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Difference between Editing and Proofreading  Difference between editing and proofreading is work from Megha Gola, A student of Information Developers and employee of Vikash Technical publication, New Delhi. Now Megha is working with Emersion Noida. There is a very thin line between both processes. In this table, I’m trying to summarize the difference. Feel free to add more points if I missed something. Editing Proofreading It is the first task that should be undertaken after finishing the first draft of a piece of text. It involves checking the text in detail after the editing stage, to detect errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and format. Editing requires focusing on the content of the text. The key goals are to check that the text:          flows logically         is meaningful as whole         is clearly expressed          is accurate in the information it provides        is concise          makes its purpose clear is targeted towards the reader The aim of proofreading is to spot and correct errors in:  spelling   typography  grammar, punctuation and use of language  style and format anything missed at the editing stage Editing requires careful analysis and critical thinking. Proofreading requires a great deal of attention to detail.

MS Word TOC Issue Recently one of my students asked me to fix her auto-generated table of contents (TOC) in Word. Somehow she ended up with a picture and text in there and she don’t have any clue, and it keeps coming back when they regenerate the TOC. Let us dive deep, how we create auto-generated TOC. The default behavior of Word is to use Heading styles to create the TOC and the Caption style to create lists of figures and tables. The paragraph, picture and text is in a Heading or Caption style applied to it. Find the picture in the body of the document. Replace the Heading or Caption style with a standard paragraph style. Regenerate the TOC/list of figures/list of tables and the picture should be gone forever! Do you want to learn the nitty-gritty of Word 2013. Contact ApraDocs Information Developers.Technical writing training Institute.

Copy/Paste vs Inserting Images I’m assuming that a lot of images used in PowerPoint or Word come from the web. I’m also guessing that most people may realize that most images on the web have been compressed in anyhow to provide a balance of quality and maintain small file size. What I don’t think many people realize is that when you copy & paste images directly from the web into PowerPoint that you lose much of that compression and wind up with a bigger file size than you need to have. The reason is that whenever a picture is copied to the computer’s clipboard and then pasted into PowerPoint (or Word, etc) the picture is pasted as a bitmap—regardless of the file format of the original picture. Bitmap file sizes are much larger and have less detail which leaves you with a much larger Word or PowerPoint file than necessary, particularly if you have used multiple images this way. So instead of copying & pasting directly from the web into your document, you should save them first and then Insert them via the Insert menu instead. I did a quick test with the following results: Method File Size (kb) Copy & Paste 2,027 Copy & Paste (Compressed) 440 Insert 300 Notice that even after using PowerPoint’s option for compressing the pasted images, the file size was still larger than the file using inserted images. .

So, as a Technical writer, it makes sense to make sure the font you or your clients use does not hinder sales. Font size also impacts the reliability and overall experience of the reader. Correct Font can also impact the cost of documentation, think how 🙂 Let us talk about it: The difference between ‘serif’ and ‘sans serif’ fonts Serif fonts have little feet and embellishments on the tip and base of each letter, making them more distinct and recognizable. Popular serif fonts are Times New Roman, Palatino, Georgia, Courier, Bookman, and Garamond. Nearly all books, newspapers, and magazines use a serif font. It’s popularly accepted that – in print – serif fonts are easier to read. The idea is that the serifs make the letters flow together – and subsequently easier on the eyes. As the name states, ‘sans serif’ fonts are fonts without serifs. While some sources say sans-serif fonts have existed since the 5th century BC, it wasn’t until the 1920s that they became somewhat popular – mostly being used in advertisements. One of the reasons for their lack of popularity was that typographers stuck with serif fonts because they felt they were easier to read. It’s been said that serif fonts are for “readability,” while sans-serif fonts are for “legibility.” This is why, in print, sans-serif fonts are often used as the headline font, and serif fonts are used for the body text. Some popular San Serif fonts are Helvetica, Arial, Calibri, Century Gothic, and Verdana. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more information like this. Best fonts for print In his book Cashvertising, Drew Eric Whitman cites a 1986 study of fonts (printed on paper) that found only 12 percent of participants effectively comprehended a paragraph set in sans-serif type versus 67 percent who were given a version set in serif typeface. Those who read the sans-serif version said they had a tough time reading the text and “continually had to backtrack to regain comprehension.” In a test of three different fonts, two serifs (Garamond and Times New Roman) and one sans serif (Helvetica), he found 66 percent were able to comprehend Garamond; 31.5 percent Times New Roman, and 12.5 percent Helvetica (out of a total of 1,010,000 people surveyed). The conclusion being that serif fonts are easier to read when it comes to fonts on paper. So, if you’re sending out a sales letter or brochure in the mail, you probably want to use serif font (but, as mentioned in the first point, you could use sans-serif font for your headlines). Here are the print font preferences of three of the copywriting greats: 1) advertising great John Caples liked using Cheltenham Bold for headlines; 2) advertising legend David Ogilvy preferred the Century family, Caslon, Baskerville, and Jenson; and 3) direct marketing guru Gary Halbert used Courier in his sales letters. Best fonts for online Now, one might assume that what works on the printed page will be similar to what works on the computer screen. But that’s not the case. To make the little serifs appear legible, a high degree of resolution is required. The more pixels, the more details of the font you can display. Back 10 or so years ago, the best computer screen resolution was 800 x 600 pixels – which wasn’t great for defining the intricacies of a serif font. Screen resolution has increased through the years (resolutions of 1024 x 768 pixels or greater have become the norm). This makes serif fonts more legible but still generally not as easy to read as sans-serif fonts. Plus, now you have to consider how your site or email will look on handheld devices, such as the BlackBerry and iPhone. The latest model of iPhone 4 has a screen resolution of 960 x 640 pixels. The BlackBerry Bold 978 has a screen resolution of 480 x 360 pixels. So online, the best font to go with is sans serif. A 2002 study by the Software Usability and Research Laboratory concluded that: The most legible fonts were Arial, Courier, and Verdana. At a 10-point size, participants preferred Verdana. Times New Roman was the least preferred. At 12-point size, Arial was preferred and Times New Roman was the least preferred. The preferred font overall was Verdana, and Times New Roman was the least preferred. So here are your marching orders: For easiest online reading, use Arial 12-point size and larger. If you’re going smaller than 12 points, Verdana at 10 points is your best choice. If you’re after a formal look, use the font “Georgia.” And for older readers, use at least a 14-point font. Best fonts for email Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, an e-commerce consultant, did a series of tests in 2001. He also came to the conclusion that the sans-serif fonts are more suited to the computer screen. Some of the highlights of the test results were that at 12 points, respondents showed a preference for Arial over Verdana – 53% to 43% (with 4% not being able to distinguish between the two). Two-thirds of respondents found that Verdana at 12 points was too large for body text, but Verdana at 10 points was voted more readable than Arial at 10 points by a 2 to 1 margin. In conclusion, for the best font readability, use Arial 12 point or Verdana at 10 points and 9 points for body text. For headlines, he suggests using larger bold Verdana. Deciding on a font So the next time you submit a sales letter or email to your client, it might be a good idea to ask them what font they intend to use. If they plan to use a serif font online or in an email, you might want to gently nudge them away from it and recommend a more easily readable sans-serif font. If they also plan to send your copy to their list via regular mail, it’s not a bad idea to suggest they switch over to a serif font at

