Monthly Archives: June 2007

by Scott Nesbitt

Migrating from Blogger to WordPress  Clip to Evernote

As you probably noticed, we recently started publishing Communications from DMN with WordPress. When we started the blog, Aaron and I used Blogger and published it to our site. WordPress, though, gives us more features and a lot more flexibility. A few people have asked us how we did the migration. This blog entry explains how.

Getting Going

Obviously, the first step in the migration process is to install and configure WordPress. There are three ways to get a WordPress blog. The first is to download the WordPress software from WordPress.org. Or, you can sign up for an account that’s hosted at WordPress.com. If your Web hosting company supports it, the third way is to automatically install WordPress using your Web account’s control panel and a Web application called Fantastico.

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by Scott Nesbitt

Working with a technical editor  Clip to Evernote

Both Aaron and I have had some interesting experiences with technical editors. Some good, some less so. At one company, we had to deal with editors who were more than just a little retentive. If they we’re jumping on us for not strictly adhering to the style guide, they demanded that we give a “business reason” for every task (more about that here).

The relationship between a technical communicator and a technical editor is, to use a common cliche, a balancing act. You have to deal with someone who is often more interesting is proper grammar and style, and who might not have your knowledge of the product that you’re documenting and its audience. On the other hand, you have to put aside your ego and your sense of how correct your view of the documentation is.

There’s a lot more to this relationship as well. This article, by Jean Hollis Weber, offers a lot of great detail about, and insight into, the relationship between writer and editor.

by Scott Nesbitt

Welcome to our new (old) blog!  Clip to Evernote

We finally switched Web hosts, and (as threatened) migrated the blog to WordPress. It didn’t work out too badly, either. Aaron and I will probably be changing the template for the blog, but for now this one will do.

More importantly, we’ll be adding a lot of content in the coming couple of weeks. Keep checking back.

by DMN Communications

Making a move  Clip to Evernote

In the next few days, our Web site will be moving to a new host. In fact, we’ve already signed up with a new hosting provider. Expect a few hiccups as we transfer over our email accounts — if you try to contact us and either don’t get a reply or your message bounces back, please resend.

Also, this blog will be moving. To WordPress, hosted on our new site. The blog might not be accessible while we move it over. Please bear with us.