End user documentation writing skills for developers training course

Cherryleaf’s End user documentation writing skills for developers training course teaches developers the key skills of technical writing for software user documentation.

Who is this course for?

This course is for developers who:

• Need a solid understanding of the fundamentals of technical writing
• What to know how little, or how much, they should write
• Want to communicate more clearly and effectively
• Want people to answer their own Support questions

What will I learn?

• How to communicate clearly, even if writing doesn’t come naturally
• How to save time and write in an efficient way
• Identifying the best type of format for your content
• Confidence in the work you produce
• Document Project management
• Research and analysis
• Revising your work
• Writing for specific audiences

Topics covered

Overview

The course is organised around the technical documentation process, describing:

• The entire documentation process.
• How to work more efficiently.
  • How to write and design your information in a structured, useful and usable way.
• Writing skills and proper use of English.
• Getting customers to answer their own Support questions.

Course outline

1. The purpose of technical documentation
2. What is technical writing?
3. Overview of the writing process
4. Planning your content - traditional way
5. Planning your content in an Agile environment
6. Researching the product and users
7. Information Design
8. Language style and English grammar
9. Writing for a global audience
10. How to write and present different types of information.
11. Using images and videos
12. Hyperlinking
13. Writing embedded Help and microcopy
14. Reviewing and editing

Ask a Technical Author

If you're not sure about an aspect of the content you are writing, you'll be able to use the course's discussion forums to ask a Technical Author.

Please be aware

The course doesn’t cover the specialist requirements for aerospace, military, railway and automotive documentation, where documentation must be written to a specific XML standard.

It doesn’t cover how to write technical API documentation for developers.

If you are looking to change careers and become a Technical Author, you also may need to learn how to use a Help authoring tool.

This courses share content from Cherryleaf's Technical Author/Technical Writing Course, so do not take this course if you have already taken that one.

Duration and delivery format

The course comprises 14 modules in total, which you can complete at your own pace. The course modules are delivered over the Web in small, manageable video presentations. The course handouts and exercises are downloadable as Word or PDF files. With the time needed to complete the exercises, each delegate will need to allocate around one to two days to complete the course. You can pause the videos at any time and return to the course, for a period of 12 months.

Prerequisites

None