Technical writer salary Salary Survey 2017 Interested to know in which direction the salary of technical writers is going. Here is a good news at the starting of the year 2017. Technical writing in the highest paying jobs in India claims Economics Times. Excerpt from the Newspaper Technical writer 2 January 2017 Technical writer While writers and content writers are one thing, technical writers are completely different. They also write but their focus is mostly on technicalities related to an IT firm or programming company. For companies specializing in technology like Adobe, Oracle, and similar brands, a technical writer is a must. Minimum Qualification: Graduate Salary range: Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.7 lakh a month To read more click here. You can read the detail salary survey of the year 2017 on the STC-India website. Salary Survey 2014 STC India chapter recently released their salary survey results for 2014 in 16th STC annual conference at Bangalore which provides an insight about the technical writer’s salaries in India and also about the technical writing industry growth in India. This valuable and benchmark is the result of  Paresh Naik. Kudos to Paresh’s indeed a great job in publishing this salary survey! So what do you think about your salary!!! Have a look before you change in 2015 so that you can make maximum from the new market recovered from the recession. For me, the good news is my area (NCR) is the highest paying area in India followed by Pune for the same experience level. On the other hand, this year salary decrease by 11.9% compared to the same in 2013. Really sad. For international friend  1USD = 67 INR Some Interesting Findings from the data Measures used in this report Survey according to experience Click to Zoom         Base:   The total responses in a given category. Mean: The value computed by averaging the tabulated responses. 10%: Ten percent of the responses were below this value; ninety percent were above this value. 25%: Twenty-five percent of the responses were below this value; seventy-five percent were above this value. 50%: Fifty percent of the responses were below this value; fifty percent were above this value. This is also called the median. 75%: Seventy-five percent of the responses were below this value; twenty-five percent were above this value. 90%: Ninety percent of the responses were below this value; ten percent were above this value. TrimMean: This value is the mean taken by excluding 10% of data points from the top and bottom tails of a data set. In other words, this is an average of values excluding the extreme cases. Salary/year of experience: Most of the tables also indicate the measures for salary/year of experience. This parameter is included to compare the influence of various factors on the salary on level grounds, i.e. to exclude the effect of experience. If all or most of the survey participants from a specific category have a higher number of years of experience, the average salary in that particular category may be reflected as very high. In such cases, the salary/year of experience parameter will give a more realistic comparison of salaries in related categories. All the salary figures mentioned in this report are in Indian Rupees unless specifically mentioned otherwise

