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awesome-technical-writing-learning

😎 A curated list of awesome and free resources about technical writing.
https://github.com/wongyah/awesome-technical-writing-learning

Last synced: 5 days ago
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Technical writing
- Editorial style guides for technical writing
  - Red Hat Supplementary Style Guide for Product Documentation - Supplementary to the IBM Style Guide. It provides format examples in AsciiDoc.
  - Apple Style Guide - For Apple materials, nothing special.
  - Google Technical Writing Courses for Engineers
  - ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English - An international specification widely used in the aerospace and defense industry and other manufacturing industries, containing a set of writing rules and a controlled dictionary.
  - The IBM Style Guide - First published by IBM Press in 2011. It emphasizes a helpful, direct, and authoritative tone and topic-based writing (DITA).
  - Red Hat Technical Writing Style Guide - For all kinds of technical documentation, including training and examination content. It emphasizes a formal writing style, with the IBM Style Guide as the preferred reference.
  - Microsoft Writing Style Guide - For computer technology and software documentation. It emphasizes a warm and relaxed conversational voice.
  - Google Developer Documentation Style Guide - For software documentation. It emphasizes a casual and natural conversational tone with specific format recommendations for HTML and Markdown.
  - GitLab Documentation Style Guide - For open source software documentation written in Markdown. It emphasizes topic-based writing and format guidelines for Markdown.
  - SUSE Documentation Style Guide - For software documentation. It emphasizes a professional tone and comprehensive markup reference for DocBook.
- General purpose editorial style guides
  - Chicago Manual of Style - Over 1000 pages. It has been published continuously since 1906 and now is in its 17th edition (subscription required).
  - University of Oxford Style Guide Quick Reference - One-page quick reference guide with the most commonly requested information.
  - University of Oxford Style Guide - Thirty-page style guide for writing and formatting documents consistently.
  - AMA Manual of Style - For medical and scientific publishing. It has been published continuously since 1962 and now is in its 11th edition (subscription required).
- Writing assistant software
  - ChatGPT - AI chatbot developed by OpenAI.
  - Tongyi Qianwen - ChatGPT-like chatbot developed by Alibaba, one of China's largest technology companies.
  - Grammarly - Online grammar checker that automatically evaluates writing quality.
  - QuillBot - Online grammar checker and rewriting tool.
  - LanguageTool - AI-based spelling, style and grammar checker.
- Readability checkers
  - Free Readability Checker - For web pages (URL) and texts.
  - Readability Formulas - For documents (.txt, .pdf, or .docx) and texts.
  - Wordcalc - For texts only.
- Courses for beginners
  - Google Technical Writing Courses for Engineers
  - GitLab Technical Writing Fundamentals Course - four introductory videos about the topic types, grammars, and style requirements for GitLab documentation.
  - Coursera: Introduction to Technical Writing - Systematic introduction to technical writing, including the features, workflow, software and tools, history and futures, etc.
  - Google Technical Writing Courses for Engineers - Practical technical writing course for beginners, with examples and metaphors familiar to programmers.
- Textbooks and tutorials
  - Software Technical Writing: A Guidebook - A technical writer at a computer vision startup writes about her daily work in every detail.
  - Documentation APIs: A Guide for Technical Writers and Engineers - Tom Johnson, a senior technical writer at Google and the founder of the [I’d Rather Be Writing](https://idratherbewriting.com/) blog, teaches you how to write API documentation step by step.
  - Software Documentation Guide - Living guide around best practices for creating software documentation, developed and maintained by the [Write the Docs](https://www.writethedocs.org/) community.
  - Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors - One of the must-read books for technical writers. It demonstrates technical writing guidelines with original and revision examples, published by IBM Press.
