Technical Writing - A Checklist For a Software Document Writing Project

Here is a general check list that you might find useful to make sure your software documentation project does not miss anything:
-Do you have access to the software project's Scope Document? -Do you have access to the functional and marketing specs of the software project? -Have you written a Documentation Plan for this project? -Is your Documentation Plan approved by the client or the authorized project manager? -Do you know who will review the document? -

Do you have an approved Template for this project? -Do you know where you'll get your image and/or multi-media files from? -Do you have an official Style Guideline that you'll follow? -Will there be any single-sourced collaterals (like a help file, or a different-sized version of the same document) compiled from the same source file? -Will you need any hardware to complete the project? -Will you need to travel to other locations to gather information for the project? -

Will you need to interview any Subject Matter Experts to complete the project? -Will you need to participate in or arrange any teleconferences or webinars to gather information or report about the project? -What version management platform will you use for document version control? (MS SourceSafe? Agile?) -How will you backup your files? -Will you write the document alone or will there be other technical writers on the project? -Will there be any in-house peer review required before you submit the document to official management review? -Will the end product be localized and translated to other languages? -Do you need to follow any special guidelines for localization? -Will you have any access to a tracker system to incorporate the results of bug reports? -Will you need to compile any training materials/sets from the source files?

If you take the necessary measures and precautions ahead of time depending on the answers to these questions you'll have a more successful documentation performance.

If you are interested to read more about what technical writing is all about and how it can help you earn a steady living, visit http://www.learntechnicalwriting.com. You might be pleasantly surprised with what you'll find out. Join the thousands who are already helped and inspired by this information provided by a Fortune 500 Senior Technical Writer. Visit today and claim your free report "How Much Do Technical Writers Make?"
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ugur_Akinci