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#techwriting

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jmac

I wrote up a tech-writing technique I call the assertions document. It helps you rapidly develop your own understanding of a new-to-you topic by getting your subject-matter experts engaged in the docs project as quickly as possible, and even eager to help you—largely by giving them ways to tell you how you're wrong. #TechWriting #TechnicalWriting fogknife.com/2025-04-04-assert

A bit of source code, including some 'assert' function calls.
FogknifeAssert your way to stronger technical writingMake your subject-matter experts feel more invested in your work by giving them assertions to correct, long before your first draft.
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Kerrick Long (code)

Do developers need code samples in API documentation?

idratherbewriting.com/blog/cod

I’d Rather Be Writing Blog and API doc course · Do developers need code samples in API documentation?Although code samples have long been a staple in API documentation, I’m not sure users need them that much. Many developers now use AI tools that can generate the same basic code samples that are commonly provided in documentation. If these same developers pass in either the source files or reference documentation, AI tools can generate the code samples they need in the language they want, and better yet, tailored to their project and business context.
#APIDocumentation#TechWriting#CodeSamples
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heckj

If you're programming/coding I'd love your help here:

What are some of the best examples you've seen (that are public/I can view - any language is fine) of programming tutorials and/or example code?

I'm looking for the best examples that illustrate how a a program is put together, the patterns it's using, so that you do the same yourself.

#techwriting#docs#programming
Continued thread
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Nico

I'd to continue this thread about reading recommendation about technical writing.

The next book I can recommend is "The Product is Docs: Writing technical documentation in a product development group" Christopher Gales and the Splunk Documentation Team. It "provides a perspective about the essential aspects of creating technical documentation in today's product development world".

#techwriting#UniventionSummit
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Nico

What a wonderful day an #UniventionSummit . I enjoyed meeting long term colleagues from other companies, getting to know inspiring new people, and exchanging experiences about #techwriting . I'm looking forward to the recordings of the talks, especially of "Digitale Enteignung - Wie Big Tech Wirtschaft und Demokratie zerstört" from Martin Andree.

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Daryl the Admin 🇺🇦

Calling those who write #documentation or work in a closely adjacent role!

The Write the Docs salary survey is live and available. This is for anyone who has been paid for documentation or documentation-adjacent work in the past year, regardless of current work status, employee/contractor classification, location, and so on.

salary-survey.writethedocs.org

Documentation Salary Survey 2024WTD Documentation Salary Survey 2024 - open for submissions!Our salary survey is now open for submissions! Help us create a benchmark for appropriate salary ranges for documentation roles world-wide.
#TechnicalWriting#techWriting#docs
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masukomi

Dear Geeks:
A friendly #TechWriting reminder. Just because YOU have a big vocabulary doesn't mean all your readers do.

Some people are young, or haven't had the opportunities to encounter as many words.

Some people don't have YOUR language as their native language.

All user facing strings _must_ be written with that in mind.

Here's an example of how NOT to do it. How many young coders or people new to English do you think know the meaning of "obsolescent" ?

How many native adults?

screenshot of terminal output. One line has been underlined. it says egrep: warning: egrep is obsolescent; using ggrep -E
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Ben Bristow

I explain what I do in descending order of specificity, situation-dependent:

- I write UI and API docs for a cybersecurity company.

- I’m a software tech writer.

- I’m a “tech writer.” I write software manuals. No, not furniture manuals.

- I work in tech. No, I’m not a programmer, but I know some. They’re nice. Sometimes.

- I work in tech.

- I work with computers.

The attached Calkearns (with alt-text) is better for some of these.

Two people at a social event ask a man who looks exactly like John Locke from Lost what he does for work. He answers, “It’s complicated.” The second frame shows what he does, and he’s correct. He’s a surgical assistant at a mouse hospital/pizzeria. He does need to wear a uniform, which includes a mouse hat and pants with a tail. One assumes this is their equivalent of business casual. He probably doesn’t get work-from-home days, since this role wouldn’t translate well to Zoom.
#TechWriting#TechComm#Software
Continued thread
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jmac

One of my favorite entries in the Google dev-docs style guide word list is for "simple": “What might be simple for you might not be simple for others. Try eliminating this word from the sentence because usually the same meaning can be conveyed without it.”

Google Search’s top hit for the thing I was trying to do is the following page, which counterexamples this to a painful degree. Every "quite simple" step made me say “I'm sorry, the *what*?” banjocode.com/post/hugo/custom #TechWriting

banjocode.comAdd Custom CSS Or Javascript To Your Hugo Site | banjocodeHugo themes are great - some do, however, not include custom CSS and JS from start. This is a simple guide on how to add it to your own Hugo site.
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jmac

Just spent two hours replicating a cool feature I miss from my former employer's in-house static-site generation system using Hugo and CSS. This article by Brian P. Hogan got me 66% of the way there, so thanks for that Brian P. Hogan! medium.com/pragmatic-programme

The rest was having Gemini give me answers that were, as usual, absolutely wrong but nonetheless rich with novel techniques for me to research and learn how to use correctly. Which I did! More or less.

How's your Monday going. #TechWriting

The Pragmatic Programmers · Displaying Shell Command Code Blocks in Hugo - The Pragmatic Programmers - MediumBy Brian P. Hogan
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rOpenSci

✍️New on the blog: Labels For Technical Writing Projects

@gvwilson discusses the challenges of organizing non-software projects in GitHub and shares the label system he uses for technical writing projects like books and lessons.

If you're looking for practical tips on managing your writing projects in GitHub, check it out here: ropensci.org/blog/2024/09/12/l

ropensci.orgLabels For Technical Writing ProjectsGreg discusses the challenges of organizing non-software projects in GitHub and shares the label system he uses for technical writing projects like books and lessons.
#OSS#TechWriting#OpenScience
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