  - Open Technical Communication - Open textbook in its 4th rendition, authored by five professionals at Kennesaw State University.
- Dictionaries
  - American Heritage Dictionary
  - Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Authoring formats
- Markdown
  - Markdown Table Maker - An extension to generate Markdown tables in an easy and intuitive way.
  - Markdown PDF - An extenstion to convert Markdown files to PDF, PNG, JPEG, or HTML.
  - Markdown Preview Enhanced - An extension to enrich Markdown features in Atom and VS Code, featuring the integration of Pandoc.
  - Markdown Guide - Concise, barebones guide for Markdown beginners.
  - John Gruber's Markdown Documentation
  - Dillinger - In-browser Markdown editor. It can create new files, export files to Markdown, HTML, or PDF, synchronize with GitHub, Google Drive, or Dropbox repositories, etc.
  - StackEdit - In-browser Markdown editor with rich functions. It can create new files or folders, export the files to Markdown or HTML, synchronize with GitHub, Google Drive, or Dropbox accounts, etc.
  - the controversy over Markdown
  - GitHub Docs: Writing on GitHub - Basic Markdown syntax supported on GitHub.
  - GitHub Flavored Markdown Specification
  - Markdown DITA Syntax - Markdown styntax supported by DITA Open Toolkit, which is the most commonly used engine for DITA publishing.
  - MDITA Syntax - Markdown syntax for Lightweight DITA supported by DITA Open Toolkit, which is the most commonly used engine for DITA publishing.
  - Pandoc's Markdown - Markdown syntax of Pandoc, a universal document converter, which can convert between various formats.
  - kramdown Quick Reference - Markdown syntax of kramdown, which is the default Markdown parser for Jekyll.
  - Awesome Markdown
- reStructuredText
  - reStructuredText - An extension to provide rich reStructuredText language support in VS Code.
  - reStructuredText Syntax Highlighting - An extension to provide rich syntax highlighting and non-intrusive section navigation for reStructuredText in VS Code.
  - reStructuredText Cheatsheet - Downloadable two-page cheatsheet for reStructuredText syntax.
  - Introduction to reStructuredText
  - A ReStructuredText Primer - Informal introduction to reStructuredText, authored by Richard Jones.
  - reStructuredText Primer - Brief introduction to reStructuredText in Sphinx documentation.
  - Online reStructuredText editor
  - Quick reStructuredText - Online cheatsheet for reStructuredText syntax.
  - reStructuredText Markup Specification - Detailed technical specification for reStructuredText, authored by David Goodger.
  - Visual Studio Code (VS Code) - Code editor developed by Microsoft.
- DITA
  - Pilot Training Mitchell Bomber - A pilot training manual (aviation document) rewritten in DITA.
  - LwDITA Code Samples - Various manuals of a 1970s computer rewritten in Lightweight DITA.
  - DITA Glossary Example - A book named *On Yacht Sailing* rewritten in DITA to demontrate how to implement glossories.
  - DITA Specification - The official repository for the source files of the DITA specification developed and maintained by the DITA Technical Committee.
  - DITA Specializations - The official repository for DITA specializations that were developed by the DITA Technical Committee, but are no longer part of the DITA standard.
  - DITA 101 Guide - Introductory document to DITA, produced by IBM.
  - Jorsek's Technical Content Development Guide - Developed by the maker of the CCMS Heretto.
  - DITA Style Guide - Source code for The DITA Style Guide: Best Practices for Authors, written by Tony Self.
  - BTS Manual - User manual of Berlin Text System written in DITA.
  - DITA Open Toolkit Documentation - Source code for the DITA-OT documentation.
  - Oxygen XML User Guide - Source code for the Oxygen XML documentation.
  - LearningDITA - Nine game-based courses for DITA beginners, developed and maintained by Scriptorium.
  - DITA for the Impatient - Short DITA tutorial to teach the basics of DITA, developed by Hussein Shafie at XMLmind Software.
  - DITA-aware XML editor
  - DITA Best Practices: A Roadmap for Writing, Editing, and Architecting in DITA - A practical book about how to write effective technical information in DITA, published in 2011 by IBM Press (not a free resource).
  - The DITA Style Guide: Best Practices for Authors - Written in DITA 1.1 by Tony Self.
  - DITA Mini Manual - Mini owner's manual that published in 1960s rewritten in DITA.
  - DITA Version 1.3 - The latest official specifications for DITA, which was released on Jun 19, 2018.