Hi Folk, One of the irrepressible skill of technical writers is good English. We can achieve this by practice. In this series, we are trying to share some good rules of writing. This is a brief about “Gerund Rules”. Hope you all like the post!! Gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, and for this reason, it is now common to call both forms ‘the -ing form’. However, it is useful to understand the difference between the two. The gerund always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb) so it can be used:   Rule1: As the subject of the sentence: Eating people is wrong. Hunting tigers is dangerous. Flying makes me nervous. Rule 2: As the complement of the verb ‘to be’: One of his duties is attending meetings. The hardest thing about learning English is understanding the gerund. One of life’s pleasures is having breakfast in bed. Rule 3: After prepositions. The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition: Can you sneeze without opening your mouth? She is good at painting. They’re keen on windsurfing. She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road. We arrived in Madrid after driving all night. My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary. Note:  This is also true of certain expressions ending with a preposition, e.g. in spite of, there’s no point in..: There’s no point in waiting. In spite of missing the train, we arrived on time. Rule4: After a number of ‘phrasal verbs’ which are composed of a verb + preposition/adverb Example: to look forward to, to give up, to be for/against, to take, to put off, to keep on: I look forward to hearing from you soon. (at the end of a letter) When are you going to give up smoking? She always puts off going to the dentist. He kept on asking for money. NOTE: There are some phrasal verbs and other expressions that include the word ‘to’ as a preposition, not as part of a to-infinitive: – to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to, to be used to. It is important to recognize that ‘to’ is a preposition in these cases, as it must be followed by a gerund: We are looking forward to seeing you. I am used to waiting for buses. She didn’t really take to studying English. Note: It is possible to check whether ‘to  is a preposition or part of a to-infinitive: if you can put a noun or the pronoun ‘it’ after it, then it is a preposition and must be followed by a gerund: I am accustomed to it (the cold). I am accustomed to being cold. Rule5:  In compound nouns Example: a driving lesson, a swimming pool, bird-watching, train-spotting It is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb.   Example: the pool is not swimming, it is a pool for swimming in.   Rule6:  After the expressions: can’t help, can’t stand, it’s no use/good, and the adjective worth: She couldn’t help falling in love with him. I can’t stand being stuck in traffic jams. It’s no use/good trying to escape. It might be worth phoning the station to check the time of the train.   

One of my friends asks me the importance of preparing TOC  (Table of Content) before writing. My answer was it is “like a restaurant without a menu”. Jokes apart below are the reason. TOC is a tool to Plan Documentation Project. The table of contents — is technical writer’s best tool for organizing the document, planning and project scoping. Your proposed table of contents not only shows your stakeholder or project manager that you have understood the material well enough to know how to organize it into effective sections, but it also gives them a chance to test whether or not you’ve included every important aspect of the project/product. Table of contents is considered to be a fluid document. That’s because new information that arises during the research and writing phases may result in sections being added to cover the new material. Your stakeholder may decide on a different focus for the project after viewing your initial drafts. You may later realize that additional subheads are needed to explain something within the context of the document itself rather than relegating that information to an appendix.Truly agile!!! A proposed table of contents should contain your outline of the numbered chapters, parts, or sections and the heads and subheads within those parts. Depending on the style guide provided for submitting your table of contents, with the help of TOC you can also estimate approx total page or word counts. Conclusion In short, your planned table of contents is the concrete face for your vision on how the document should be organized and what it will say. This also saves you from any further dispute. P.S-You can always take a reference to the previous or existing document, definitely, this will ease your life.

Collect all the existing information on a product, such as: • Client need • Marketing logic and requirement • Product plans • Task analysis • Evaluation reports • Customer feedback • Previous versions of the product and product documentation Find out the objectives for the following: • The product • Release Scheduling • Usability • Accessibility • Future customization • Internationalisation, localization, and customisation • Translation • Packaging • Legal requirements • Security • International Standards and conventions • Costs • Documentation delivery and viewing mechanism Then write the Documentation Proposal

Introduction Most of us have heard very vaguely about e-Learning and very less about Instructional Design. This article is an attempt to clear few myths about this highly popular domain and describe e-Learning and Instructional Design in a nutshell. Myth: Any web content is e-Learning. Reality: Any web content is not e-Learning. It’s a highly specialized field. Myth: The primary job of Instructional designers is to replicate content. Reality: Absolutely incorrect. This is the highest form of insult to a highly creative and skilled domain. Never ever try to undermine the capabilities of an Instructional Designer (ID). Highly passionate about their creative and out-of-the box thinking capabilities, this light-hearted comment about their profession is not taken very well by the IDs. Myth: Instructional Designers and Technical Writers are same. Reality: With due respect to Technical Writers, Instructional Design is a different function altogether. Though we are basically writers, we focus on creating learner-centric content and applying various theories of learning. Statutory Warning: Challenging an ID to a verbal duel can be injurious to your vocabulary ego. What Is e-Learning? e-Learning has been around for more than a decade, but it has seen an exponential growth over the last few years. It can be either in the form of Computer-Based Training (CBT) or Web-Based Training (WBT). CBTs are delivered to the prospective students in CD format while WBTs are hosted on a Learning Management System (LMS) where the learners taking a course are tracked and their scores are managed. In e-Learning, few things are very important: Self-paced: Looking at the busy schedules of corporate life, these trainings can be taken at learners’ own convenience.    Absence of the trainer: The training has to be interesting to keep the learners engaged. How many of us wouldn’t actually doze off in a classroom training? Then, a training without any trainer needs to be engaging to hold the interest of the learners. Media rich: These courses are media rich with animated graphics to explain concepts and contain interactive practice session in a simulated environment (for application based-courses). Who Are Instructional Designers (IDs)? IDs are people who design, develop, and visualize a course. They work in collaboration with graphic designers and multi-media programmers to create a WBT/CBT. Take the example of an architect who designs a building. They visualize and create the skeleton of the building which is then materialized with the help of the builder and other workers who actually put them into shape. The architect monitors every phase of development of the building and sees to it that the building is turning out to be the way he visualized. We, the Instructional Designers, popularly known as IDs are the architects of a course.  When designing a course we understand the need of the learner, the knowledge gap, their role, and the purpose of learning. Following are the questions we ponder over when we design a course. Who are we teaching? Why are we teaching? What are we teaching? What is the expected outcome? What Do We Do? Our task involves lot of procedures and sub tasks. In a nutshell, we create training materials. Though we create training materials and online training, we are not trainers. Apart from creating WBTs/CBTs, we also create Instructor-led Trainings (ILTs). ILTs are used by actual trainers in classroom training. Complex content requires direct interaction between the trainer and students. For example, back-end configuration of a complex application needs lot of explanation and hands on training and hence a classroom training would be more beneficial than a WBT. Depending on factors, such as complexity of the subject, availability of trainers, and cost-effectiveness, we suggest a WBT/CBT, classroom training, or a mix of both (Blended Learning).

