familiar with how a proposal should be structured. View details
• From TechRepublic - Requires registration, so I can't comment about the details of this proposal template. View details
• From Georgia Tech - Includes instructions for structuring the document, as well as a link to a Word template. View details

Hopefully these templates are useful in helping you win new clients. Enjoy!

Related:

• Free marketing plan template for MS Word

Should your help be moved to a server?

As broadband Internet access becomes increasingly available, software providers are minimizing the local installation of help topics and instead moving some or all help to Web servers.

While this approach may alienate users who have no Internet connection or lack broadband access, there are many advantages. Web servers offer features and options that aren't available with locally installed help.

For example...

Increased functionality

Help authors can use an Internet connection to provide server-side enhancements. Examples include providing content from a database, tracking topic visitation, gathering information about browser versions and other environment variables, and rendering dynamic content via AJAX. Community content can be included with the authoritative help topics to provide richer answers to user questions.

Broader search results

Moving help to a server allows you to populate search results with content from multiple help systems. This is a win-win situation. Users find a wider range of answers to questions about your products, and at the same time they become educated on related products they may not have purchased. The Microsoft Office help is a good example.

Fewer space restrictions

If CD space or user hard drive space limitations are holding you back, server based help could solve your problems. Web server space is easy to control and expand. You can pack in plenty of tutorials, video demos with sound, and bulky graphics that may not have been possible with a local installation from a CD.

On-the-fly updates

With server based help, you can make updates at any time and present them to users immediately. All changes are visible to users as soon as they are moved to your user-facing server. That way you don't have to cringe at a typo for the next few months while you wait for the next release to ship.

Free marketing

By putting your help on a public server, you offer free answers to anyone shopping around in your market. When users search Google for information on your industry and find helpful answers on your server, you make a favorable impression without spending a single advertising dollar.

These are just a few of the benefits of moving help to a server.

Of course, you'll need to consider any users who may not have an Internet connection. You can address this with specific system requirements, or offer "airplane help" that relies on a combination of server and local content.

If I've missed anything, please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

• 10 RoboHelp tips you won't want to miss
• The hard road to user friendly help
• Why we become technical writers

10 RoboHelp tips you won't want to miss

I've been using RoboHelp for nearly a decade now. I started off with an older Word-based version to create WinHelp, and now I work with the HTML version to create WebHelp for locally installed and server-based products. Here are a few RoboHelp tips that I've found useful in my day-to-day help authoring responsibilities.

Use version control for multi-author projects

Version control systems, such as the built-in RoboHelp source control and Microsoft's Visual Source Safe, can save a lot of headaches for multi-author projects. Such tools prevent writers from overwriting each other's work, and allow you to recover older versions of files when things go amiss.

Learn XML to work under the hood

Sometimes it is beneficial to work under the hood by editing XML source files. For example, editing rhbag.apj allows you to add many baggage files to the project without a lot of pointing and clicking.

JavaScript functionality can be modified

By rewriting some JavaScript, you can make changes to the way WebHelp output functions. For example, check out this WebHelp search modification.

Publish location settings make life simple

In the single source options, define a publish location. This allows you to copy all generated help content to a server with the click of a button. You can specify an FTP site, local file folder, or a server as a publish location.

Browse sequences serve many purposes

The browse sequence feature in RoboHelp can serve many purposes. For example, if you are sending several updated topics for an internal review, you can create a browse sequence containing only those topics.

Snippets are great for ensuring consistency

When many topics contain boilerplate content, you can use snippets to keep them consistent. Any changes you make to the snippet will be reflected in all topics that use the snippet. For merged help systems, simply copy and paste the updated .HTS file into the root folder of each child project, overwriting the old version.

Understand the benefits and limitations of each help format

You can avoid a lot of performance and compatibility issues by understanding how each output format works. For example, WebHelp works great on a server or when installed locally, but your topics may look different in various browsers. Microsoft HTML Help (CHM) packages everything into a single file, but must be downloaded and run locally because of security issues. Research each format carefully so you can choose most appropriate for your users.

Visit the forums

The Adobe RoboHelp forums are frequented by experts, and you can find the answers to many questions there. You can also join the forum and post questions of your own.

Read the help

RoboHelp's own help system is quite extensive. You can find details about the source and output files that make up a help system, procedures for using advanced features, API documentation, and more. If you want to become a RoboHelp expert, the help topics are a great place to start.

Use the command line

RoboHelp now offers the ability to compile from the command line. You can write scripts that compile your help, make post-generation changes to the output, publish it to multiple locations, and then archive the source files for safe keeping. Create a desktop shortcut for such a script, and the whole process becomes as simple as clicking the icon.

Hopefully these tips will help you be more productive, or at least save you a few headaches. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a tip you'd like to share.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

• How can I make our product's help more useful?
• Full text search vs. keyword search
• Six ways to entice users back to the help