  - Lightweight DITA: An Introduction Version 1.0 - The Committee Note 02 for Lightweight DITA, which was approved on Oct 30, 2018.
  - Leightweight DITA Specification - The official repository for source files of the Lightweight DITA specification developed and maintained by the Lightweight DITA Subcommittee.
- S1000D
  - S1000D Specifications - All versions of official specifications for S1000D.
  - ATA Spec 1000BR: Civil Aviation Business Rules for S1000D - An implementation of S1000D specification in civil aviation industry, which can not be accessd for free.
  - S1000D DIG Business Rules - An implementation of S1000D specification in the defense industry.
  - The Shipdex Protocol: Issue 2.3 - An implementation of S1000D specification in the shipping industry.
Technical illustrations
- Readability checkers
  - Technical Illustration in the 21st Century: A Primer for Today's Professionals - White paper produced by Bettina Giemsa at PTC.
  - The State of Technical Illustration and Documentation - Survey report on technical illustration and documentation market, conducted by Corel in 2022.
  - Arbortext IsoDraw Data Sheet - Commercial software for technical illustrations, developed by PTC.
  - SOLIDWORKS Composer - Commercial software for technical illustrations, developed by SolidWorks.
  - XVL Studio 3D CAD Corel Edition - Commercial software for technical illustrations, developed by CorelDRAW.
  - XVL Technical Illustration Suite - A suite of commercial software for technical illustrations, developed by Lattice Technology.
Content accessibility
- Introductory materials
  - Microsoft accessibility resources - Accessibility training courses, accessible design approaches and tools and other resources developed by Microsoft.
  - IBM accessibility resources - IBM accessibility design tools, IBM Accessibility Requirements, Accessibility Conformance Report of IBM products, and other resources developed by IBM.
  - European Accessibility Act: A Guide to Compliance - Explains the requirements in the European Accessibility Act that companies must comply with and the compliance deadlines.
  - 信息无障碍研究会：无障碍生活指南 - Survey report on barriers to accessibility in our daily life, latest accessibility technologies and recommendations on further improvements.
- Laws and regulations
  - Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, As Amended - Federal civil rights law of United States that protects people with disabilities from discrimination in everyday activities.
  - Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Section 508 - Accessibility requirements for the federal government and all federal agencies of United States to use electronic and information technology.
  - Accessibility of products and services - Summary of European Accessibility Act.
  - 中华人民共和国无障碍环境建设法 - Accessibility law in China which regulates the construction of accessible facilities, accessible information exchanges, social services, and so on.
  - 美国508无障碍法案 - Chinese version of Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Section 508.
  - European Accessibility Act: Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services
- Standards and specifications
  - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) - International standard to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
  - Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) - International standard for developers to make authoring tools more accessible to people with disabilities and more convenient to create accessible web content.
  - User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) - International standard to make browsers, browser extensions, media players and other applications more accessible to people with disabilities.
  - Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) - International technical specification to improve the accessibility and interoperability of web content and applications.
  - 信息技术：互联网内容无障碍可访问性技术要求与测试方法 (GB/T 37668-2019) - China's recommended standard for the technical requirements and the conformance testing of web content accessibility.
Version control
- PowerShell
  - Git Cheat Sheet - Visualized cheat sheet of common Git commands.
  - Pro Git - Complete and practical textbook with graphic illustration to teach Git fast and well (available on the Git website).
  - Learn Git - Short tutorial to teach Git basics, by Microsoft.
  - Git Cheat Sheets - Cheat sheets of common Git commands in 20+ languages, by GitHub.
