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L ATES T C US TO M E R S U CC E S S S TO RYAerospace and Defense Training Solution Company PLEXSYS Moves toMadCap Flare to Modernize its Documentation and Cut Production Time by 20%By replacing previously used software with modern HTML5-based Help and print documentation, PLEXSYS hasdelivered a more intuitive user experience, resulting in reduced support demands from the product support team.We’ve effectively halved our work time using Flare.It has enabled us to do a whole lot more withoutscaling our team as much as we would’ve neededto if we had remained using other products.JENNI CHRISTENSENTraining and Technical Documentation Manager,PLEXSYSRead the Full Case Study and Start Your Free Trial Today at madcapsoftware.com
InfoPlusMonthly newsletter from the Institute of Scientific and Technical CommunicatorsSeptember 2020The ISTC is the largest UKbody representingscientific and technicalcommunicators. If you areinvolved in technicalwriting, technicalillustration, orcommunicating technicalinformation in other ways,it’s the professionalassociation that cansupport your career.Interested in membership?Find out more here.This free newsletter isemailed to about 1500people. As well as ISTCnews,containslistings and articles ofgeneral interest to theprofession. Subscribe here.Advertising: Felicity DavieEditorial: Nadine CornwallLayout Editor: Bob HewittBlogs Editor: Ginny CritcherISTC Office: Unit 19 OmegaBusiness Village ThurstonRoad Northallerton, DL62NJTel: 44 (0)20 8253 4506Email: istc@istc.org.ukWeb: www.istc.org.ukHigh ighThis month weexplore Screencasting in the TechCorner section.Also see what theISTC local areagroups have beenup to — virtually, ofcourse!Plus all the latestindustry news andevents, webinars,listings and moreinside ontentsBusiness affiliate news6Industry and general news 7Tech corner7Blog news8Training courses9Events listings13Upcoming webinars14Back page15ISTC newsBy Carol Leahy, ISTC PresidentI am very pleased to announce that a minionline event will go ahead on Tuesday 29thSeptember. The online event will kick offwith the ISTC AGM at 1pm. This will befollowed by the UKTC Awards ceremony.Two of our confirmed speakers for TCUKMetro have agreed to present their talks asa webinar instead. These will kick off about2:45pm. Each will last about 30-40 minuteswith time for questions at the end. Theonline event will be free to attend, thoughwe will ask you to register your attendanceso we can see how many people areplanning to attend on the day.1:00pm-2:00pm: ISTC AGM. This is opento members only.2:00pm-2:30pm: UKTC AwardsCeremony.2:45pm-3:30pm: Webinar: Matt Reiner –How to Rapidly Create DocumentationWithin an Agile Process.3:45pm-4:15pm Webinar: Nancy Larbi –Tech Writers Beyond Borders.To register your attendance, please emailthe ISTC office istc@istc.org.uk. A link toattend the conference will then be sent toyou.
