Create a Simple Business Request Form In Microsoft Power Apps
Webinar presented: August 30, 2022
Presenter: Aleshia Jefferson
In this webinar, Aleshia Jefferson used a spreadsheet pre-template to document the metadata necessary to build a form in MS Power Apps. The pre-template allows you to keep track of the data you want to capture, so you have a model for presenting your thoughts and ideas to your customer, and it allows you to troubleshoot or make changes before you build your list in SharePoint. The recording* discusses the pre-template, some salient points about SharePoint, and building the MS Power Apps form.
Below is a copy of the presentation with handy tips and resources along with an example of a pre-template and some formulas that can be used with MS Power Apps:
*Due to technical difficulties, the recording will be posted at a later date.
Using FS Pro to Automate Documentation Creation
Webinar presented: July 28, 2022
Presenter: Jenn Buckley of J Buckley Consulting
In this STC P&P webinar, Jenn Buckley of J Buckley Consulting, LLC demonstrates FS Pro for Microsoft Word, which is a third-party software that runs within MS Word. FS Pro automates document formatting, following the Information Mapping Methodology.
Disclaimer: This webinar is a demo of FS Pro and is not intended to provide insight into the Information Mapping Methodology.
Come Join the P&P Sig Slack Channel
Slack is a virtual communication tool and a free benefit for STC members. On Slack, you can meet, engage, and collaborate with fellow technical communication colleagues. The P&P SIG Channel is #sig-policies-procedures. Once you locate us, right-click the name and STAR us.
Click here to join, so you can receive a code to create your account. If you have trouble with the link, please wait and try again after a day or two. Once you are in, go to the Society for Technical Communication Slack Workspace* then look for us (#sig-policies-procedures).
You can also download the Slack client/app for Windows or for Mac. You will need to sign in using your email address and the provided code.
Everyone who joins the STC Slack community is valued and should be treated with respect and courtesy. As such, STC has a Code of Conduct thread that lays out the expected behavior of Slack members; it applies to all channels and areas of the STC Communities Slack workspace.
If you feel that you have a case where someone’s conduct violates or establishes certain behaviors, STC has a thread with guidelines for Reporting Issues.
*Workspaces comprise many different channels.
P&P SIG Spring 2022 Meeting of the Minds
Calling all Policies and Procedures (P&P) SIG members! Join us in a virtual meeting of the minds on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, from Noon EST/11am CST (1 hour). Come and get to know the SIG’s new co-Managers and other volunteer leaders, find out what we’ve been up to, and learn how you can contribute. We would also like to hear from you to get your input, ideas, and interests. Feel free to submit any questions or topics of interest prior to the meeting.
The webinar is FREE. To register, reply to manager@ppsig-mailstc.org with:
- Your name
- Your contact email address
- Any input, ideas, interests, or questions.
We will respond by sending you a link to the webinar. Thank you in advance, and we look forward to talking with you.
One more thing!
We will be attending the STC Summit in Rosemont, IL 15 -18 May 2022.
It’s not too late to join us!
Meaningful Content: Cross-Functional Techniques That Create Impact
Presenters: Bonnie Chase and Sara Feldman
In the last hour of the 2021 Summit, I was exhausted. It had been a very long day, and I was unable to give it my full undivided attention, because I was torn between focusing on ‘must attend’ meetings or preferably, sitting with Bonnie and Sara. I was so happy that I was able to sit in on their session because there was plenty of energy, knowledge, and information in that room. For those who did not attend this session, they missed a treat. Bonnie and Sara discussed the ideology of ‘content’, establishing how it was ‘purposeful’, ‘demand-driven’, and ‘contextually-relevant’. And I immediately thought to myself, “Well how is that?” And explain, they did. Content is ‘purposeful’ because we use it daily on the job in the tools we build and interact with, we use it as inspiration, and we use it as a tool for gratification. Content is ‘demand-driven’ because it is a way of promoting an achievement; or we use it to give customers an easy way of digesting information; and it can be used to collect measurements about a product or service. Additionally, content is ‘contextually-relevant’ because it says we are committed and focused, and it can move customers to a state of anticipation. Continue reading “Meaningful Content: Cross-Functional Techniques That Create Impact”
Bridging Products, Portals, and Content Gaps with Learning Maps
Presenters: Tyrin Avery and Erin Wagner Tidwell (Salesforce)
Learning Maps are a networked ecology of portals and/or products designed in such a way that people across businesses and even organizational entities are able to easily learn or locate information quickly. From a user interface (UI) perspective, Learning Maps allow the user to follow a staged path whereby selecting a topic from the path renders three additional tables of topics, narrowing the information to more specific content. The tool itself is built using CSS/HTML and some JavaScript, along with ‘Git’, an open-source tool created to control versioning, and ‘Heroku’, which functions as the publishing platform (it puts your content in the cloud). Continue reading “Bridging Products, Portals, and Content Gaps with Learning Maps”
P&P SIG Awarded 2021 Bronze Community achievement Award
The Policies and Procedures SIG leadership team is pleased to announce that the SIG has once again earned the Bronze Community Achievement Award (CAA). This award recognizes our community’s accomplishments and activities for 2020.
Our award citation reads, “For your educational and social outreach, including at the P&P SIG Virtual Open House and Virtual Social Event, impressive membership growth, and creative budget repurposing to send members to the STC Summit.
Per the STC’s website, “The Community Achievement Award recognizes a SIG, professional or student chapter’s outstanding accomplishments in achieving the Society’s goals through a wide range of programs and activities.” The application is a comprehensive point-based application.
Thank you to the volunteers who helped make our award possible.
Thank you also to the P&P SIG members for supporting our SIG. The leadership team looks forward to seeing you at a future SIG event. Please check our website for volunteer opportunities. (www.stc-pp.org)
The P&P SIG Leadership Team
Avoidable Problems: Lean Lessons from Writing a UX Manual
What kind of lessons can our workflows teach us about the ways we can streamline our writing?
About this Event
Nathan Richardson is a self-published author, an English major at UMaine Presque Isle, Facilitator of the STC Accessibility COI, and an avid proponent of simplifying things. His skills include technical writing, information design, Lean, and project planning and management.
The Art of Interviewing SMEs and Tech Comm Celebrities
This session is part of the Project Management, Leadership, and Career Development (PM) track of the Summit. The presenter of this session, Nicky Bleiel, has over 20 years of technical communication experience, is Past President of STC, and served as an STC Director-At-Large for five years. She is also a past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of STC and has won multiple STC competition awards. In addition to these leadership positions, she has served as a judge for various STC competitions, and published and reviewed for STC Summit and STC’s journal, Technical Communication.
For today’s presentation, Ms. Bleiel presented on the key considerations for interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs) and well-known technical communicators. Before conducting your interview, make sure you are well-prepared with questions prepared and preliminary research completed. Be sure to review all product/subject-related information, diagrams and drawings, and related documentation. Do you have a good idea of the tools and technologies this SME uses in their work environment?
When starting the interview, be sure to cover the Five Ws:
• Who would use this feature?
• Why should they use this feature?
• When would users use this feature?
• When shouldn’t they use it?
• What are the prerequisites?
Continue reading “The Art of Interviewing SMEs and Tech Comm Celebrities”