Sumit has set up the “body text” style in his word document so that it only has “space after” and has zero “space before.” This works great for laying out his document, except when it comes to tables. The paragraph following the table ends up being too close to the table, and Sumit wants some space between the table and a “body text” paragraph following the table. He wonders if Word can put “space after” a table. Not really, in the sense of “space after” for a paragraph. This can cause some issues when it comes to vertical spacing after tables, as Brian points out. There are two things you can do to work around this problem. First, you could define another style, perhaps called “body after table,” which is based on the “body text” style. The only difference would be that the “body after table” style would have space before the paragraph, not just after. This style can then be applied to the first paragraph after any tables, with the “body text” style used for the rest of the paragraphs. The other option is to insert an extra row at the end of your tables. This row should have no text and should be formatted so that it has no borders. You can adjust the row’s height to reflect the space you want between the main portion of the table and your following text. Information Developers is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word and technical writing training. This tip applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. Subscribe to the Information Developers YouTube channel for more tips and tricks on Technical Writing.

Most of us directly get to the Google search engine and look for solutions whenever we encounter problems related to Google’s services including Gmail, Maps, Chrome, and YouTube. We visit various websites and keep hunting them until we get the best solution to our problems. But to facilitate your experience with its products and services, Google has come up with a website – Google Tips – that includes tips related to its wide range of services. Users can search for tips on a service/product. Tips are presented in the form of cards. Find a card based on your needs and flip it over to learn more. For instance, one of the tips under the Android sections is “Never lose contact with your contacts.” The moment you click on any card, it turns over and comes up with a detailed tutorial describing how to use a particular tip. Tips are presented in the form of cards. Find a card based on your needs and flip it over to learn more. Users can share tips with their friends and can also suggest tips to Google if they have any. You can simply click on “Suggest a card” button suggest a tip.

Active voice makes it clear who is doing what. In an active sentence, the person that is acting is the subject. Passive sentences obscure or omit the sentence subject. Use passive voice when the sentence object is more important than the subject. The active voice is generally easier to read. Examples (subject, object) Before: Our results will be discussed. After: We will discuss our results. Before: Wolverine was made to be a weapon. After: The government made Wolverine. Wolverine is a weapon.

Education initiative in New Delhi   Rahul Karn and Rajeev Jain talking with students Going in the colleges and interacting with the new generation is really a very awesome experience. Recently STC I gave me this golden chance to talk about technical writing in RDIAS college, Rohini. Sharing report of Rajeev Jain who really did a very commendable job by organizing this event and warm thanks for inviting me to this wonderful event.  This is a report of education initiative circulated by Rajeev Jain.   About STC India education initiative Roli Sinha sharing her experience This is the first time in the history of  STC-India that the education team is reaching out to college and universities to conduct awareness sessions about technical communication, and help the students understand the career opportunities in the field of technical communication. STC India is making an attempt to bridge the Academia-Corporate gap by conducting FREE mentoring and guidance sessions.  IDF India team is extending all possible help to students, faculty, and colleges to: – Conduct awareness sessions on technical communication – Explore job/career opportunities in this field – Create curriculum for the short-term Industry-Ready courses – Help them understand the corporate needs and expectations from a Fresh Graduate – Enhance students employability and make them corporate ready and even connect them with the recruiter – Invite them to attend STC India conferences, seminars, workshops, and other events Event Update Venue: Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies (RDIAS), Rohini, New Delhi. Date: April 6th, 2013 STC India Education team of 3R’s (Rajeev, Roli, and Rahul Karn) travelled from different locations to reach the venue on time. Roli and Rahul travelled all the way from another end of Delhi to reach the venue on time. STC team was greeted by dean-academics, director, and the senior professors of the college. All three of us were excited and were hoping at least 50-55 students (since it was a weekend, and the college was open only for this event). We were surprised to see almost 80+ MBA and MCA students. The session started around 10.15 am. Rajeev started the session by asking questions, such as ·         what made students attend this event? ·         why did they opt for the Master degree in management or computers? ·         What are the different job opportunities they are aware of? We were surprised to know that many students had heard about technical communication but till date, they had no-one who could explain and guide them. Rajeev gave a brief introduction to technical communication. He shared many Bollywood and real-life examples to explain the concepts in simple language. Roli shared her hiring experiences and what are the corporate expectations from a fresh graduate. She gave excellent examples of why certain skills are necessary to excel in this field. There were many lighter moments when Rahul started asking questions as a fresher who is looking for the first job. This helped students to open up and they started asking more and more questions. Rahul added more spice by sharing his valentine competition story. Some of the questions asked by students were related to: 1.       Starting salary and growth opportunities. 2.       Skill set required to excel in this field. 3.       Corporate expectations from a fresher 4.       Differences between technical writer and content writer. 5.       Work-life balance and work timings. 6.       Why don’t companies come for campus placement to hire fresher as writers? We anticipated that the event may get over by 12.00 o’clock, but we had to finally stop at 1.00 pm. We promised them to come back again to take up their remaining queries and conduct more sessions. Feedback Rajeev hosting the talk The college management shared instant feedback and informed us that the students were extremely happy and they found the session to be very good, interactive, and useful. The students wanted more sessions from the STC India team. The college management also invited us to conduct one or more event for students of other colleges of their group. Thank You Note: I take this opportunity to thank Roli and Rahul for all volunteer help and making it to the venue on time. The college academics and management team showed interest in introducing business communication and technical writing course for the MBA and MCA students on trial basis. Rajeev also checked their interest in hosting STC India conferences and other events and they happily offered their premises to conduct more such events. Next Event STC-India team is committed to conducting more such awareness sessions and workshops in colleges across the country. The next event is scheduled for April 13th at KIIT engineering and management college, Gurgaon. You are most welcome to volunteer and share your experiences with the students in future events. For more queries or information If you have any queries or need more information or know of any college or university interested in conducting such events at their premises, please contact  Rahul Karn (rahulkkarn@gmail.com) . Let’s work together to promote technical communication and contribute our niche to bridge the Academic-Corporate gap.  

