SharePoint 2010 for technical writers |

When I?first started using Share?Point, I?have to admit that I?was not impressed.

The user inter?face felt unin?spired. Some soft?ware user inter?faces draw you in. For me, Share?Point wasn?t one of them. I?remem?ber won?der?ing, ?Why would I?want to use?this??

I?ve changed my tune. After learn?ing more about SharePoint?s ben?e?fits and using it at sev?eral client sites, I?rec?og?nize that it offers a?num?ber of ben?e?fits?to tech?ni?cal writers.

• Share?Point pro?vides a?basic Con?tent Man?age?ment Sys?tem (CMS). Peo?ple use a?CMS to pub?lish, edit, and man?age con?tent, such as doc?u?ments. A?full-blown CMS is expen?sive whereas Share?Point is fre?quently already installed in larger orga?ni?za?tions. Tech?ni?cal writ?ers can use it to gain con?trol over their doc?u?ments at the file?level.
• Share?Point Foun?da?tion 2010 is free. Share?Point 2010 is avail?able in two flavours: Share?Point Server 2010 and Share?Point Foun?da?tion. Share?Point Server offers more fea?tures than Share?Point Foun?da?tion but the lat?ter is free.
• You can use meta?data to tag your files. If you are work?ing on a?lot of con?tent, adding meta?data to your files may be a?worth?while invest?ment because it helps group your con?tent into cat?e?gories. Meta?data is a?col?lec?tion of cen?trally man?aged terms that you can define and then use as attrib?utes for a?file. Then, after you have tagged your con?tent, other writ?ers can search for doc?u?ments using the same categories?content is eas?ier to find and update.
• Source con?trol. Share?Point requires you to check out files before you edit them and offers ver?sion con?trol of the file. Ver?sion con?trol essen?tially keeps a?his?tory of the file. If for some rea?son you want to res?ur?rect an ear?lier ver?sion of a?doc?u?ment, Share?Point makes it?easy.
• Col?lab?o?ra?tion. Share?Point enables teams to col?lab?o?rate on files. If you are work?ing with another?per?son on a?file, each writer can work on the con?tent con?cur?rently and the lat?est ver?sion is then uploaded to the Share?Point?site.
• Doc?u?ment con?trol. Share?Point makes it pos?si?ble to restrict users at the site level. Best prac?tices sug?gest assign?ing employ?ees or con?trac?tors to user groups.
• Work?flows. In Share?Point, you can auto?mate the review process. As a?writer, you can cre?ate a?list of review?ers and add dead?lines. Share?Point then sends e-mails to SMEs and sends you an e-mail when they have reviewed the document.
• Trans?la?tion work?flows. If you need to trans?late your con?tent, Share?Point can assist with the process by remind?ing exter?nal stake?hold?ers to per?form tasks by cer?tain dates, and e-mails you when all of the work is complete
• Easy to use. Share?Point has a?sim?i?lar look and feel to other Microsoft Office prod?ucts. It sports the famil?iar Microsoft rib?bon and the tasks are pretty straight?for?ward (for tech?ni?cal writ?ers, at?least).
• Lots of sup?port con?tent. There are many books, web sites, and blogs about Share?Point. For exam?ple, check out these online train?ing courses.

The bot?tom line: Share?Point is a?worth?while tool if col?lab?o?ra?tion is impor?tant and you need con?trol over your source files. Sounds like a?good fit for most tech?ni?cal writers.

Source: http://www.robertdesprez.com/2012/07/06/sharepoint-2010-for-technical-writers/

divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra three stooges the three stooges the bee gees woodward