Questions tagged [technical-writing]

Documentation, tutorials, training, user guides, installation guides, design documents, and all other types of technical documentation in any domain (not just software).

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Technical documentation of legacy system software

I have been asked to write the technical documentation for a legacy system, which I am working on. The documentation is trying to target new joinee developers and QAs. I have few confusion about it: ...
Anuj Karki's user avatar
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1 answer
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Thoughts on using "looking to" in marketing content

I've been writing content for years, and over the last 6 or so, in marketing for software companies. Very often, I'll see sentences include "looking to" as a way to explain that the reader ...
DKBingham's user avatar
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Quoting a quote of a person who was interrupted in a scholarly book

ROBERT Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you a story. It begins with a garden, a cherished place of solace for my family... ROBERT ...and that's when I discovered the irreparable damage. ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 answers
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What is a good way to reference the directionality of an API integration in a succinct way?

I am responsible for product X. Product X has bi-directional connectivity with other systems A and B. When I am referring to data coming from A in to X, I can say: "Inbound interface from A to X&...
karancan's user avatar
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How to write for an updated edition?

I have a wargaming rulebook that I self-published over a decade ago, that has some interest around it. (Overall, the form is a combination of technical writing + creative design components.) I've been ...
Daniel R. Collins's user avatar
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1 answer
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Do you include footnotes in technical documentation served on the web?

Footnotes are less commonly used in technical documentation on the web compared to traditional printed documents, or at least this is my own personal experience on the matter. This is because ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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I’m back in graduate school and I’m struggling with writing APA. What’s the best way to learn?

What is the best way of learning APA writing if you have never written in that format?
Russell's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Where do I get steady technical content writing work?

I am an electronics engineer with UG and PG degrees. Post qualification, I have 9 years of experience in my field. For the past three years I have been freelancing in technical content writing. Up to ...
Arvind Gupta's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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How do you structure a term paper that involves comparing journal articles?

As part of a course on statistics and stochastic processes, I have to read 3-4 journal articles and write a paper explaining and comparing them and explaining my learnings from them as they relate to ...
user389532's user avatar
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1 answer
242 views

How do you cite a Stack Overflow answer?

How do you cite a Stack Overflow answer? Let's say I want to copy and paste a code solution that someone provided for a question asked on Stack Overflow, how do you cite that in a programming textbook ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
103 views

How do you transcribe a quote with errors?

How do you quote someone whose native language is not English? Let's assume that the person make several grammatical mistakes, how should you quote them, do you quote them verbatim or do you quote ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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Is a call to action always necessary in a sales pitch?

I heard that in a sales pitch you should always include a call to action at the end. The reason for this is that a call to action can significantly increase the likelihood of converting a prospect ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
23 views

What is another way to describe comparing two documents that say the same thing and selecting the best one? [closed]

What is another way to describe comparing two documents that say the same thing and selecting the best one?
Karen Mitchell's user avatar
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1 answer
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How do you find who are the lead authors if there's more than one?

https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.04472 How do you find who are the lead authors if there's more than one? I was looking at the above paper, and I was trying to know who are the lead author so I can cite ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 answers
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Can you have footnotes inside footnotes?

Let's take an example. Let's say I have the following foonotes. "Here, the author is making an indirect reference to the expression "(something) fighting" often used in esports." ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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3 votes
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199 views

Should you respect Japanese punctuation rules when citing something using Japanese characters?

From the Wikipedia page on Japanese punctuation: Double quotation marks (二重鉤括弧, nijūkagikakko) are used to mark quotes within quotes: 「...『...』...」 as well as to mark book titles (Japanese does not ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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1 answer
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When you write a book that seeks to inform people about some issue or some event, how do you structure your book?

Let's say I am writing a book about environment policy in China and how China managed to clean the air in its biggest cities drastically by going green, how would you structure a book like that? I ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Does the only figure in a document get labeled as Figure 1?

If a document references only one figure, is it identified as "Figure 1" or no number assigned?
Lizzi Williams's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
89 views

What are the guidelines for using articles in technical writing?

When writing technical documentation, I commonly include articles ("the" and "a"), as I think it makes thigs clear and natural to read: According to the customer's requirements, ...
Billy's user avatar
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0 answers
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Comparison of two categories over a specific period of time

Year: 2009 / 2019 Mobile use: 15% / 26% Table use: 5% / 19% what is the correct way to describe changes in two different years? I have tried to describe the changes in three different sentences,...
DrDentMBR's user avatar
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How to detect if a research team is outsourcing writing to increase paper publishing?

I have suspicions of a situation where a Computational Science research group is using paid writing services (outsourcing, using AI or human services) to increase their publication ratio in scientific ...
user1000565's user avatar
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2 answers
92 views

Have you ever heard of the word electromobilists?

I have to check my company's English translations for a new product they have made. The product is an electrical wall box for charging electric cars. They wrote the following sentence: Ideal for ...
Nick's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
187 views

Quoting someone who used a racial slur?

When quoting someone who used a racial slur, should you censor the racial slur, and how should you do so? I said that he's a *****. That's what I said. When quoting someone who used a racial slur, ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
85 views

In story telling using Month, Date and Year from the past

When you are narrating and you would like to state the month, date and year from the past like September 8, 2019. As an introduction to your sentence, is it right to say "It was September 8, 2019,...
PROSPERITY's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
73 views

"Notes" as admonitions and "Notes" as a section with endnotes

In technical writing, it is common to use so-called admonitions, also known as notices: see "Notes, cautions, warnings, and other notices" in the style guide for technical writers by Google, ...
user90726's user avatar
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14 votes
8 answers
4k views

Which is more readable - array of ints or int array?