In an initiative to  encourage ADID Alumni and other technical writers to share technical writing knowledge,ADID invited Jaspal Singh to share his experience as content writer and technical writer, he come up with well knit and researched post .You can write to him or post comment to ask anything dropping from your mind on changing profession from content writing to technical writing.. To a layman, technical writing and content writing might come across as a similar thing. There are various attributes that are common between both professions. However, one can easily find aspects that discern one from the other.  Basic job of technical writers is to develop and design technical documentation in which creativity as well as knowledge about technology is required. On the other hand, content writers write for websites, newspapers and magazines. Before discussing the differences, let’s talk about their common attributes first.  Excellent grammar  Outstanding writing skills  Good analytical skills  Need to identify the target audience Following table represents factors that distinguish Technical Writing from Content Writing: Content Writing Technical Writing Excellent Grammar and Writing Skills Excellent Grammar and Writing Skills + Technical Knowledge Write-ups should be interesting so that audience can find a connection Write-ups should be user-friendly with clear and crisp information Need to exaggerate things Need to make common people aware about the technology without using hardcore technical terms (jargons). Basic computer skills with fair knowledge of fundamental software packages and good knowledge of Internet and searching options Software packages to know in addition to basic package: ·        RoboHelp ·        Adobe Framemaker ·        Camatasia ·        SnagIT Attention-grabbing writing style is a must Need to understand the domain and the target audience Knowledge about current affairs Knowledge about latest technology Looking for training on Adobe RoboHelp,Framemaker or Technical writing? Information Developers offers live, online Adobe Tool classes each month . We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details. If you are interested in learning Robohelp, Framemaker, Madcap Flair,MS VISIO,Captivate,SnagIT,Business writing,Technical writing training at Noida,NCR,Gurgaon,Gaziabad visit www.informationdevelopers.in. For latest update you can also like our LinkedIn page.

Some Rules for Comma and Inverted Comma. This guest post is from Raksha Pradeep, Director of ApraDocs Information Developers, New Delhi, holds a Masters Degree in Business management in Human Resource from Mumbai University.Apart from her services in the corporate sector she is also involved with various reputed institutes as visiting/ guest faculty for Business Communication. Comma (,) A comma is a punctuation used to denote a pause in the sentence. A comma is used to structure a sentence and helps the reader understand the meaning of the sentence. Place a comma after each introductory word, phrase, or clause. Eventually, she had to admit that he was the better classical singer. In the introductory speech, the philosopher appears to be a scholar of the topic. Whenever I get a break from my busy schedule, I go to my mother’s apartment to relax. Use comma: ·         To join the items on a list: They own a cat, a dog, two rabbits, and six mice ·         After certain adverbs: Commas are always used to set off certain adverbs at the beginning of a sentence, including, however, in fact, therefore, nevertheless, moreover, furthermore, and still. If these adverbs appear in the middle of a sentence, they are followed and preceded by a comma. (can be preceded by a semicolon) Using commas to offset certain adverbs is optional, including then, so, yet, instead, and too. Ex-So, that’s it for this rule. or So that’s it for this rule. ·         Parenthetical phrases Commas are often used to enclose parenthetical words and phrases within a sentence (i.e., information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence). Ex- M S Dhoni, Cricket Captain of India, hit the ball to score a six. ·         Between Adjectives ·         Before quotes ·         In dates (only when it is written in month day format) Ex- January 21, 2013 ·         In Numbers: Ex- In representing large numbers, English texts usually use commas to separate each group of three digits. (numbers of 5 or more digits) ·         In names: Commas are used when writing names where a surname is presented first: Smith, John. They are also used before many titles that follow a name: John Smith, Ph.D. ·         As an ellipsis: ·         Commas may be used to indicate that a word has been omitted, as in The cat was white; the dog, brown. (Here the comma replaces was.) to set off a direct address: Vijay, will you please close the door? ·         The same rule applies when you replace the name with a word which defines the relationship. Darling, will you marry me? Doctor, Is everything fine? ·         Place a comma before and after the name of a state when you name a city and state in a sentence. ·         If you include a full address in a sentence, place a comma between each part of the address except for the zip code. No commas should be placed either before or after the zip code.  ·         Place a comma before the coordinating conjunction when you combine two independent clauses into a single sentence. Ex- Neha studies very hard, but she still gets poor grades in English. ·         Place a comma after but not before a dependent clause. Ex- Dependent clause, Independent clause Independent clause Dependent clause ·         Comma is always placed between the speaker and the direct quote. ·         Place a comma where a pause is required in order to avoid misreading. Apostrophe (‘)   Apostrophes are used to show possession and omission. 1. Used to show possession: Possession means ownership. When you want to indicate that an object or a trait belongs to or is an attribute of someone or something, you use an apostrophe. Where you place the apostrophe depends on whether the possessive noun or pronoun is singular or plural. To form the possessive of a singular noun, add an apostrophe and an s. o   Tree’s leaf 2.    To form the possessive of a singular proper noun, add an apostrophe and an s, even if the proper noun already ends in s: o   Doll owned by Sita – Sita’s doll, Jesus’s love To form the possessive of a plural noun that already ends in s, add only an apostrophe: The officials’ decision–(the decision was made by a group of officials) To form the possessive of a plural proper noun, add only an apostrophe: The Indians‘ protest To form the possessive of an irregular plural noun that does not end in s add an apostrophe and an s: Children’s bag Forming Possessive Compound Nouns If ownership is separate, make each noun possessive by adding the appropriate apostrophe or an apostrophe and an s: During Dussehra break, I’ll be staying at my brother‘s and my sister‘s houses. The brother and sister separately own separate houses.  If ownership is shared, make only the final noun possessive: Every year, I visit my mom and dad‘s winter cottage and summer house. Mom and dad jointly own both residences.  3.Used to show contractions of words: Use an apostrophe in place of omitted letters in contractions: o   It is so hot today – It’s so hot today o   I have not done my homework – I haven’t done my homework Use an apostrophe to indicate omissions in dates and expressions. 80’s, the class of ‘36, singing ‘n’ dancing The most common apostrophe error is using the apostrophe when what you really want is a plural noun rather than a possessive one. Let’s take examples to illustrate the usage:- The hares burrows You have hares and you have burrows, but you don’t know the relationship between them. The hare’s burrowone hare has one burrow. The hare’s burrowsnow one hare has multiple burrows. The hares’ burrowMultiple hares is sharing one burrow. The hares’ burrowsLots of hares have lots of burrows. Don’t use an apostrophe with personal pronouns. Ex- yours, theirs Know to differentiate between possession and contraction Ex- it’s and its. It’s is ‘It is’ while its is possession Proper use of these punctuation marks can help the writer to bring the actual essence that he wants to convey through his writing.

