An FAQ is a list of frequently asked questions about a product or a service. They can be found on websites, occupy special forum sections, or be part of an online documentation portal. Fun fact - an FAQ section doesn’t necessarily cover questions that are frequently asked.

It can be just any descriptive or technical text written in the question-answer format. According to Wikipedia, we can trace back the origin of FAQs to the 17th century, or even earlier. No wonder - Q&A is a convenient way to deliver information to readers.

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What makes people cringe when reading technical articles? Typos would be the most common answer, I think, along with any small inconsistencies that make a text look unprofessional and untrustworthy.

Proofreading is supposed to filter out such things. However, we are only humans, and a proofreader can make mistakes, too. But, how to make this a controlled process and improve its quality? Let's figure this out!

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Technical documents can contain different data, and numbers can be often spotted there. Especially when we are talking about reports and scientific articles.

Since every detail in technical writing is important, understanding the ground rules of using numbers in user manuals is vital. Also, numbers come in various types, and each has specific best practices - this is exactly what we are going to cover today.

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When you are starting a new documentation project, you might be looking for guidance. So, in this post, you will find a user manual template that works best for software documentation. The provided guidelines can be applied to other types of user manuals, as well.

Without further ado, a software user manual template you can follow through to produce a high-quality technical document from scratch.

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After composing a tech writing portfolio, the next logical step is actually making it available for future employers.
Let's study popular ways of storing tech writing portfolios and test them against the most important criteria.

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If you are reading this, there’s a high chance you are a technical writer experiencing signs of burnout and willing to do something about it. Let’s first define what burnout is by singling out some of the red flags you should pay attention to.

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How can one make sure that their project, a software project, for instance, is going to be a success? No one will give you a recipe that works 100% of the time, but there are ways to increase the chances.

Before the actual development starts, technical specifications should be established. How will this help? Well, such specs will help draw up a detailed 3D model of your future project, and that will enable you to avoid a lot of mistakes and catch inconsistencies.

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There’s always something to improve in any given help writing process. This post will help you learn how to improve software manuals creation. Software documentation is similar to many other help writing projects, but it has its unique features. Take a look at the following tips to step up your game.

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Technical writers are the people behind orchestrating a flawless user experience alongside other teams. This sounds like a lot of responsibility for tech writers to handle! They need to make sure that everything is documented, that no mistakes crept in, that all info is coherent and easy to find, and everything is up-to-date.

Knowing that such a big chunk of user experience depends on your actions is enough to cause anxiety and stress levels to increase. Hang on in there, here are some tips to help you fight off this nasty failure anxiety!

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Technical writers can help with many business-related things to make a company successful. For one, they create internal documentation, like process documentation, that keeps everything together. They can write whitepapers, memos, develop educational materials, etc.

Today we are going to talk about yet another type of technical documentation - a request for proposal.

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Giving names to images/sections/help topics is something tech writers do a lot. To find just the right name is important - this is what defines an object. Understandably, certain guidelines exist for the file naming process. When you work on many projects, you will have to come up with a kind of style guide for naming files. Otherwise, it will become a mess very soon.

Let’s take a look at some recommendations for naming files that will help you keep documentation projects organized.

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Before the Internet became our closest companion, following us wherever we go, security felt simpler - just turn the Internet off, and you will feel safer.

But today, cybersecurity needs a strong voice. This is how cybersecurity technical writers came to be. People needed this open communication so that they could rest assured their data is safe. The techcomm specialists who are writing about security are hired to create manuals, reports and process documentation, and other types of technical documentation.

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This is the era of SaaS. The idea of software has changed a lot for the past I'd say ten years. This means that technical writers in the IT industry were pushed to change, too.

Let's take a look at what changed in the technical writing process when the world moved to SaaS.

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Robots are often described as some kind of intruders in fiction books, movies, and games. They are soulless creatures that were invented by humans with the best intentions in mind, but it rarely ends well. If there’s no apocalypse, then there’s the robots-taking-our-jobs idea.

Let’s take a look at what is going on in techcomm. And, really, can a robot write technical documentation?

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Being a technical writer means getting writing tasks from other departments, not only your manager. It's not like you don't have enough on your plate already, but since you are really good at creating documentation, helping other teams out seems only natural.

How do you deal with all these tasks and stay on top of your game? Well, there are ways! Keep reading to learn what they are.

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A knowledge base (KB) is a brilliant source of information for users. That is an excellent repository - store, share, and organize the information the way you want and need.

In fact, building a KB is not a super difficult task if you have the right tool at hand. What should you pay attention to while creating a knowledge base to make it informative and efficient? This post will tell you!

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Best Tips to Create Valuable Software Documentation

One of the most common things users say about technical documentation is that it describes the information they already know. This fact reduces the value of the content to the minimum.

Nowadays, the content telling simply how to press the buttons is outdated. What users are looking for is support in their decision-making process. It means that technical documentation needs a more complex approach.

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Should You Restrict Access to Your Online User Guides?

Implementing password-protected user guides is something that any company may need. You may ask why someone would need to hide their online user documentation behind a login page?

Should an employee handbook or policy and procedure manual be public? Definitely, not. They are not meant for public use. That’s when limited access to documentation is required.

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Looking Back on 2020 with ClickHelp

Everyone and their brother didn’t say how hard this year has been. We decided to take a different approach and do some math instead. We calculated resources, blog posts, and ebooks to give you some curious facts and food for thought.

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