XML Press

Stop SOPA/PIPA

By Richard Hamilton, on January 17th, 2012

XML Press is joining the one-day Stop SOPA blackout. We will black out our site on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, in support of the effort to block the SOPA (H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (S.968 – PROTECT IP Act of 2011) bills, both of which are currently under consideration in the U.S. Congress.

For a publishing perspective on SOPA, read Colleen Taylor’s interview with Tim O’Reilly about SOPA and Tim O’Reilly’s follow-up article on Google+.

Our site will be blacked out between 8am and 8pm PST. We’re sorry for any inconvenience, but we believe that publishers need to stand together in opposition to this legislation.

Richard Hamilton
Publisher, XML Press

Two chances to win a copy of Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate

By Richard Hamilton, on January 13th, 2012

Who is the girl on the cover?

She is the hero of the book. She is a technical communicator extraordinaire. Let’s dub her X for now. When you read the book, you will follow X as she sets up a Confluence wiki and adds a technical documentation space. Learn from her expertise with the wiki editor and macros. Share her adventures in agile development and search engine optimisation. Grow wings, as X does, and make your wiki documentation fly. Discover why X says we need a “kiss my wiki” attitude.

Guess her name

UPDATE (Jan 15, 2012): We have a winner!

The name of the girl on the cover is Ganache. Congratulations to Jill Brockmann on guessing the name and winning a free copy of the book.

Thanks to everyone for participating; it was lots of fun.

Sign up for email notifications

You can still sign up for email notification to have a chance to win the second copy. We will select a winner from everyone signed up for the Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate newsletter. Your email address will only be used to send you the newsletter(s) you request, and will not be sold or used in any other way (see our Privacy Policy for details).

XML Press Authors Among Most Influential Tech Comm Leaders

By Richard Hamilton, on January 5th, 2012

Congratulations to XML Press authors Anne Gentle (@annegentle) and Char James-Tanny (@CharJTF) for being recognized by MindTouch as being among the Top Ten Tech Comm Influencers in 2011.

It’s also great to see XML Press (@xmlpress), Sarah Maddox (@sarahmaddox), Alan Porter (@alanjporter), and Richard Hamilton (@richardhamilton) on MindTouch’s list of 401 Tech Comm Influencers.

Thanks to MindTouch for creating the list.

Coming Soon: Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate

By Richard Hamilton, on December 7th, 2011

In February, 2012, we will be publishing Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate by Sarah Maddox. If you want to know how to use a wiki for technical documentation (and you like chocolate), this is the book for you.

Sarah Maddox is well-known in the technical communication community for her widely read blog (ffeathers) and for her deep knowledge of Atlassian’s Confluence content collaboration tool. Her book uses Confluence to guide you through the ins and outs of developing and publishing technical documentation on a wiki. But, even if you don’t use Confluence, you will find a wealth of information about using wikis in technical documentation.

Sign up on the Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate book page for updates, and you will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of the book once it’s published.

Doc Plan Template in Microsoft Word Format

By Richard Hamilton, on November 30th, 2011

A reader requested a Microsoft Word version of the documentation plan template from Managing Writers, so I created one and posted it on the Documentation Template page, which also has DocBook and PDF versions of the template.

The template, which is one of the most popular links on our site, is freely available. You can copy, modify, and distribute it freely, as long as you don’t charge for distribution or use. An attribution would be nice, but is not required.

Optimizing VBA Code: Part Two: Loops

By Robert Delwood, on September 12th, 2011

This is part two of “Optimizing VBA Code.” You do not need to read Part One: Variables to use the information in this article, but I hope you do. The material in both articles is derived from my book, The Secret Life of Word. This article is also available in PDF form.

This article looks [...]

Optimizing VBA Code: Part One: Variables

By Robert Delwood, on August 30th, 2011

This is the first in a series of articles about optimizing VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) code. The information here is drawn from my book, The Secret Life of Word: A Professional Writer’s Guide to Microsoft Word Automation. This article is also available in PDF form

VBA is known to be a slow language. Often [...]

Robert Delwood Interview

By Richard Hamilton, on August 18th, 2011

Robert Delwood, author of The Secret Life of Word: A Professional Writer’s Guide to Microsoft Word Automation, was interviewed by Robert Reynolds in the latest issue of sound.views, the newsletter of the Puget Sound Chapter of the STC.

The interview discusses Robert’s approach to Microsoft Word automation, and how he uses automation [...]

XML Press Newsletter — Summer, 2011

By Richard Hamilton, on August 9th, 2011

The latest edition of the XML Press Newsletter is now available in HTML and PDF formats. This edition is devoted to three new releases:

Learning Author-it, by Char James-Tanny, The Secret Life of Word, by Robert Delwood, and The Boost C++ Libraries, by Boris Schäling. Newsletter Sign-up

You can sign up to receive occasional [...]

“Practical and easy to understand.”
– Rhonda Bracey

Learning Author-it by Char James-Tanny. $39.95

“No writer should navigate Word without this book.”
– Robbie Brewington

The Secret Life of Word by Robert Delwood. $35.95

“This is going to be an indispensable book for people who want to get a wiki going.”
– Sarah Maddox

WIKI: Grow Your Own for Fun and Profit by Alan J. Porter. $29.99

“Could be best TC read of the decade.”
– Michael Hughes

Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation by Anne Gentle. $29.95

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