📄 Tech datasheets that actually get read? Yes, please.

Hey tech writers! 👋

Let’s talk datasheets. You know, those docs that are supposed to explain your product... but often end up as a wall of jargon no one wants to touch?

Yeah. Those.

Here’s the harsh truth:
Most datasheets are written for internal ego, not external users.

Too many buzzwords.
Too little clarity.
Zero empathy.

Let’s fix that.

Here’s what separates a good datasheet from a “meh” one:

✅ Clear, punchy summary at the top
✅ Actual benefits, not vague claims
✅ Tables, visuals, specs — clean and scannable
✅ Real-world use cases
✅ A tone that talks to humans, not robots

If your datasheet makes the reader go “so what?” — rewrite it.

We put together a full breakdown on how to create technical datasheets that don’t just inform — they convert.

📌 Read the guide

Hey tech writers! 👋

Let’s be honest — we’ve all seen “beginner-friendly” help topics that feel more like puzzles.

The product team says it’s easy.
The doc makes sense to insiders.
But a new user clicks in... and gets lost by Step 2.

🧠 Writing for beginners is tough.
It’s not about oversimplifying — it’s about clarity, empathy, and pacing.

Here’s what really works:

✅ Use plain language (no insider jargon)
✅ Start from zero context
✅ One task per topic — no info overload
✅ Add visuals where it helps
✅ Test with actual beginners — not the dev team

When help topics are clear, focused, and human — onboarding gets faster, support tickets go down, and users feel confident.

We’ve put together a practical guide on writing help topics that beginners will actually understand and appreciate.

📘 Read it here

🧭 If your docs don’t have a solid TOC — they’re basically a maze

Hey folks! 👋

Let’s get something straight: a Table of Contents isn’t just a “nice to have.”
It’s the GPS of your documentation.
Without it, readers wander. They guess.
They Ctrl+F in panic.
They give up.
You don’t want that.
A great TOC:
✅ Gives instant clarity — “where am I and what’s here?”
✅ Shows structure and logic
✅ Encourages scanning before reading
✅ Helps users trust your content
And no, it’s not just for long docs or manuals.
Even short content benefits from a clean, helpful TOC.
We broke down how to build TOCs that work — with examples, common mistakes, and tips that go beyond “just list the headings.”

📘 Check it out here

🥶 Change feels like chaos — until you see the pattern

Hey there! 👋

Rolling out a new tool or workflow across a team?
It should be exciting. But too often, it turns into pushback, confusion, and radio silence.

We've seen it happen many times — even with great solutions.
People resist. Or they smile, nod… and go right back to the old way.

That’s because change doesn’t happen just by announcing it.
It needs a structure.

One of the simplest (and most effective) frameworks for this is Lewin’s Change Model:

📌Unfreeze — help people let go of the old habits
📌Change — introduce the new way, with support
📌Refreeze — make the change stick

It’s not about forcing adoption.
It’s about creating an environment where change feels natural — even welcome.

We put together a practical breakdown of Lewin’s model, with real-world context for documentation teams, tool migrations, and internal process updates.

📖 Give it a read

📉 The fall of STC — or a wake-up call for tech writers?

Hey tech writers 👋
Something big is happening in our field — and not everyone’s ready to talk about it.

The Society for Technical Communication (STC) — once the beating heart of the profession — is fading. Fewer members. Less relevance. Events no one talks about anymore.

But this isn’t just about STC.
It’s about all of us.

🧭 What happens when a professional community loses its voice?
Who do we turn to for standards, support, growth?
And… do we even want gatekeepers anymore?

The industry is changing — fast.
Distributed teams. New tools. AI everywhere.
Technical writers are becoming content designers, UX strategists, docOps engineers.

The question is: are we leading that change, or watching it happen from the sidelines?

We wrote a post about the crossroads our profession is facing — and where things might go next.

📖 Read it here

📋 Everyone talks about planning. Few actually do it.

Hey folks 👋

Let’s talk about documentation management plans.
Yep, those things everyone says are “important”… but never seem to write down.

