A book about technical communication on Confluence wiki
Monday, 28 November 2011 20:11
Big news: I’m writing a book! It’s about developing technical documentation on a wiki, and specifically about Confluence. I started the project six months ago. Now the content is written and the technical review is about to start! Exciting and scary, all at once.
This is the title of the book:
Confluence, tech comm, chocolate
A wiki as platform extraordinaire for technical communication
It will be published in early 2012 by Richard Hamilton at XML Press.
What’s in it?
The book is primarily a guide to developing technical documentation on Confluence. But that’s not all. There are ideas and philosophies, tips and tricks, and special notes for technical writers about why a wiki is the tool we dream of. Many of the ideas apply to wikis in general, although the book focuses on Confluence because that’s the one I know best.
It’s a book for technical communicators, from someone who knows and loves them. It’s also for product owners, CEOs, developers and anyone else who is considering a wiki as a platform for technical communication.
The first part of the book introduces wikis and Confluence. Part 2 is an in-depth guide to developing technical documentation on Confluence. It starts with planning and design, moves on to developing content, through workflow all the way to release management. The more esoteric concepts are there too, such as content reuse, structure, style and online help. In part 3 we see what it’s like to work on a wiki. The book finishes with a section crammed with ideas. It’s all about making the most of the unique features that a wiki provides, to turn your documentation into technical communication extraordinaire.
Just in case you’re wondering: This isn’t an Atlassian project. It’s all my own, though of course Atlassian management and my closest colleagues know about it. It will be fun to see what other Atlassians have to say when they see the book. And when they see this post. 
By the end of the book you will know everything I’ve learned in the past four years of working on a wiki. Oh, and chocolate plays a part too.
More coming soon
The illustrations are done. I love them! We’re about to start the cover design. I’ll show it to you as soon as it’s ready.
Who’s in the book?
There are even some characters in the book. I’ll introduce you to them soon. Watch this blog. 
Read more http://ffeathers.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/book-about-tech-comm-on-confluence-wiki/