  - Git Reference - Official reference manual of Git.
Knowledge sharing
- Podcasts
  - Write the Docs Podcast - Discussions related to software documentation between members of the Write the Docs community.
  - I'd Rather Be Writing Podcasts - Tom Johnson, a technical writer at [Google](https://www.googlgoogle.com/), records his interviews, presentation recordings, individual monologues, etc.
- Blogs
  - I'd Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson, a technical writer at [Google](https://www.googlgoogle.com/), writes about API documentation, AI, and other topics about technical writing.
  - DITA Writer - Keith Schengili-Roberts, a senior manager for technical documentation at [AMD](https://www.amd.com/en.html), writes about DITA and technical writing community.
  - Just Write Click - Anne Gentle, the director of developer experience at [Cisco DevNet](https://developer.cisco.com/) and the book author of [Doc Like Code](https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Like-Code-Collaborate-Documentation/dp/1387531492?crid=8DXRF2ZTWSWM&keywords=9781387531493&qid=1670471714&sprefix=9781387531493,aps,118&sr=8-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=justwriteclic-20&linkId=d3f78a139ecd99587f61f6f21eef8356&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl), writes about her books, interviews, experience and insights about technical writing.
  - Everything Technical Writing - Linda Ikechukwu, a technical writer transitioned from a frontend developer, writes about what she learned and experienced as a technical writer in the software industry.
  - James' Coffee Blog - James Gallagher, a technical writer at [Roboflow](https://roboflow.com/) (a computer vision startup), writes about her daily work as a technical writer.
Text processing
- Regular expressions
  - Regular Expressions: The Complete Tutorial - Easy-to-understand and practical book for regex beginners.
  - Regex 101 - Online tool to build, test and debug regexes.
  - RegExr - Online tool to learn, build and test regexes.
  - Regular Expression Language: Quick Reference - Quick reference for regexes from Microsoft.
  - Regular Expression Syntax Cheat Sheet - Cheat sheet for regexes in the JavaScript Guide from MDN Web Docs.
- XSL
  - XSLT Tutorial - For XSLT beginners. It was developed by W3Schools.
  - XSLT Version 2.0: Second Edition - The latest official specification for XSLT, released on Mar 30, 2021.
  - XSLT Version 3.0 - The official specification for XSLT 3.0, released on Jun 8, 2017.
  - XPath Tutorial - For XPath beginners. It was developed by W3Schools.
  - XPath 3.1 - The latest official specification for XPath, released on Mar 21, 2017.
  - XSL-FO Tutorial - For XSL-FO beginners. It was developed by W3Schools.
  - XSL-FO Tutorial - Learn-by-example tutorial for XSL-FO beginners. It provides a series of examples working in [XEP](https://www.renderx.com/tools/xep.html).
  - XSL Version 1.1 - The lastest official specification for XSL-FO, released on Dec 05, 2006.
- PowerShell
  - PowerShell 101 - Book for PowerShell beginners. Its content is open to public by Microsoft on its website.
  - Everything You Want to Know about … - A series of articles about PowerShell, collected from the [PowerShell Explained](https://powershellexplained.com/) blog by Microsoft.
  - PowerShell Documentation - The official documentation for PowerShell 7.4.
  - Awesome PowerShell
Professional communications and knowledge sharing
- Webinars
  - Quark
Professional communications
- Webinars
  - The Content Wrangler - [BrightTALK](https://www.brighttalk.com/) channel for content management, with more than 70k subscribers.

Programming Languages

HTML 4 TypeScript 3 PowerShell 1 XSLT 1 CSS 1 Shell 1 JavaScript 1

Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

awesome-technical-writing-learning

Technical writing

Editorial style guides for technical writing

General purpose editorial style guides

Writing assistant software

Readability checkers

Courses for beginners

Textbooks and tutorials

Dictionaries

Authoring formats

Markdown

reStructuredText

DITA

S1000D

Technical illustrations

Readability checkers

Content accessibility

Introductory materials

Laws and regulations

Standards and specifications

Version control

PowerShell

Knowledge sharing

Podcasts

Blogs

Text processing

Regular expressions

XSL

PowerShell

Professional communications and knowledge sharing

Webinars

Professional communications

Webinars