Word Tips and Tricks

Scoping the Size Of A Project November 12, 2006

One of the classic mistakes novice writers make is to start writing without looking at the overall picture. Planning the scope of your project is key to its overall successful. 
So, before you start writing, identify everything involved in the development of the project. By the way, this applies to any type of project, whether it’s writing, development, design, or cooking…. You must have a plan. 

For a documentation project, Identify the; 

• Software Templates and Style Guides 
• Access to IT Systems 
• People resources, such as graphic designers 

that need to be in place so that you can write the documentation.Don’t assume these will be ready! 

A lot of this may seem very obvious, but based on experience, client often underestimate the resources you will need to have in place. They tend to overlook system access, passwords, swipe cards, parking spaces, technical resources and other such requirements. Without these you can’t accomplish your tasks. 

Encourage your client (gently but firmly) to ensure they‘re in place; otherwise your schedule will be knocked off balance. Don’t wait until you arrive at the building before asking if there is a test system you can use. Ask these questions in the warm-up meetings before you start on-site. 

Here are some areas to consider before starting your project: 

1. Does the Writer have access to Test Systems?
2. Is the Writer is provided Training on the system that they are to document? 
3. Will the Writer be working on site during the project? 
4. Will the Writer have access to SMEs?
5. Will new Change Requests occur once the project has started? 
   

Creating a Project Plan 

Examine the following areas so you can define a project plan that reflects the amount of work that’s involved:

1. Training required for you to understand how the system works – eg 2 days
2. Gap Analysis between current documentation (if it exists) vs. proposed documentation - eg 2 days
3. Review current documentation (if it exists).
   Can any material be reused or do you need to write everything from scratch. Re-writing existing material can be very time-consuming as you have to modify the tone, style, and phrasing to match your writing style. You also need to test the integrity of their documentation as you can’t assume the instructions are correct. eg 5 days
4. Agree on the Document Format – this will affect the workload if the document needs to be delivered in multiple formats, such as MS Word, Adobe PDF, Online Help, or Web Help. 
5. Determine the number of pages that will be written per day, for example: 
   5 pages per day
   100 page output
   = 20 days documentation
6. Number of SMEs to review documents (allow 1 week turnaround) and provide feedback: 

If you assume there will be 25% changes to the documentation (20 days) then the total project is increased to 24 days approx.

Note: SMEs are Subject Matter Experts, i.e. individuals with in-depth knowledge who can review the documentation accurately. 

Getting Prepared 

Speak to the client’s Project Manager and make sure you have access to the following:

1. Company image library for product screenshots, samples of training material etc.
2. Graphic designer to create illustrations, complex screenshots, splash screens, box shots.
3. Style Guide or, if none exists, agree on using an established guide such as the Microsoft Style Guide for Technical Publications.
4. MS Word Templates – make sure these are available before you start. If not, factor their design and development into the project plan.   

This list is not exhaustive by any means. 

The key thing is to think ahead and anticipate any areas which may undermine the project’s success. 

Writing User Guides November 12, 2006

Some points to consider when choosing software for writing user guides and technical documentation: 

1. Requirements – make a list of what you want the software to do. You won’t need all the features that come with FrameMaker, Interleaf or other specialist writing packages. So, instead of investing in these products upfront, define your publication requirements and then start looking at the products – not the other way around! For example, if you don’t know much about FrameMaker, try to determine if its features are relevant to your project – maybe they’re overkill for what you’re trying to achieve - and then make your decision. Create a Product Features spreadsheet and use this to evaluate the products before you buy anything.
   
2. Single Sourcing – this is the holy grail of many Publications Departments. Single sourcing means that you create one ‘master’ version of the content, which you can then export to other file formats. Instead of reformatting text, layout and images, you can click a button and it’s available in whatever format you want. Do you really need single sourcing? Most companies don’t and can get by with MS Word documents, which can be converted into PDF or HTML. Two features that MS Word can easily handle. Granted, the HTML won’t be perfect, but you can refine it in a HTML editor if you need to. 
   
3. Qualified Trainers – before you select a new product, or a product that your company has no used before, check with the local training companies and see if they product such training. Otherwise, you may not be able to train your team with this product and will have to invest considerable energy in learning how it works. Not very practical if you’re running a busy Publications Dept.
   
4. Qualified Writers – as in the previous point, check with the local recruitment agencies to see if they have writers with these skillsets on their books. We recently wanted to hire a RobeHelp / RoboHTML content developer. These folks were very hard to get, so we outsourced the work to a specialist company. Lots of time, effort, money…
   
5. Support – this sounds boring, but if you can’t get support when the wheels start falling off, you’re in real trouble. Many times I’ve had to trawl web forums and BBSs for an answer because the Tech Support couldn’t answer my question or the answer they provided was inadequate. MS Word gets a lot of criticism but, in its defence, it goes to great length to provide workarounds to the many issues you’ll find in any piece of software.
   
6. Testimonials – speak to other people who work in technical publications and other areas related to professional writing. Go to the most popular writing forums and ask for their opinion.Tip: try to be specific. If you ask a general question, you’ll get a general answer.
   

7. Templates – if you’re choosing a new product, see if templates are included on the CD. You can use these to get up and running fast. Starting from scratch can be very expensive. 
8. Trial Versions – download the 30-day trial versions and start testing. Before you download anything, define the areas your want to test. List them in order of priority. Have sample documents ready for the testing. Make sure you have enough time to do the testing before the trial period expires!
9. Price – what is the licensing costs associated with the product, especially if you need to get multi-licences copies. For example, Adobe FrameMaker costs close to 700 USD, so five copies will cost 3500 USD. Wonderful though the product may be, this may be outside your department’s budget.
   
10. Making the Final Decision – after testing all applications, sit down and compare the products using a spreadsheet to calculate the results. Try to be as objective as possible and avoid being influenced by glossy brochures, free tools, and other extras that you probably will never use.

If you are buying on behalf of your company, ask yourself: if this was my own money, would I buy this product? 

Creating a New Style November 12, 2006

To create a new style, follow these steps: 

1. From the Format menu, choose Style and Formatting, and then click New Style. 
   
2. In the Name box, enter a name for the style, for example, Paragraph Text. 
3. In the Style type box, choose Paragraph.
   
4. In the Style Based on box, select No Style. If you base it on another style, then, when that style is changed, you’re new style will also be changed. No Style makes sure it is a ‘standalone’ style that can’t be changed as it has no associations to other styles.
5. Click Format and select formatting options such as Font and Paragraph. 
6. Click OK. 
7. Click Add to template if you want these styles to be incorporated into the template this document is based on, which is usually Normal.dot.

The new style now appears in your “Styles” list.

Styles November 12, 2006

Styles are one of the most powerful features in Word. A style is like a mini-template within a document. It groups together characteristics, such as font, paragraph and color, which you can apply to a piece of text.

This means that instead of having to change each piece of text by hand, you can select different items and apply the same style to them all with one click. Styles can be created for text, tables, and lists. 

Applying styles
To apply a style to text, follow these steps:
1. Select the text you want to change.
2. From the Style drop-down list (the drop-down menu that usually says “Normal”), choose the style you want to apply, for example, Body Text.

That’s it! Your text is updated with the Body Text style.

Page numbers appears as { PAGE } November 12, 2006

If you open Word and find that the table of contents, page numbers, and other such information has changed to { PAGE } and { TIME } etc, then don’t despair. Here’s what to do: 

1. Choose Options on the Tools menu, then click the View tab. 
2. Uncheck the Field Codes checkbox.