  This guest post is from Raksha Pradeep, Director of Information Developers, New Delhi, holds a Masters Degree in Business management in Human Resource, Mumbai University.Apart from her services in corporate sector she is also involved with various reputed institutes as visiting/ guest faculty for Business Communication.     Redundancy has a different meaning in a different arena but narrowing the definition to linguistics we can say that it is the superfluity of words in a sentence or the use of words or data that could be omitted without loss of meaning or function. Being verbose in your expression doesn’t mean that a person is an efficient writer but, to express everything in a concise form without letting the facts ignored makes the listener or the reader alert and glued to the topic. We often come across the situations where we see people lacking interest in the subject though it may be interesting just because of repetition of the ideas or opinions. Sometimes to emphasize one’s point of view people use unnecessary adjectives or adverbs but while writing as a professional we should avoid redundancy. Though the list never ends, some common redundancy errors and the techniques to avoid them are cited here:- Eliminate unnecessary adverbs: “I truly believe you.” Instead, we can say “I believe you” It doesn’t change the fact what we want to convey.  For example- really, truly, extremely, very, quite, severely, these words often lead to redundancy errors if not used properly. Replace or eliminate meaningless adjectives:- “He is a good runner who runs fast” instead we can say “He is a fast runner”. Adjectives such as good, nice, bad, okay, important, significant may add to redundancy mistakes. Writing concise sentences: Writing short and simple sentences is an effective way to reduce redundancy errors. It also helps the reader to understand clearly what the writing is exactly about. Avoid expletive constructions:- “There is/are”, “It is” these are some of the phrases which usually are unnecessarily used by the writers making the sentence superfluous. For example:  “There are over five thousand people listening to him” instead it can be said, “Over five thousand people are listening to him.” Avoid repeating yourself in the following sentences:- “Ram is an intelligent boy. Ram scored highest in the final examination. Teachers often praise Ram.” We can replace Ram by he/him in the following sentences without snatching the meaning of the paragraph. Trimming the fat:- Using a set of words instead of one: These are the most common redundancy errors we make while communicating with others. We should know how to trim the fat and make the sentence more concise. Few examples are listed below:- At the present time-                       Now Due to the fact that-                       Because 12 midnight-                                     Midnight In my opinion, I believe-                 I believe In the event that-                             If In spite of the fact that-                 Although In the vicinity of-                              Near Until such time as-                           Until Redundancy is mostly overlooked while writing but, when it comes to professional writing it should be taken care of because it’s not the literature or language the reader is looking out for but the content and the facts embedded in it. If you are interested in learning complete RoboHelp, Framemaker, Madcap Flair, MS VISIO, Captivate, SnagIt, Business writing, Technical writing at Noida, NCR, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad visit www.informationdevelopers.in. For the latest update, you can also like our LinkedIn page.  