Until something breaks.
— Docs go out of sync
— Contributors step on each other’s toes
— Reviews get skipped
— No one knows who owns what
Sound familiar?

A proper Documentation Management Plan sounds like a formality. But it’s really your survival kit.
Here’s what it should include (at minimum):
✅ Roles and responsibilities
✅ Workflow and publishing rules
✅ Versioning strategy
✅ Review and approval process
✅ Tools and integrations
✅ Maintenance plan (yes, even post-release)

We put together a practical guide on how to create one — simple, no fluff, and based on what actually works for tech writing teams.

📖 Read the article here

📚 Great documentation guides don’t just inform — they guide.

Hey there 👋
Let’s talk about something that seems simple... until you try writing one:

📖 A documentation guide.

You want to help users.
You know your product.
But somehow, the final doc feels... meh.

Too vague. Too wordy. Too many assumptions.

The truth is: good guides are crafted, not dumped out of your brain.

Here’s what sets strong documentation guides apart:

✅ Clear purpose — who is this for, and what will they achieve?
✅ Logical flow — each section builds on the last
✅ Friendly, actionable tone — not corporate fog
✅ Examples, not just theory
✅ Visuals that clarify, not clutter

💡 Bonus tip: If readers still ask the same questions after reading your guide — rewrite it.

We put together a full article on how to create guides that are helpful, readable, and actually get used (instead of ignored).

📖 Read it here

User assistance doesn’t have to be boring

Hey there! 👋

Let’s be honest — most user guides feel like they were written by robots. For robots. On a deadline.
Dry. Overcomplicated. Forgettable.
But what if your docs could actually be... engaging?
Not fluffy. Not cutesy. Just clear, helpful, and human.

Here’s what we’ve learned from working with thousands of help authors:
✨ The most effective user assistance:
— Speaks your user’s language
— Anticipates confusion before it happens
— Offers visuals (not just walls of text)
— Feels like a friendly nudge, not a lecture
Whether you’re writing onboarding flows, tooltips, or full-blown manuals — tone matters. So do layout, timing, and how you guide users through the “ugh, what now?” moments.

We’ve collected the best practices that actually move the needle — and make users go “Oh, that’s helpful!” instead of closing the tab.

📌 Full post here

📘 Most product manuals are a mess. Yours doesn’t have to be.

Hey folks! 👋

We’ve all seen them: 100-page PDFs no one reads. Manuals that answer everything… except what the user actually needs.
The truth? A good product manual can be a superpower.
It can reduce support load, build trust, and make users feel like pros.
But only if it’s written right.

Here’s what separates a real manual from a glorified feature dump:
✅ Start with the user’s journey — not the UI
✅ Clear structure: intro, use cases, troubleshooting
✅ Step-by-step guides with visuals (no walls of text!)
✅ Consistent tone that’s friendly, not robotic
✅ Easy navigation — nobody wants to scroll for hours
💡 Bonus tip: treat your manual like a living product. Review. Update. Get feedback. Repeat.

We just dropped The Ultimate Guide to Your Product Manual — it’s packed with structure tips, real examples, and a checklist to make your manual actually helpful.

📖 Grab it here

🛠 Your team’s docs deserve better than endless email threads

Hey, doc warriors! 👋

We all know that sinking feeling:
You’re trying to finalize a doc...
…but there are 20 email threads, 3 versions floating around, and no one knows what’s final.
💥 It doesn’t have to be this way.

Modern doc collaboration tools = fewer headaches and better teamwork.
Real-time editing, version history, comments in context — it’s like giving your docs superpowers.

We rounded up the best tools that’ll:
🔹 Save you from email hell
🔹 Keep your team in sync
🔹 Make collaboration actually fun
From big names to hidden gems — we’ve got you covered.

🔗 Check out our blog

📊 Let’s decode the SMOG Index (and why it matters for your docs)

Hey tech team! 👋

Ever felt like your documentation is a bit... dense? Like it’s only written for PhDs?
Here’s the deal:
If your docs are too hard to read, users won’t read them.
The SMOG Index is one of those simple-yet-powerful tools to fix that.

