August/September 2004

Volume 45, Number 1

June Chapter Meeting Review: Style, Format, and Production Guides, Tools for Technical Communicators

by Ruth Gaulke

STC-RMC's last meeting before the summer break starred two well-known technical writers: Kathy Ingraham, Sr. Technical Writer, Qualstar Corporation, and Kathy Ramsey, Sr. Technical Writer, Quantum Corporation, who spoke about style, format, and production guides.

Those who attended learned how to apply these three helpful tools to save time and ensure accuracy and consistency in their projects. After a little juggling and coaxing, the LCD projector finally cooperated and Kathy Ingraham began the presentation.

"A style guide provides a collection of rules and guidelines for presenting information, writing style, grammar, punctuation, specialized terminology, and much more," said Ingraham.

Using a style guide will help you maintain corporate standards, improve productivity, and ensure document consistency. The tool allows a publishing team to work from one set of rules, which increases the chance of meeting deadlines with accurate and usable content.

Ingraham continued her presentation introducing another helpful tool, format guides. A format guide contains examples and specifications for each element used in a style sheet or template, such as page layouts, paragraph tags, character formats, etc.

"Regardless of the publishing tool, you can use a format guide," said Ingraham. "Use it to describe specifications for the document—headers, footers, front matter, table of contents (TOC), chapters, appendixes, glossary, and index."

A format guide will also list the specifications for document elements, such as headings, lists, figures, tables, cross-references, and instructions.

"A format guide helps your document maintain a corporate look and feel," said Ingraham. "It will help to improve productivity and help automate document conversion."

Ingraham provided examples in her presentation for both style and format guides. You can find them on the STC-RMC web site. (http://www.stcrmc.org/news_events/meetings.htm)

Kathy Ramsey took the floor and spoke about a less familiar tool, production guides. This type of guide is not the same as a style guide or a writer's handbook. According to Ramsey, it's essential to have a production guide if you're redirecting information into different forms, such as print, HTML, and CD.

"A production guide focuses on the mechanics of getting the work done," said Ramsey. "A production guide is more than just a series of procedures. It provides important conceptual, background, and summary information, and describes the structure of the project and the rationale behind the structure."

If you use a production guide, it should contain the following:

• The mechanics of your process; how the document will be distributed (print, HTML, CD, etc.)
• Housekeeping issues; graphics, templates, indexing guidelines, backups, file storage locations
• Methods of publishing; PDF, HTML, XML, CD, web site, paper
• Miscellaneous general pointers; file locations, graphic settings, troubleshooting tips
• Special processes; scripts or macros, spreadsheets, job aids, checklists
• Font tips and techniques; font types, font substitutions, special characters, Asian or Arabic fonts

Ramsey also provided sample spreadsheets, document outline worksheets, and other examples, which can be found on the STC-RMC web site. (http://www.stcrmc.org/news_events/meetings.htm)