ISTC local area and special interest groupsThe ISTC groups offer an opportunity fortechnical communicators to network andshare knowledge and expertise. They areopen to everyone (you don’t need to be anISTC member) and are free to attend. Thegroups meet at intervals during the year andhold talks, peer discussions, demonstrationsand social evenings. Joining a group is anexcellent way to meet like-minded people inyour area and get to know fellow specialists.We will be holding a Zoom meeting on 10thSeptember at 6pm to discuss ‘FinancialInformation’ — do join us if you areinterested!Please email Deb Stevens for moreinformation and/or the joining instructions:cambridge areagroup@istc.org.uk. ISTC September 2020This month’s report is from Erika NortonAgain, the seven of us held a virtual meetup;this time we reflected on how lockdown wasgoing for us. We started with Amanda whosework has not changed much becauseworking from home is normal for her, but shehas ended up with extra people at home.This has meant her family has had to agreeon who works where and where the quietarea for calls is located (table in herbedroom). She has also found that going outhas become more important — she hasmade a point to go do something each dayincluding buying a basketball set so thefamily could play.Don has realised that although he wassurprised how much he enjoys working fromhome, he misses his exercise and havingcolleagues around. He has incorporated ahalf-hour walk to get him to his work room.Cecily meanwhile has discovered thatalthough having a separate room from heromple it made clears t e e pertsocali ation intoan languageSoftware products E-learning Online Websites helpFIND OUT MOREwww.3di-info.comhusband to work in is better, she misses thebackground noise of the office. However, herwork organised a 15-minute daily non-workrelated Zoom catch-up meeting, which shefound very useful. During the pandemic twonew people have been employed: one isThis is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.3
active on this chit chat area and thus shefeels like he is part of the team and a friend.The second is much quieter, so it has notworked as well for him.On that note Liz changed jobs during thispandemic, so has not yet attended her newoffice. However, she has made a point ofjoining in with the social meetings andquizzes her company has instigated and isreally enjoying getting to know her newworkmates. Even better is the very shortcommute – she switches off the PC, walksout of the room and is home.Darren’s discovery was how much he loveshaving the radio on. Both he and Amandastart with Radio 2 and move on to Radio 3,while Liz can’t listen to music or words whenshe is working. The rest of us find it dependson what we are trying to do, with Brianhaving the big advantage of having retired.For all of us, we found we miss ourcolleagues and exercise, but working fromhome when you have a reasonable area inwhich to do so has been a good experiment.Most people who were in an office would behappy to work from home more, but feel it isimportant to have both work-related and funconversations. ISTC September 2020Next month we will again be meetingremotely on the 1st September at 7:30. Thetheme is tbc. To suggest a topic or get a linkto join, email Darren Mitcham atthamesvalley areagroup@istc.org.uk. Reach an engaged,specialist audience ofcontent professionals! Join MadCap, 3di and manyothers who advertise in thise-newsletter! Ideal for product releases, news,courses/events, brand awareness,and recruitment!Submissions to the newsletter are alwayswelcome. If you have an article or othercontent you would like to see included inthe October edition of InfoPlus, pleaseemail your copy tonewsletter.editor@istc.org.ukby 21 September 2020.Every effort is made to ensure thatInfoPlus is published and distributed asearly as possible in the month to which itrelates, generally on the first working day.However, occasionally it may not bedistributed up to a week into that month.Please bear this in mind when submittingtime-sensitive information.The appearance of external hyperlinks does notconstitute endorsement by the ISTC of the linkedwebsites, or the information, products or servicescontained on those sites. All external hyperlinks wereaccurate and working at the time of writing. However, theISTC does not exercise editorial control over theinformation you may find at these locations so cannot beresponsible for changes to content. The ISTC disclaimsany responsibility for the accuracy, completeness andavailability of any linked site.Contact felicity@tou-can.co.uk forfurther details!This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.4