🧐 What’s SMOG, anyway?
It stands for Simple Measure of Gobbledygook — yeah, really!
It looks at the number of complex words (polysyllabic, three or more syllables) and estimates the years of education needed to read your content.

👉 The sweet spot? Aim for a SMOG grade level around 7–9 for most general audiences.
👉 Docs for developers or technical pros? 10–12 can be okay.
👉 Above 15? Ouch — you’re basically writing a thesis.
The article breaks it all down:
– How SMOG works
– Why it matters
– Tools to measure it
– Tips to bring your readability down (in a good way!)

🔗 Read the full guide here

🧠 Why your docs are stuck — and what to do about it
Hey folks! 👋

Let’s talk task management.
You’ve got Jira for devs.
Trello for marketing.
Asana for managers.
Notion for "everything else."
And your docs? Floating somewhere in between.
Result? Chaos.
Tasks fall through the cracks.
Writers miss updates.
Deadlines shift.
No one’s sure what’s done and what’s pending.
Sound familiar?

Here’s the kicker:
🧩 It’s not just about having a tool — it’s about picking one that actually fits your documentation workflow.

So what should you look for?
✅ Visibility into team workloads
✅ Smart priorities (not just due dates)
✅ Templates for recurring doc tasks
✅ Integration with your help authoring tool
✅ Automation — because why not?

We rounded up the best task management tools for tech writing teams and broke down how to choose one that works with you — not against you.

📌 Full article here

🤖 New ClickHelp features just dropped — and your docs just got smarter

Hey friends! 👋

Remember when documentation was something you wrote once and forgot?
That’s over.
Today your docs are active, dynamic, and used by teams and customers everyday.
They solve problems, reduce support tickets, and shape how your product is understood.
And now, they’re getting serious AI power — real tools that save time and deliver answers.

Here’s what’s new in ClickHelp:
🌐 ClickHelp AI Suite— all our AI features in one powerful add-on
💳 ClickHelp AI Points (CAPs) — one simple, transparent usage model
🧠AnswerGenius now part of a unified AI suite
🔍 Ask Your Docs (Beta) — talk to all of your content as a contributor
🌍 DeepL Integration — translate docs without leaving the platform

This isn’t just some AI label slapped on top.
It’s a thoughtful shift toward tools that actually help — fast, clear, and ready for real work.
✨ The June 2025 release marks the beginning — and there’s more coming.

🔗 Full breakdown here

🧠 Still managing projects in spreadsheets? It’s 2025, not 2005.

Hey folks! 👋

Be honest — how’s your project management setup looking these days?
👉 A dozen Excel files?
👉 A cluttered inbox?
👉 Random pings in chat saying “just checking on this”?
If any of this sounds familiar… yeah, we’ve been there.
And we know how fast things fall apart without a proper system.
💥 Deadlines slip.
💥 Team members are out of sync.
💥 Clients start asking uncomfortable questions.
Here’s the deal:
If your business runs on projects (and let’s be real — most do), then you need project management software. Not someday. Not “when we scale.” Now.
Why?
✅ Better visibility
✅ Easier collaboration
✅ Accountability without the micromanagement
✅ One source of truth for everyone involved
We broke it down in our new post — no fluff, just real talk on why PM tools are no longer “nice to have.”

📌 Read it here

📏 "Looks good to me" ≠ readable

👋 Hey folks! Quick question:
When was the last time you measured how readable your documentation is?
Not guessed. Not eyeballed. Actually checked with data?

Here’s the deal:
You might write in clear English. But if your text scores 45 on Flesch Reading Ease, most users won’t read past the first paragraph. Ouch.

🤯 Yep, that’s a thing — and there are actual metrics to prove it.

