Ever wondered how some blogs appear on Google News and others don’t? Ever wanted to get your site on Google News. Google has published guidelines explaining how the process works. Do it right and you might be indexed. If you’d like a site to be included in Google News, you can also send them the [...]
Entries Tagged as 'guidelines'
Google News: How to Get Your Blog Indexed
February 21st, 2010 · View Comments · Google
Tags:blogging·google·guidelines·index·News·Sitemap·social media
How do you Manage Extremely Negative Comments on your Blog?
January 17th, 2010 · Comments Off · How To, Tips
I need your advice. Someone has left a fairly negative comment on my blog. What should I do? Approve or Delete? The reason I ask is this. I want people to give their opinion and, even if it offends me in some ways—let’s say they made some sarcastic remarks or found a typo—I’d still approve [...]
Tags:blogging·Feedback·guidelines
Detox your Technical Documents; put your Words on a Diet
October 24th, 2009 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
Goethe once wrote to a friend, “If I had more time, I’d have sent you a shorter letter.” Here’s why.
Tags:Cliches. Jargon·Grammar·guidelines·Style Guide·Technical Documents·Technical Editing
Why Users Want Familiar Web Design and User Interfaces
October 13th, 2009 · Comments Off · How To
Jakob Nielsen warns us that users hate change. He recommends that “it’s best to stay with a familiar design and evolve it gradually. In the long run, however, incrementalism eventually destroys cohesiveness, calling for a new UI architecture. ” You often hear design team members (or their management) say, “We need a fresh design.” This [...]
Tags:Application Design·Design·Dialog box·guidelines·Jakob Nielsen·microsoft·Microsoft Excel·Microsoft Office·Microsoft Word·Office Suites·Usability·user interface·Word
How To Mind Your Grammar On The Web
October 3rd, 2009 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
Ben Parr (Mashable) asks: “Say your project manager comes to you with his proposal that will be going out to investors, business partners, and potential clients. Then you find that your manager has used “4” instead of “four”, “r” instead of “are”, and abbreviations such as lol, atm, and idk. How would you react? “
Tags:Arts·Business·Business Writing·Facebook·Grammar·guidelines·Jargon·Mashable·Social network·Style Guide·Technical·Technical Writing·TLA·Twitter·writing
How much information should I put into a Business Process Template?
June 15th, 2009 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
I’ve been developing a template for the business analysts at my client since Friday and have hit the proverbial brick wall. Here is the problem. The Business Process template will be used by the analysts to capture how the processes work when onsite. Ok, that’s fine. The problem started when I showed them the first draft.
There wasn’t time for a requirements gathering session so I’m ‘guestimating’ what they want. Not an ideal situation but that’s how it is sometimes.
Tags:Business·download·guidelines·process·Sample·template·Templates
How to write guidelines for Twitter?
June 14th, 2009 · Comments Off · How To
I’ve been asked to prepare a set of guidelines for Twitter by a company I used to work for in Sacramento. They’re a well-established financial services firm and are struggling to get a handle on how best to approach this. What’s the balance between allowing employees to use it as their discretion while also protecting the company from legal issues and other possible negative fallout if/when an employee rants or discusses company business on Twitter? I should stress that they want their employees to use Twitter (within reason) but are a bit nervous. Remember they want to create guidelines – not rules.
Tags:guidelines·How To·Twitter
The Chicago Manual of Style Online Just Got Better!
June 12th, 2009 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
What’s the best style guide to use? I use Microsoft’s technical publications guide for my technical documents but have started to use The Chicago Manual of Style online. It’s been a while since I visited the site and there has been some very nice features added. Like the site says: Welcome to The Chicago Manual of Style Online—the indispensable online reference for all who work with words. For professional writers, book-mark this!
How to Choose The Right Style Guide: Dos and Donts
January 15th, 2006 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
I’m setting up a Publications Dept. for a Financial Services company. What is the best style guide to encourage the staff to use? Ivan – The benefit of adopting a style guide is that it puts guidelines in place to ensure consistency across all documents that go out the door. Style guides don’t make poor writers better, but they certainly are a step in the right direction!
Tags:Documents·Format·Grammar·guidelines·interview·MS Word·Productivity·Sample·Style Guide·Styles·Table of Contents·Technical·Writers
What guidelines can you offer when interviewing writers?
January 15th, 2006 · Comments Off · Technical Writing, Tips
What guidelines can you offer when interviewing writers? Ivan – I’ve worked on both sides on the fence in the past, (i.e. interviewed and been interviewed) and picked up a few things in the process. Hopefully, these will be of some help. How much time should be allotted to complete the test? I’d suggest one [...]
Tags:Format·Grammar·guidelines·interview·MS Word·Productivity·Sample·Style Guide·Styles·Table of Contents
Table of Contents is not displayed in MS Word
January 15th, 2006 · Comments Off · Technical Writing, Tips
In Word, the Table of Contents is not displayed. Instead, I get an error message: { TOC\O “2-4″\H \Z \T “HEADING 1,1″} Ivan – I think the problem is to do with Field Codes, so here’s a few suggestions. 1. In Word, go to Tools > Options > View tab and click off Field Codes [...]
Tags:Format·Grammar·guidelines·interview·MS Word·Productivity·Sample·Style Guide·Styles·Table of Contents
Using Microsoft Word to Create Large Documents – Lesson 1
January 15th, 2006 · Comments Off · Technical Writing, Tips
I’m often asked to give pointers on working with large docs in Microsoft Word? Ivan – The main issues with creating long docs in Word tend to involve formatting, styles, graphics, tables, and bullets. Formatting — cutting/pasting material directly from one file into another is best avoided as this will bring unwanted styles in the [...]
Tags:Format·Grammar·guidelines·interview·MS Word·Productivity·Sample·Style Guide·Styles·Table of Contents
Age Discrimination in the IT Industry
January 1st, 2006 · Comments Off · Technical Writing, Tips
Age Discrimination in the IT Industry I receive about 20 CVs every month from writers looking to either supplement their income as freelancers or look for new opportunities in the tech writing field. A common thread among many of these letters is from individuals who are finding it increasingly difficult to increase their [...]
Tags:Format·Grammar·guidelines·interview·MS Word·Productivity·Sample·Style Guide·Styles·Table of Contents