If you’d like to attend one of the groups, please get in touch with theleader or email istc@istc.org.uk. If you’re interested in setting upeither a new area group or a special interest group, contact our AreaGroups Manager, Tom Dumic, at areagroupsmanager@istc.org.uk.Area groups:NameLeaderLeaderCambridgeDeb Stevenscambridge areagroup@istc.org.ukIrish TechnicalWritersYvonne Cleary,Bridget Walshirishtechnicalwriters@istc.org.ukISTC Irish GroupAdrian Rushirishgroup@istc.org.ukMidlandsJames Bartleymidlands areagroup@istc.org.ukNorth East EnglandJoanna Suaunortheastengland areagroup@istc.org.ukThames ValleyDarren Mitchamthamesvalley areagroup@istc.org.ukEast of ScotlandHolli Hamiltoneastscotland areagroup@istc.org.ukYorkshireDee Vincent-Dayyorkshire areagroup@istc.org.ukSome area group meetings are posted on Eventbrite. Where this isthe case, we ask anyone expecting to attend to register onlineusing this event management service. You can see a list of ISTCrelated events by visiting: www.eventbrite.com/org/495786380. ISTC September 2020ISTC online groupsThere are a number of LinkedIn groups for ISTCmembers, and we invite you to join the relevant ones. Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicatorswww.linkedin.com/groups/1858546 Cambridge Technical Communicatorswww.linkedin.com/groups/1805651 ISTC Midlands Area Groupwww.linkedin.com/groups/4835591 Thames Valley Area Groupwww.linkedin.com/groups/4805266 Yorkshirewww.linkedin.com/groups/4662452 East of Scotlandwww.linkedin.com/groups/13536907 Irish Technical Writers – An ISTC Area Groupwww.linkedin.com/groups/3369559This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.5
Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitterand Instagram, and watch us on YouTube tokeep up to date with news, events andactivities, and to chat with your TechCommcolleagues.If you’re new to the ISTC and are wonderingwhat TCUK is, it’s our excellent (yes, we’rebiased, but it is) annual conference.Business affiliate newsOur Business Affiliate programme hasbeen in place for over 16 years. It enablesorganisations to take advantage of arange of benefits, and to contribute topromoting technical communication as aprofession. Find out more here.With this new release, MadCap Lingo 11 r2introduces enhancements to support thetranslation process, including: Code Snippet Support Git for Windows Integration Enhancements to Find and ReplaceFor further details, follow the link here:MadCap Lingo 11 r2.A full list of our current Business Affiliatesis found here.The ISTC page:www.facebook.com/istccommunityThe ISTC group:www.facebook.com/groups/490570891153888The TCUK page:www.facebook.com/techcommuk/ISTC: @ISTC orgTCUK: @TCUK confISTC orgwww.youtube.com/user/istctechcomm ISTC September 2020With the latest releaseof MadCap Lingo 11r2, the team atMadCap have addedcode snippet support,find and replaceenhancements andmore.MadCap Lingo is a powerful ComputerAssisted Translation (CAT) tool fortranslators, as well as a powerful translationmanagement solution for contentdevelopers.Having had a presence in the Hull area forover 20 years, the company is delighted tohave now moved into new premises at theHumber Enterprise Park in Brough.The office will be working closely withThis is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.6
clients across multiple engineering sectors,delivering excellence in the design andanalysis of complex systems and structuresto clients, whilst continuing to collaboratewith the 600 strong engineering teamsacross the rest of Morson Projects.For further details, follow the link here:Morson Projects Move.Industry and generalnewsfor neural machine translation (NMT).Amazon introduced the original Sockeye inJuly 2017, after acquiring Pennsylvania, USbased Safaba. Since then, Amazon hasforged ahead with localisation projects viamachine learning offerings, includingmachine dubbing and estimation oftranslated subtitles. Amazon’s Sockeyetranslates from English to a given language.For further details, follow the link:Amazon Translate.By Nadine CornwallA screencast is a digital video recording ofyour computer screen and usually includesaudio narration. Screencasts are just one ofmany different types of instructional videos –and can be used effectively to enhance andanimate your technical documentationbeyond the written word.BenefitsThe Chartered Institute of Editing andProofreading (CIEP) has seen an increase inupgrade applications from their memberssince the start of the year, with the first threemonths the busiest since 2015, a reflectionof members’ desire to further their careerdevelopment during this difficult period.On August 11, 2020 researchers at Amazondetailed advances made in Sockeye 2, anew iteration of the e-commerce giant’sopen source, sequence-to-sequence toolkit ISTC September 2020Tech cornerThe CIEP, formerly the Society for Editorsand Proofreaders (SfEP), is a non-profit bodypromoting excellence in English languageediting. The organisation sets anddemonstrates editorial standards, as well asproviding a community, training hub andsupport network for editorial professionals.For further information about the CIEP, visitwww.ciep.uk. 80% of viewers can recall a video theyhave seen in the past 30 days. Viewers can absorb the information attheir own pace. Screencasting is a simple task and thereare many software options available.One important consideration is output. Mostscreen recorders create MP4 or MOV files,which output to large files, difficult to post /distribute. However, GIFS are much smallerin size and far more effective.A few of the current GIF Screen Recordersinclude:LICEcapFrapsThis is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.7
