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Home > Workshops > Writing Revisable Manuals

Writing Revisable Manuals: Print and Online

This one-day workshop shows you how to prepare top-quality manuals for your organization quickly and cost-effectively. The workshop focuses on policy and procedure manuals, computer system manuals, and equipment operations / maintenance manuals.

We'll show you how to plan, write, and produce effective print manuals and web-based e-manuals. The workshop covers planning and designing manuals that meet your needs, working with subject matter experts to draft and revise the text, and producing professional looking and easy-to-use manuals.

Who is the workshop designed for?

It's designed for you if you're involved with planning or preparing a manual for your organization, revising an existing manual, or supervising staff working on a manual. If you’re new to writing manuals, you’ll learn the step-by-step process that professionals use and will leave confident and eager to get started. If you’re an experienced writer already, you’ll be able to compare your strategies with those used by professionals and learn valuable ideas for improving your manuals.

What materials will I take away?

You’ll take away a 250-page book, Writing Revisable Manuals – Print and Online, written by Duncan Kent and published in Canada by Thomson Carswell. This comprehensive book sells for $150, but you’ll get a copy free when you attend this workshop. You’ll also be able to download a free MS Word template that you can use to create professional-looking print manuals quickly and easily.

This workshop will show you how to:

  • Analyze your information needs and prepare a comprehensive document plan.
  • Work with subject matter experts to draft the content.
  • Plan effective review and approval processes.
  • Write quickly and clearly using Plain English.
  • Organize information so it's easy to find.
  • Present information graphically when it's more effective than paragraphs.
  • Use MS Word to create stable and professional-looking print documents.
  • Use web-authoring tools to create searchable web-based e-manuals.
  • Manage your technical documents according to widely accepted best-practices.

What the workshop will cover:

Planning

  • Benefits of good manuals.
  • Different types of manuals.
  • Pros and cons of print manuals vs. web-based e-manuals.
  • Determining the purpose and objectives of your manual.
  • Analyzing your audience's information needs.
  • Preparing a detailed outline of the planned contents.
  • Prototyping the manual to get early feedback.
  • Resources needed to complete a typical project.
  • Estimating time and costs.
  • Preparing realistic schedules.
  • Developing a workable project work plan.

Organizing

  • Organizing the content in the most appropriate way.
  • Creating a logical hierarchy.
  • Presenting information graphically to minimize the amount of text.
  • Dividing the manual into modules so it's easier to revise and maintain.
  • Types of numbering systems and when to use them.
  • Linking to related topics, forms, and resource information.

Drafting

  • Working with subject matter experts.
  • Interview techniques.
  • Tips for drafting quickly and avoiding writer's block.
  • Benefits and pitfalls of working in teams.
  • Reviewing and revising with content experts.
  • Deciding when and how to test content.

Writing style and editing

  • Choosing an appropriate writing style.
  • Why Plain English has become the international standard for technical publications.
  • Sentence structure and passive vs. active (and why we care).
  • Getting information in the most appropriate order.
  • Choosing your vocabularly.
  • Avoiding gender problems.
  • Common writing challenges and mistakes.
  • Writing bullet lists and step-by-step procedures.
  • Writing policy.
  • Writing computer instructions.
  • Writing training materials.
  • Choosing an appropriate level of detail for your audience.
  • Writing for online vs. writing for print.
  • Deciding what words to capitalize.
  • Avoiding common punctuation problems.
  • Editing and proofreading.
  • Using style guides and style sheets.

Designing

  • Typical page designs.
  • Screen design for e-manuals.
  • Best practices for online navigation and search.
  • Legibility issues.
  • Document control information.
  • Heading hierarchy and attributes.
  • Typefaces and fonts.
  • Typographic conventions for emphasizing text.
  • Line spacing, justification, and kerning.
  • Using graphics and protographs.

Producing

  • Using Word styles and templates.
  • Automating tables of contents, indexes, and cross-references.
  • Formatting tips.
  • Using DreamWeaver and other web authoring software to create e-manuals.
  • Using metadata to enable search.
  • Indexing for print and online.
  • Testing your online manual.
  • Managing your digital files.
  • Digital printing, distributed printing, and PDFs.
  • Content management and single sourcing.

Maintaining

  • Maintaining print manuals.
  • Maintaining e-manuals.
  • Delegating ownership.
  • Periodic reviews.
  • Change control processes.
  • Notification of users.
  • Marking revisions.
  • Versioning and archiving.
  • Document management best practices.