✨ The good news?
You don’t need to be a linguist to use them.
There are tools that’ll instantly analyze your content and give you scores for:
— Sentence complexity
— Word difficulty
— Reading time
— And overall clarity

📉 Numbers might sound dry, but the impact is very real:
Higher readability = fewer support tickets + happier users.

We put together a quick guide to the most common readability metrics (Flesch, Gunning Fog, Coleman-Liau, etc.) — how they work and how to actually use them to improve your docs.

🔗 Dive in here

👋 Hey tech friends!

Let’s talk about a new role that’s quietly becoming a big deal:
AI Documentation Specialist.
No, it’s not sci-fi.
And no, it’s not about prompting ChatGPT all day.
It’s about bridging the gap between fast-evolving AI products and the people who use them.

Imagine explaining:
– how a neural net handles user input
– how model updates affect outputs
– how to interpret hallucinations vs bugs
Hard? Yep.
But that’s why it matters.

✅ This role blends deep tech writing skills with product thinking, UX sensitivity, and basic AI literacy.
You don’t have to be a data scientist — but you do need to know how to make sense of messy, dynamic systems.

So how do you get there?
— Learn how AI tools work under the hood
— Get comfortable with ambiguity
— Talk to devs early and often
— Practice explaining complex stuff simply (but accurately!)
— Stay curious — this field moves fast

We broke it all down in a new article, with examples, tips, and what teams are looking for right now.

🔗 Read it here

🚀 Big news: the File Manager just leveled up in the New ClickHelp Release ✨

Hey folks 👋
Big news: our July 2025 update just dropped!
And it’s not just “bug fixes and improvements” (although we’ve got those too).

The July 2025 release brings a fully rebuilt File Manager to ClickHelp.
Whether you’re sorting images, attaching supporting files, or prepping release assets — everything’s faster, smoother, and waaay more intuitive. 💡

It’s all about saving time, reducing clicks, and letting you focus on what really matters: your content.

📌 Full breakdown here

🛠 20 Tools for tech docs — which one's your match?

Hey folks 👋

Let’s talk docs. Not the boring kind — the ones you actually want to write.
Because let’s be honest: Half the battle isn’t writing, it’s fighting your tool.
Too complex. Too clunky. Too "wait, where’s that setting again?"
So… we went on a hunt.

📌 The top 20 software documentation tools — tested, compared, and packed into one juicy list.
Some are built for speed.
Some are made for huge teams.
Some feel like Notion, others like a full-blown dev environment.

Here’s what you’ll find:
✅ Pros & cons
✅ Use cases (not every tool fits every team)
✅ Real alternatives to Confluence, RoboHelp, GitBook, and more

Whether you’re a solo tech writer or running docs across 7 product lines — there’s something here for you.

👇 Dive into the list and bookmark your next favorite tool

☁️ Public, Private, or Hybrid Cloud — What’s Right for You?

👋 Hey tech fam! Picking a cloud model isn’t just IT stuff — it’s strategy.

Quick rundown:

— Public = fast, cheap, zero infra pain. Great for startups & scale-ups.
— Private = control, security, compliance. Pricey, but worth it for sensitive data.
— Hybrid = mix of both. Flexible, efficient — but more to manage.

No silver bullet. Just what fits your team, your data, your budget.

We broke it all down (with real-world examples) in a fresh blog post. Super clear, zero fluff.

📎 Give it a read

🧭 Your Organization Has a Heartbeat — But Does It Have a Pulse Manual?

👋 Hey friends! Quick question — does your company actually use its Policy & Procedure Manual… or is it just collecting digital dust?

A good P&P Manual is your team’s operating system: clear rules, consistent processes, faster onboarding, fewer “Wait, how do we…?” moments.

Here’s how to make one that works:
✅ Keep it short & clear — no fluff
✅ Organize smart: intro → policies → procedures → glossary
✅ Go digital for instant updates
✅ Use version control & regular reviews
Done right, it’s not a relic — it’s your go-to tool for keeping things smooth and compliant.

📌 Read the full guide here

-- Ever found a “hidden” rule in your manual? Share below 👇