Blog newsVClipShareXBy Ginny CritcherScreenToGifHello again! Here’s the latest blog round upfrom the popular blogs on technicalcommunication.GyazoRecorditMozilla has laid off the writing teamresponsible for the MDN Mozilla DeveloperNetwork. Someone has created a websitefor developers to share their appreciationof the site - Thank You MDN! :1. Choose the technology for recordingdemos:In this example, we will look atScreenToGif, a Windows-based applicationthat works well at getting full-screenscreenshots and is a quick process.3. Clarify demo content and agree nextsteps if team consensus is required.4. Storyboard the demos, then prepare theThe ScreenToGif screen recorder offers threedemos and scripts.different methods of capturing a screen. Youcan either take a screenshot, record a video, 5. Start recording the GIF animation byclicking on the Recorder icon.or use the sketch board.6. Use the editor to tweak each framecaptured.7. Save your files in GIF format.2. Consider any options, for examplewhether you want to record as fullscreen 1080P or at a different ratio. ISTC September 2020Do you have experience in Screencastingor similar — would you like to respond tothis article? Or do you want to share themore technical aspect of your role in afuture issue of?Please send an overview of your insight dn.org/.Rhonda Bracey has written a post onhow comments can go missing in Word'sSimple Markup n the Cherryleaf blog, there have been anumber of posts on writing policies andGinny has a background as a skilledtrainer and information designer, andis responsible for the development ofCherryleaf’s training courses. Inaddition to her skills in informationdesign, she has over twenty years’ experiencein teaching and training throughout the world.She is Cherryleaf’s representative to the ISTC.This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.8
procedures, including one on how the Fireand Rescue Services approach e/.Derek Ardolf has written a post on thewriting day part of the WriteTheDocsPortland 2020 ra Feldman has created a list of all thedisciplines that either plan, support, ordeliver content:Training coursesDo you know of a training course that will be of interest toreaders? If so, please send details tonewsletter.editor@istc.org.uk. If you would like to promote yourcourse or event, why not consider giving ISTC members adiscount for courses and events listed in our newsletter. Formore information, please emailistc@istc.org.uk.Please note that listings are a service to members; a listingdoes not imply ISTC endorsement.Courses run by ISTC Business Affiliates* that arenotified to us by the copy deadline will be listed. Forothers, we cannot guarantee listing if space is limitedand details may be abridged.*Armada, Cherryleaf, ESTON Training, Firehead, andAll of our centres have now re-opened, withthe necessary social distancing measures -of-content-disciplines.Tom Johnson on the I'd Rather Be Writingblog has looking at the processes formanaging documentation ses-for-managing-doc-work/.Do you have a blog? Seen an interestingpost? Let me know so I can include it in mymonthly review. Emailginny@cherryleaf.com. ISTC September 2020Provides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10). 345 VAT. Armada, g.This is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.Provides the same comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, as our inclass course; but you participate ina live course remotely.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10). 295 VAT. Live Online ovides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10). 345 VAT. Armada, Milton Keynes 295 VAT, Live n-training.9
Learn how to create and editimages using the de facto standardin the graphics industry. Techniquescovered include colour correction,working with layers, compositingimages and preparing images foruse on the Web.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10). 345 VAT. Armada, Bromsgrove 295 VAT Live Online ining.Provides a comprehensiveintroduction to the powerfulcapabilities of InDesign, includingsetting up new documents, shapes,frames and using InDesign’s mostpopular features.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10). 345 VAT. Armada, . ISTC September 2020Learn how to create and editimages using the de facto standardin the graphics industry. Techniquescovered include colour correction,working with layers, compositingimages and preparing images foruse on the Web.10% discount for ISTC members(coupon code ISTC10). 345 VAT. Armada, Bristol 295 VAT Live Online ining.Learn how to create and edit vectorgraphics quickly and effectively, inthe leading application for vectorThis is a free monthly online newsletter for scientific and technical communicators.InfoPlus is posted at er/.graphics. The comprehensivetoolset and features availabl
MadCap Flare to Modernize its Documentation and Cut Production Time by 20% By replacing previously used software with modern HTML5-based Help and print documentation, PLEXSYS has delivered a more intuitive user experience, resulting