In an initiative to encourage ADID Alumni and other technical writers to share technical writing knowledge, ADID invited Neha Srivastava to share her understanding on the documentation development life cycle and she comes up with well-knit and researched post. You can write to her or post a comment to ask anything dropping from your mind on DDLC. Introduction to Document Development Life Cycle The Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC) is the process of developing documents. It is necessary to follow DDLC to enhance the quality and optimize timely delivery of the document. The Document Development Life Cycle is mainly comprised of steps which are given below, it can vary company or project-wise also:            Requirement Analysis            Designing            Developing the Content            Editing/ Proofreading            Publishing            Maintenance  Requirement Analysis During the Requirement Analysis process we gather the information of the product from SMEs, available documents, online search etc. We analyze the criteria of producing the product according to the audience. In Audience analysis, we analyze who will use this product, what is the need of creating the product, and measures of skill and expertise of the audience etc. We also figure out what tools we are going to use like RoboHelp, Framemaker etc.  By understanding the product requirement, we can easily estimate the time, resources and cost of the product. Designing In Designing phase, we design the document we create templates, master page etc.We take approval of design like fonts size and style, list, table, numbering and look and feel approval is taken from concern person.  Developing the Content We develop the content according to the product features and requirement. We analyze the product, run the product and write the draft according to the product. We create user manual, user guide, reports, and online help etc. We add a title, copyright, content, index, glossary, and appendix etc in the manual.This is actual content development phase.  Editing/ Proofreading Editing is the process in which we test the creating project according to the requirement, and product features. We check the first draft through Technical Writer-editor, peer review or the technical review etc. In this phase, we check the technical part, grammar mistakes, figures, and format etc. Proofreading is the final testing of the project by checking proper layout, style and grammar mistakes etc. In this phase, we check the draft entirely. Our main purpose is to remove the bug from the draft, so that document is clear and understandable.To read more on proofreading click here.  Publishing In this phase, we publish the document as online help, and print document etc. Print documents are the hard copy in which all the content may be in long sentences or paragraph, and screenshots. In online help, we add hyperlinks, and content is in short sentences. These documents are useful to end users to determine the exact use of the product.  Maintenance Maintenance is the process in which we add updates, create versions after modification in the project. When a new product comes into the market, the user manual is updated according to the added new feature. Companies also spend cost in creating Support Centers for enhancing user satisfaction.

Technical Writing Course/Training Delhi (NCR), Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad Welcome, Information Developers Foundation is a premier Technical writing training institute not only in Bangalore but our students are from Delhi NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, and other parts of the globe. Technical writing is a fast growing sector in India and abroad. It creates the need for professionals delivering quality information.  If you have the desire to make big in industries like IT, Pharmaceutical, Telecom, Aerospace etc. this course is designed for you.  If you want to know about the technical writing we highly recommend you to read our “How to become a technical writer- Step-by-Step Guide“. In this guide, we have discussed almost all the questions spilling from the mind of someone who wants to know about technical writing? It is a comprehensive step by step guide. We have written the similar Definitive guide for the content writers and Business Communication. Career growth, the job opening is similar to software developers and engineers. For salary survey of technical writer 2012 click here  The salary survey of Technical writers 2017. Information Developers Foundation is a premier institute of online technical writing in Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad offering Diploma in Technical Communication and along with many other customized courses like Content writing and Blogging.    Information Developers Foundation (IDF) is pleased to announce its  Highly paid accelerated Technical writing program commencing every first Sunday of the month. Visit our Technical writing Training page for more details.  Who Can Apply: ·         Graduates/BE/MBA/Diploma ·         Professional with good English and computer knowledge. Our success rate is approx 100% just because our training method is inspired by corporate and by training industries. Our technical writing syllabus is the most advanced in the industry and the whole course is imparted by corporate mentor Rahul Karn. Apart from the course we also help our students to shine resume, prepare for the interview, and provide complete tips and tricks to outperform in the job interviews. Do you want to know what you should do before a foray into technical writing? To know more about course content, admission procedure contact us at- 07840841999 or log on to http://informationdevelopers.in/  

How To Estimate  Time For Technical Writing Projects? Estimating time for a technical writing project is an art or craft that I do not know but surely it is one of the significant and core skill, yet most of the technical communicator find it one of the most daunting tasks because it relies on many conflicting, delicate and external factors. Why estimate time? Either you are a freelance or permanent employee if you can effectively estimate the time commitment required to complete a project, you can safely meet your clients’ needs while maintaining balance in your schedule. If you can’t do this, you won’t know how much to charge for your work or how to best schedule your time and wind up costing you time and money. Unfortunately, it is difficult but essential. With the spirit of sharing, I thought to post a few tips on what to consider while estimating time for the technical writing project. Nothing revolutionary. There are many sites and resources available, but it is difficult to say what is the exact method, probably that’s why it is an estimation. End of the day, it will be your experience which will make you the guru of this gyan.   Pre Kick-off meeting preparation time is important for freelancers to take into consideration. You can also consider the time required in preparing of the quote, MOU, negotiation time, preparation of the agreement. Know what you have to estimate before estimating you should be familiar with what you are giving estimation because sometimes documenting one menu may take one hour and sometimes it may run in many hours. Knowing the scope is the most vital part of the estimation. So do not forget to allocate time for meetings to evaluate project details. To conduct information-gathering meeting is essential for estimating, raise questions until you are sure you understand the application. It should be a red flag if a client or developer is not willing to define the project for you. Try to understand the difficulty of the project during your research. Have you worked in this domain earlier? Is it a simple topic or complicated? Do you know and have the knowledge of the tools which are required to complete the project. Give yourself permission to have a greater learning curve than for projects similar to your past work. Check the availability of the finished project, specification requirement docs, and other information availability? Also, find any existing document you have to update, or you have to do it from scratch, Are templates ready or you have to create? These are the small things you should consider before estimating actual writing time. Guestimate time for actual work-After understanding the complexity of the project and knowing the real number of windows and menu option make a high-level view of topics now you can guesstimate the actual time you will take to write. Keep in mind apart from the actual flow you have to write an index, appendices, and many definition and introduction. Also keep time for graphics, formatting, editing, and self-proofreading and generating output. Revision-Make it clear in advance with the client about the number of revisions the client keeps changing his or her mind or code allot time for each round. This avoids the endless cycle of minute detail changes that end up adding hours and hours to your total time commitment Buffer-This time cushion you when the unknown problem suddenly emerges like delay in getting feedback, hardware or software problem or your guesstimate deviate from the path, Extraneous Hours-This time is important when you have a very demanding client who needs you to revolve around them answering call writing emails remember all these takes time To learn more concepts of Freelancing visit www.informationdevelopers.in

