A book about technical communication on Confluence wiki
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. 
Posted on 29 November 2011, in book, Confluence, confluence tech comm chocolate, technical writing, wiki and tagged book, chocolate, Confluence, confluence tech comm chocolate, technical communication, technical documentation, technical writing, wiki. Bookmark the permalink. 49 Comments.
You had me at ‘chocolate’.
LOL Patty!
Fantastic! I cannot wait to buy it. Did you by chance cover anything on translation/localization such as sending the xml files to an LSP without the page history? That’s the only part about the wiki that we weren’t able to do. Is there anything about using DITA XML with the wiki? Other than that, I loved using Confluence for user docs instead of WebHelp.
Hallo Gina
There’s a chapter about exporting and importing content, which mentions translation as one of the reason why we would need to do that. The chapter describes the plugins available to export the pages to DocBook XML or Word format. Some LSPs prefer one, some the other There currently isn’t a DITA export available, but there are a couple of solutions for DITA import.
Export to DocBook is via the Scroll Wiki DocBook Exporter plugin: https://plugins.atlassian.com/plugin/details/725767?versionId=747365
Export to Word is via the Scroll Office plugin: https://plugins.atlassian.com/plugin/details/24982?versionId=770900
DITA import is via WebWorks ePublisher (http://www.webworks.com/) or the DITA2Wiki project (http://sourceforge.net/projects/dita2wiki/).
I’m so glad you’re enjoying Confluence. It was great reading your blogs about the progress of the project when you kicked it off!
Cheers, Sarah
Congratulations! I look forward to reading it.
Thanks Matthew!
Excellent. I’m particularly excited about the comprehensive scope and any advice you have about the esoteric concepts.
LOL, I should have expected such a hilarious comment from you. Thanks Arwen!
Fantastic news! Congratulations.
Absolutely can’t wait to read it.
Thanks Emma.
Cool Sarah! Thats good news! I’m (guess I should say ‘we are‘) really looking forward to read your book!
Thanks Johannes. You know what, I’m looking forward to reading it too. And especially to seeing it all packaged inside a cover.
Congratulations Sarah! Will Mark Wordsworm and Peg make an appearance?
Hallo there Rhonda,
Ha ha, that’s not a bad guess. They won’t be there, but you’re thinking along the right sort of lines.
Cheers, Sarah
Congratulations Sarah! I’ll be keen to read a copy when it becomes available!
Thanks Giles!
When can I preorder! Congratulations!
Thanks Michael.
Michael,
Regarding pre-order, there will probably be pre-order available on Barnes and Noble in early January, but because the production cycle is short (4 weeks after editing), often the pre-order comes up at about the same time the book is available
.
Congratulations Sarah! I’m curious to see how you’ll link technical documentation on Confluence to chocolate, but if there’s anyone who can do it, and do it well, it’s you!
Hallo Sarah
Thanks! We must share a hot choc when the book comes out. Put The Chocolate Room in your diary for early next year?
Cheers, Sarah
Sounds wonderful. I’m reserving a spot on my bookshelf for it.
Thanks Tom! I hope yours is a roomy bookshelf.
Excellent! About time. Can’t wait for it!
Thanks demonkoryu. I can’t wait either!
Absolutely wonderful news Sarah! But, I am still stumped at Chocolate!? Waiting eagerly for the book…
Hallo Shweta,
LOL “stumped at chocolate”? I never thought I’d hear those words from a tech writer’s lips. Thanks for the good wishes.
Cheers, Sarah
This is very exciting news, Sarah. Good for you!
As a technical communicator, I’m always glad to hear that someone knows and loves me.
Thanks Larry! (heart)
This is great news Sarah! Can’t wait to see the book and congrats!
Thank you so much, Marian.
Very cool news. I look forward to having a chance to read it.Congratulations Sarah.
Thanks paul! It’s really cool to receive all these good wishes from you and the others on this post too.
Cheers, Sarah.
This is wonderful news! Especially the recommendations for using chocolate
~Matt
Thanks Matt. Soon I’ll be able to swap authors’s stories with you!
Cheers, Sarah.
Excellent timing! We’re just looking into Confluence for a wiki and I’m excited about its capabilities for more – a useful and collaborative spot for all our product information, especially the technical stuff!
Hallo Karen
That’s great news. If you have recently installed Confluence, then it will be version 4.0. There is quite a difference between that version and the Confluence 3.x series. It would be interesting to hear what you think about it, especially as someone who hasn’t used an earlier version. Thanks for your good wishes too!
Cheers, Sarah
Did someone mention chocolate?
Good luck on the book, Sarah!
Chocolate? Wha… me? Ha ha, thanks. Arnold!
This is so great, Sarah. Can’t wait to read it!
Thanks Adam!
ffeathers, I love your blog and follow regularly, please accept this nomination!
I have nominated your blog for the Liebster Award.
This nomination process is from fellow bloggers who are supporting blogs of fewer than 200 followers.
There are a few requirements that come with this award. They are:
1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogsphere – other bloggers.
5. And, best of all – have fun and spread the karma.
Hallo Tasha
Thank you for nominating my blog, and congratulations to you too on a very engaging blog of your own. I love the way you mix frank, personal experiences with the technical writing side of things.
Cheers, Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Kudos to the Confluence Team for pulling me into the Web 2.0 of Help/Content Creation!
Although, I know this book is going to be all about Confluence.. I would really really love to read about different aspects of publishing workflows with wikis and also how you use chocolates to get things going
Best,
Ruchita
Hallo Ruchita
It sounds as if you’re having a good time with Confluence and technical documentation already. Awesome! I’m so glad you’re looking forward to reading the book. Thanks so much for adding this comment. Are you a fan of chocolate too?
Cheers, Sarah
Hi Sarah
Is there a preview available for this book. I am interested in reviewing and providing feedback.
Thanks
Modha/-
Hallo Modha
There will be a preview available on the book’s page at XML Press soon. You can also sign up there for news about the book.
Cheers, Sarah
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