Scoping the Size Of A Project November 12, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Writing, Style, Templates, Recommended, Troubleshooting, Microsoft Office News, Tips , add a comment
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:
- Does the Writer have access to Test Systems?
- Is the Writer is provided Training on the system that they are to document?
- Will the Writer be working on site during the project?
- Will the Writer have access to SMEs?
- 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:
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Training required for you to understand how the system works – eg 2 days
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Gap Analysis between current documentation (if it exists) vs. proposed documentation - eg 2 days
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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 -
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.
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Determine the number of pages that will be written per day, for example:
5 pages per day
100 page output
= 20 days documentation -
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:
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Company image library for product screenshots, samples of training material etc.
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Graphic designer to create illustrations, complex screenshots, splash screens, box shots.
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Style Guide or, if none exists, agree on using an established guide such as the Microsoft Style Guide for Technical Publications.
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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.
Creating a New Style November 12, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Formatting, Writing, Style, Templates, Recommended, Troubleshooting, Microsoft Office News, Tips , add a comment
To create a new style, follow these steps:
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From the Format menu, choose Style and Formatting, and then click New Style.
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In the Name box, enter a name for the style, for example, Paragraph Text.
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In the Style type box, choose Paragraph.
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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.
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Click Format and select formatting options such as Font and Paragraph.
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Click OK.
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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.
Page numbers appears as { PAGE } November 12, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Writing, Templates, Troubleshooting, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a comment
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:
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Choose Options on the Tools menu, then click the View tab.
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Uncheck the Field Codes checkbox.
Why do Documents get larger every time they’re saved? November 12, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Writing, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment
The Fast Save feature in Word saves both the original version of your document and ALL the changes you’ve made to it.
So even though you may have deleted text and graphics—as long as Fast Save is turned on—the file will get larger and larger as it keeps recording every change you’ve made to the file.
In general, it’s recommended that you turn off this option as it leads down a one-way road…
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From the Tools menu, select Options and then the Save tab.
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Uncheck Allow Fast Saves.
What are the posting suggestions for the Word news groups? November 12, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Writing, Troubleshooting, Microsoft Office News, Tips , add a comment
Avoid saying “Word Problem” or “Help!”
Be as specific as possible in your subject line. For example,
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“Macro Problem,”
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“Red X Appears instead of Images,”
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“How to create master documents” is much better than “Help” or “Question”.
State the version of Word and operating system you’re using. Describe the problem as best you can, including how you’ve tried to resolve the problem.
Describe what you’re trying to achieve. Describe any error messages you’ve encountered.
Avoid using nicknames, such as Crazy Frog. Use your real name. When responding, quote the relevant parts only. You don’t have to include every post that’s went before this.
How to Stop Word from Opening Every Document Separately? November 12, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Writing, Troubleshooting, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a comment
This feature is hard-wired into Word. So, though you can’t directly stop it, i.e. through the menu options, we have some macros that work around it.
Macro to Update all Fields in a Document
The code is as follows:
Sub UpdateAll()
Dim oStory As Range
Dim oField As Field
On Error Resume Next
For Each oStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
For Each oField In oStory.Fields
oField.Update
Next oField
Next oStory
On Error GoTo 0
End Sub
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Select Tools, Macro, Create New Macro.
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Name the macro.
How To Remove The Web Toolbar? November 10, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Formatting, Writing, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment
There are two options here. The first is to turn it off for the document that’s currently open while the second is to completely blast it so it never appears in Word again, unless you restore it for some reason.
- To remove it from the current document:
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Go to Tools, Macros, and select the Visual Basic Editor.
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Enter the following code: Private Sub Document Close ()
On Error Resume Next
Application.CommandBars (”Web”).Enabled = True
On Error Go To 0
End SubPrivate Sub Document Open ()
On Error Resume Next
Application.CommandBars (”Web”).Enabled = False
On Error Go To 0
End Sub
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Run the macro.
Tip: You can also go to View, Toolbars, and deselect Web.
- To remove it completely from Word:
This blasts it from Word, unless you decide to turn it back on later.
Tip: Should you ever want to, you can reactivate the web toolbar, by opening the macro and changing Enabled = False to Enabled = True. This tells Word to ‘enable’ the web toolbar, in other words, turn it on.
Sub DisableWeb()
CommandBars(”Web”).Enabled = False
End Sub
How to Get Rid of The Paperclip? November 10, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Writing, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment
To stop the paper clip from appearing:
Click Help and select Hide the Office Assistant.
To turn him back on…
Why doesn’t Page X of Y work! November 9, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, How do I ?, Writing, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment
There are several reasons why this can happen. To complicate matters, different versions of Word all seem to present their own unique problems. Rather than go through them all, here is solution that I found works the best.
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In Word, go to View and click Header and Footer. This opens the Header work-area.
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Click inside the Header.
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Select and delete any table.
Tip: Tables are the source of most Page X of Y problems. -
Close the document and re-open. The page numbering should be fine.
Even though you may have to redesign the header, at least you can compile the table of contents and continue working on your document.
How To Change The Default Font? November 9, 2006
Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Formatting, Writing, Templates, Troubleshooting, Cool Tricks, Tips , add a comment
There are several ways to do this, but this one is the best.Open the Normal.dot template from within Word. It’s very important that you open it within Word, otherwise the template will simply create a new document rather than opening the actual Normal.dot file itself.
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Click Format, Styles and Formatting and choose Body Text.
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Click Modify.
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Click the Font to the font family and size you want. Click OK and OK again.
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Click the Apply button.
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Type in any letter and then delete it. This forces Word to recognize that have changed Normal.dot.
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Save and close.
By using the approach you change the Normal.dot file permanently.