Our guide for
technical documentation

Videos are widely used in modern technical documentation to clearly convey instructions. Video tutorials are popular, but…

The new version of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is currently causing some uncertainty among manufacturers. …

For several years now, docs as code has been a buzz word in the field of software documentation. It is an especially popu…

Our content management system SCHEMA ST4 is now available as a web-based version: ST4 Web Author. With ST4 Web Author, te…

Communicating complex technical content in comprehensible language—this is how a technical writer's job is typically desc…

Proofreading is almost inevitably one of the sticking points in any publication process. It occurs at the end of the proc…

The terms localization and translation always seem to create confusion. Occasionally, you hear people say that localizati…

This blog article is only available in German

This blog article is only available in German.

This blog article is only available in German.

Mechanical and plant engineering can be fascinating. Its methods and processes have developed over the years to make the …

For some time now, the topic of UX writing has been cropping up in technical writing departments time and time again. At …

The typical style guide is stored somewhere in a folder on the shelf, or it’s gathering dust in a file directory. The tru…

Choosing a content management system is one of the most important decisions in technical communication. As a layout and t…

Admittedly, we don't have a crystal ball, so we can't predict in detail what the content management system of the future …

A lot has happened in recent years at Quanos. The merger of Quanos Content Solutions and Quanos Service Solutions has all…

To create a web CMS, is it enough to simply recreate all the features of a professional CMS for technical authoring in ex…

Let us start by saying that you can never tell from the outside which standards will be of relevance to a technical writi…

For some companies, terminology work is an everyday occurrence. They appreciate the benefits of a well-maintained termino…

For many companies, systematic terminology work is still a closed book but it is a task worth taking seriously. After all…

There is a part of the technical writing process that almost every company has a different name for: in addition to revie…

Gerhard Glatz and Lara Kraegel are technical writers at Dokuschmiede, a service provider for technical communication and …

In principle, technical writing and marketing do the same thing: they communicate with customers about a company's produc…

There are many reasons why technical documentation has different variants. But what is the best way for a technical writi…

Most technical writers agree that variants are one of the biggest challenges in technical authoring. But where do these v…

This blog article is only available in German.

Warnings are inevitable elements of operating instructions. At best, inconsistency, incorrect placement, or too much or t…

Of the many content modules that make up a manual, warnings are probably the most sensitive. If errors occur here, there …

Just like many other office jobs, the landscape of technical writing departments has changed dramatically. Mobile working…

This blog article is only available in German.

With technical documentation, one thing is pretty much a certainty: lots of pictures. After all, you have to show again a…

Editorial Guide, Style Guide, Documentation Guidelines – almost every team of technical writers has one or more documents…

“Doesn’t a technical writer just write down what the developer/engineer built?”. You still hear this misconception from t…

Let’s consider the why question for a moment. After all, sometimes it’s not a bad idea to go back to basics. What actuall…

Introducing a CMS is about more than just buying software. After all, the provider is just as important as the product. C…

If you’re thinking about introducing a component content management system (CCMS), you will of course want to know whethe…

Sometimes the answer to the question “At what point do you need a component content management system?” is quite obvious:…

“The support team just called. The latest issues of the maintenance manuals still contain old component names. It’s resul…

Aren’t we looking here at something that is almost an oxymoron? You could be forgiven for thinking so. “Agile” – a word w…

Many people are sick and tired of all the non-stop chatter about digitalisation, of Industry 4.0 and smart information. I…

One of the most important objectives of an instruction manual is to ensure that the product is used safely. This comes as…

Technical writers must be able to handle the wide range of tasks involved in creating a document. Not only do operating i…

Getting modularisation right is a critical success factor when working with content management systems such as SCHEMA ST4…

The verb “to sanction” can mean “to approve” as well as “to punish”. The Oxford English Thesaurus apparently lists 380 sy…

“Many from one!” That might sound a bit like witchcraft. But it is common practice in our SCHEMA ST4 Component Content Ma…

Authoring work is fun! Optimising and structuring content, modelling content management, refining the layout: this type o…

Labelling images and creating image legends are frequently recurring tasks facing technical writers. With SCHEMA ST4’s Ca…

Authoring processes can be optimised with a content management system, because such a tool provides efficient solutions f…

Imagine that your company produces fan heaters. Winter is slowly approaching and you know that the coming months will be …

If your company wants to market its products abroad, it goes without saying that you’ll need your documents translated in…

It almost always helps when people talk to each other. From a service provider’s perspective, chatbots can be a good way …

Working with software is nothing unusual in this day and age. There are hardly any professions that can manage without a …

In technical writing, content naturally does not come out of nowhere. Ideally, it emerges in parallel with the product, t…

You may have heard about it in our report ahead of the tekom annual conference – Callout in Motion is a powerful new feat…

For around the last five years, the technical communications sector has been focussing more and more of its efforts on a …

There is no doubt about it: how-to videos are becoming increasingly popular. Already in 2016, one third of online video u…

On 4 June 2018, the 2018 version of ST4 was launched, bringing with it probably the most comprehensive innovation since t…

There’s no denying that it was a true eye-catcher at the SCHEMA Conference: visitors to the Nuremberg exhibition centre w…

Do I implement a Content Management System, yes or no? We are often asked this somewhat philosophical question, so we now…

Anyone in the authoring and documentation industry has undoubtedly heard of “separating content, structure and layout”. …

In its different versions, SCHEMA ST4 contains some useful tools: from Page Layout Designer, with which you can create la…