"Tips From Technical Writers"

Every month or so, we will be writing blogs and newsletters about the technical writing industry and exciting graphic explorations into how-to techniques. Tips from Tech Writers will be a collaborative blog that will include "the team" and other artistic media participants to make the newsletter more interesting and diverse...after all we live in a talented exciting world.

Build a Better Engineering Template

For Project Engineers and their Technical Writers

Engineering Documentation is more challenging today than ever before, even with all the latest applications and repository tracking systems installed technical documents are still inconsistent and boring. This is the first of a series of articles written to assist Technical Writers with new approaches to document management and solutions to keep their clients informed, usually Project Engineers, IT DEVs, SMEs or CRMs.

This first article Building a Better Engineering Template offers case scenarios and solutions for the Project Engineer (PE) and Technical Writer (TW) who work in unison to maintain great documents their client's will actually read!

This is for Project Engineers (PE) as much as for the Technical Writer's (TW) who work for them; by informing both with how-to tips to create engaging documents and presentations with tables, style sheets and illustrations to build consistent documentsand templates for IT & Engineering departments.

Case scenario 1: Engineer's Templates

Corporate engineering templates have one endearing feature, they can be changed. Otherwise, working a template is often hit & miss for an unskilled PE. IN MS Word, most write in the Normal style for everything from paragraphs to headers. A few actually use the Header 1, 2 and 3 with some minor success. The final product can look impressive, but open it in another's computer (who has a different style sheet), and the immediate result is header bullet and numbering problems.

Solution: Create a common Style sheet for the Template used by All the PEs

The TW can create a solid style sheet each time a PE emails that same Template for editing. Return the common Template (with its new style sheet) and let the PEs know what your doing and how it works. Most are very appreciative and are able to use the style sheet pane in MS Word, once they know where it is. This may require several visits to each desk until they get it. When they do, the template has less and less inconsistent styles and less work for the TW to edit.

For the PE: upload the new style sheets over the old Template:

1. Open the Manage Styles by clicking on this icon.

2. Click on Import/Export button.

3. The Organizer dialog opens, copy everything from the left pane over the right pane.

NOTE: The Normal global template will add the new styles and be updated for that template.