Who is the proofreader? To understand the proofreading tips, let us know who is the proofreader? The proofreader combs through the work looking for any inappropriateness. These include punctuation, spelling, spaces, alignment, type font and style, and other minutiae. This can involve comparing the final copy with the final trail print. Technical writers and Self-proofreading Proofreading is one of the important skill technical writers must possess to excel in their profession. A good writer with self-proofreading ability are able to churn out accurate, clear, concise, flawless and logically structured document, it’s imperative that you review each word to check for typos, mistakes, context, and tone. Those little details really do matter! In several projects I had worked as a single writer or freelancer with no peer or editor around, in fact in my current project also I am the sole contributor and in that scenario, I have to proofread my own work, this is when I felt the need of good self-proofreading skill. So did some homework on proofreading and here is the weblog of it. I asked my friends on LinkedIn Information Developers group and I got some great tips thanks to Altaf Ahmed, San Xu, Carlos and Kranthi Kumar Kandagatla for their insight.  To find out errors, you must know the type of errors that you do commonly. In this post, my main focus is on some common mistakes and methods to reduce them by self-proofing. Please also keep in the mind there is a difference between editing and proofreading. It is said that we should not do together, but I believe if you have the ability to do it together please go ahead. The first step I think is you should have a checklist of commonly made mistakes and make sure you do not repeat it again 🙂 Go ahead make a checklist. Few entries for checklist currently spilling out from my mind are: Spelling mistakes Incorrect data Incorrect or inconsistent capitalization Incorrect Numbering and Heading Incorrectly spelled names Non-agreement of subject and verb Use of passive voice Incorrect punctuation Incorrect Referencing of illustrations Incorrect header and footer Reversed numbers like 459 to 495 Sound similar but have different meanings for words (e.g., except/accept, palette/palate, intense/intensive). Wrong use of apostrophes Check Cross-references Style Guide compliance mistakes. (Mistakes in Fonts, Images, Tables etc) Incorrect Index Now you have a checklist available, but how to find your own writing errors which often occurs just when stress levels are highest and time shortest, writers minds resist identifying them as errors. Under these conditions, you will see only what they want to see because we are often blind to our own mistakes? Few popular and easy steps which work wonder to many will surely work for you as well. Allow some time to pass. This is one of the tips which is common to all who responded on Linkedin. Put the work aside for a few days or weeks before beginning the proofreading process. Read out loud to yourself. This is one of the wonderful tools, try it, you can find your many grammatical mistakes. Reading out loud will help catch missing words. It’s also helpful for determining whether a piece lacks clarity or if phrasing doesn’t sound quite right. Spell checks this. Spell check your document, the spell checker can do some wonder like: Identify misspelled words Find double occurrences of words Identify double capital letters at the beginning of a word Identify when a small letter precedes a capital letter Accommodate additions to the dictionary of unusual words you commonly use Beware spell check  also cannot do many things, Like Find typographical errors that appear to be correct (horrible instead of honorable, be long instead of belong ) Point out grammatical errors (their instead of they’re, its instead of it’s ) Identify poor sentence sense and syntax Check all the links and cross references-Click on all the links and cross-references manually, see if they navigate to the proper location and not broken. Backward to forward-Start with the last paragraph first. Because you’re reading it out of order, you’re more likely to spot the typos and spelling mistakes Pause before you press Send- Take a long pause before sending the final draft, a pause can vary from hours to days.  Avoid distraction– I personally like to proofread my work without any distraction, you can use a quiet location or earphones, the choice is yours. Proofread print-This is not eco-friendly and little expensive method as well but one of my close to heart method. A print version is also handy for making notes with a pen, crossing out excess verbiage, and changing vocabulary prior to implementing the corrections in a final version. Illustration/Screen check-Make sure you have used correct images and screenshots. —————————————————————— Response from LinkedIn Information Developers Group Altaf Ahmed • If you meant proofreading of our own work, for errors and bugs in our documents, then I would mention one method that I have learned from one of my projects. We can do a complete scan of the document for only spell checking, and then repeat the quick scan each time for checking graphics, links, grammar check etc. Though this looks to be a tedious and time-consuming process, however, can provide thorough results with correction of even minute undetected errors. San Xu • I always think it is best to allow some time between your writing and your proofreading. I proofread in soft copy. I admit though, that hard copies are more effective than soft copies if the writing contains MANY mistakes – this conclusion is drawn from my past experience as an editor. Kranthi Kumar Kandagatla • I agree to San. A fresh mind works efficiently for proofreading. I always take a day off after I complete a project. Come next day for proofreading. I prefer soft copy. Carlos Mills, • I also keep a list of commonly misspelt words to run a quick search/replace to save editing time. As we all agree, the writer should take some