ITauthor

How to apply syntax highlighting to code snippets in MadCap Flare. The anonymous blogger at kungfuwit.wordpress.com describes how to use the SHJS (Syntax Highlighting for JavaScript) resources to make code snippets easier to digest, and easier on the eye. My documentation rarely ever contains code, but it's the kind of thing that may come in useful one of these days. Note: He/she says this doesn't work in WebHelp - only for .chm - but there's a workaround I'll blog myself when I get some time.

PDF Manuals: The Wrong Paradigm for an Online Experience. Mike Hughes questions the value of preparing PDF manual for people to read on screen. My experience is that there is still a lot of pressure on us to produce print-formatted manuals, even if they rarely get printed. Hughes writes: “Users want hard copy. So, we should give them hard copy.” “Too expensive” is the rationale, “Users won’t pay for hardcopy.” Then, the real truth is users don’t value hard copy.

How To Disassemble a Toilet In Many Easy Steps. I stumbled upon this and - as someone who has to write sober, humourless procedural steps - I found it a lot of fun. For example, step 23: Pick up one of the cut-off nuts. Seconds later, drop it because it is hot like the sun. When you leave the bathroom to get some ice to put on your burn, tell your significant other that you touched it “by accident”.