A similar example is field of carrots or carrot field. The latter feels better to me, especially in the carrot example, but when asking colleagues they preferred 'array of ints'. I'm not a ...
Nimrod Fiat's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
73 views

When hiring an animator or an artist, how do you insure that you don't become solely reliant on that artist or animator?

When hiring an animator or an artist, how do you insure that you don't become solely reliant on that artist or animator? When writing a script and giving art direction through writing, how do you ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
55 views

How can I avoid accidents when writing special characters with the [alt] key? [closed]

Writing some characters require a combination of keys that include the [alt] key and some digits from the numeric pad. For instance, [alt]+[174] will write a Spanish quote («). Such combinations only ...
Josep's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
157 views

Using "etc." at the end of list introduced by "e.g."

According to the Strunk & White's The Elements of Style (p. 46) at the end of a list introduced by such as, for example, or any similar expression, etc. is incorrect. However, I have seen "...
CLAUDE's user avatar
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0 answers
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Workflow for Markdown or Asciidoc documents

I write a lot of teaching material on using coding languages. I have taken to using Markdown because it’s very easy to just get into it and mark up headings, tables and code samples. The software I’m ...
Manngo's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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When describing a logo to an artist you've hired, what should you write and in what format?

When describing a logo to an artist you've hired, what should you write and in what format? Tried to find some documents intended for artists, so that I can have an artist reproduce my design from ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
159 views

How do you accurately describe a race track without using an image?

How do you accurately describe a race track without using an image? Let's say you have this image, but you can't use it as a reference. How do you manage to exactly describe it in a way someone could ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
30 views

What are the conventions for formatting links to two API references in software user guide text?

Background I'm working as a technical writer on a software project where there are three related documents: a user guide, a Python API reference and a C++ API reference. The user guide describes how ...
JaynieP's user avatar
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-2 votes
1 answer
114 views

Semicolon and period in software instructions

I'm writing a software manual and I worry about my semicolon usage. I believe I'm using them correctly, but it's not that I have to. My project is a software manual. People scan for the information ...
Pierce Devol's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
61 views

Referring to an earlier defined phrase so that it's not taken literally

Say I define a phrase like 'pen' or '10 miles'. Then when I refer to these defined phrases inline in the text, how should I refer to them to let the reader know that I am referring to the defined ...
rlll's user avatar
  • 21
1 vote
2 answers
146 views

Resources for beginner/intermediate writers

I'm an undergraduate student who's currently self-studying writing in quarantine. At present, I've read some books and browsed writing workshop websites on academic or technical writing. However, the ...
user54494's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
85 views

Does a technical writer need API experience for writing API documentation?

I am a technical writer that currently writes for the aviation industry. I got a job offer for an API technical writer position. They said I don’t need API experience, but they think my experience ...
AJK432's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
91 views

Is scientific writing equal to research paper writing? [closed]

I am just not sure if scientific writing is same as research paper writing.
zDow wOlff's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
181 views

Starting a sentence one word before a new line [closed]

I am curious if starting a new sentence right before a new line, in this case leaving only one word before the new line, is correct. I am having trouble explaining even what this situation is, but I ...
BrettB's user avatar
  • 11
2 votes
1 answer
140 views

Effort equivalence between video course and written course

If 1 page of a technical course is worth 1 point, how many points is 1 hour of a technical video course worth, creation effort-wise? Background and context: I work in academia in a technical field (...
IVlad's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
54 views

Citation throughout my book rather than at the end as a bibliography

My book is a health/ wellness/ diet book/ metabolic issues etc. Throughout my book which I am 3/4 of the way through I have added in the website links after a piece of evidence. I have used 95% of my ...
Pip's user avatar
  • 1
1 vote
1 answer
457 views

Correct way to write units of measurement in technical document?

"We have 31in of whatever and 4m of whatever etc..." Should there be a space between the number and the units? Should the units be in italics or normal font? When do the units go in italics? ...
stevederekson555's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
41 views

How do you get a patent description proofread?

How do you get a patent description proofread? Is it a service offered by patent office for free as long as you paid the application fees, or is it something you need to get proofread by someone? Also,...
Sayaman's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
124 views

How to mark up dialog or menu item names in technical writing

I'm wondering about the correct way to mark up icon/menu item/dialog names in the context of technical writing (user's guide). Here's a small excerpt from a document I'm writing: Clicking the “...
geschema's user avatar
  • 103
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is the process of creating a word using Latin and Greek word parts?

I am trying to create a word that means "division of a single God", but I am having some trouble. If I understand correctly, any word must have a suffix, root and prefix, but sometimes I ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
99 views

Can we use 'then' after a 'when'?

I know about the logical expression of 'if --- then', such as 'If the temperature reaches or exceeds a particular temperature, then the kettle will turn off.' But what about situations that involve '...
Kenny's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
53 views

Should you cite the document you're refuting or only the documents you use to prove your argument in a research paper?

Should you cite the document you're refuting or only the documents you use to prove your argument in a research paper? I am wondering what's the consensus on this, because in my opinion, it doesn't ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
108 views

How a psychiatrist must talk?

I wrote a scene of a psychiatrist talking to a traumatized child, and I read and read it several times but still not convinced and satisfied with it. Are there any book recommendations or extracts ...
Nour Fourti's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
125 views

How do you create new words if latin suffixes and prefixes are not sufficient in allowing you to create a new word you want to create?

How do you create new words if latin suffixes and prefixes are not sufficient in allowing you to create a new word you want to create? What are the things people use to make up for a lack of latin ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
85 views

Best way to explain references to historic currency

What is the best way to explain the pre-decimal British Pound in a text that has multiple references to it. I already have something written to explain how to convert from pre-decimal to post-decimal ...
RobertEves92's user avatar

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