atw: Re: XML - a requirement for a TechWriter looking forwork?
- From: "Warren Lewington" <wjlewington@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:00:53 +1000
I can agree with the below. I spent one day getting a website in CSS sorted.
Then four months tweaking the code to get it to work in Netscape, FIreFox,
Mozilla, IE etc. 4 months...
You must know the basics of CSS and html to have a handle on what does and
doesn't work. I never have the code split view or code view off when working
with (spit spit) FrontPage or (bah humbug) DreamWeaver open.
One tool that is a HUGE help is TopStyle. I highly recommend it when working
with CSS. It is an essential tool. Even with the supposedly better embedded
CSS support by FrontPage and DreamWeaver (NightMareWEaver??). Actually,
Adobe GOLive was a far better html editor than DreamWeaver for people who
knew html and CSS. Anyway.
As for XML, I went madly into learning it six years ago. Forgotten all about
it. Never used it. WordPerfect has had a XML module within it for years, but
the damn thing was so incomprehensible to understand that I gave it up - and
I could have used it for one of my clients. Journalists are using bespoke
software that generates XML, like ArborText. And to get hold of anything
like those tools to use and become knowledgeable with is beyond the cost of
my humble turnover. I would be honoured to learn them though...
Cheeky bugger...
Regards;
Warren
PS: And remember, recruiters are often two steps away from the mine shaft,
and hence never really know what is actually going on at the coal-face.
-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Hedley Finger
Sent: Wednesday, 10 September 2008 18:19
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: XML - a requirement for a TechWriter looking forwork?
Nikki:
Just go to Seek, Google, or whatever and search for "+(technical|tech)
+(writer|communicator|documenter) +(xml|xhtml|html)". The mechanics of
a boolean search might be different for different job-search engines.
Then make enquiries about the rates of pay on the jobs that turn up.
Of course, you don't need XML to get a job as a technical writer. It's
only needed if you want a higher-paying job. So do your research and
make up your mind whether there is going to be more or less demand in the
near future for people who can do transformations with XSLT, print output
with CSS or XSL-FO, and style interactive pages with fanfolds and forms.
And for anybody that thinks Dreamweaver or FrontPage (worst browser-breaking
code in the business) is all you need to write an HTML page, they are
kidding themselves. Just visit some of the lists frequented by CSS and
XHTML practitioners and you will be amazed at the amount of traffic largely
relating to hacks to get pages to look the same on all browsers. These
might do for an amateur web site but not for a bullet-proof corporate site
or customise web help for an application.
Oddly enough, Internet Explorer is the main culprit; just google for
hasLayout, the One-Pixel Bug, and the Box Model Hack. You know bugs are
serious when they get capitalised names and become famous. As it happens, I
just ran a test this morning on CSS compliance of IE 7, Opera 9.5, Firefox
3.01, Safari 3.1, Netscape 9.0.0.6, Amaya 10 (from the W3C, no less!), and
SeaMonkey 1.1.11 and they all failed except Opera and Safari, with Firefox
3.01 (the latest) running an acceptable second.
Whatever IDE you use for XML/XHTML content development, just remember that
Code View is your best friend.
Regards,
Hedley
--
Hedley Finger
28 Regent Street Camberwell VIC 3124 Australia
Tel. +61 3 9809 1229 Fax. (call phone first)
Mob. (cell) +61 412 461 558
Email. "Hedley Finger" <hfinger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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