Technical Communication at the University of Kansas

The links on this page provide great information for technical communicators.

Click here for HTML and websites links on this page.
Click here for research resources links on this page.
Click here for the Careers in Technical Communication links page.

Blackboard
Where to turn in all your assignments!

Blackboard Tutorial
Step-by-step instructions on how to get assignments and submit projects via Blackboard (previous-version screenshots, but works the same).

Creative Commons Licenses
Their self-description: "The Creative Commons copyright licenses and tools forge a balance inside the traditional 'all rights reserved' setting that copyright law creates. Our tools give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions to their creative work. The combination of our tools and our users is a vast and growing digital commons, a pool of content that can be copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and built upon, all within the boundaries of copyright law."

Markel's Companion Website
This site contains vast amounts of information, practice exercises, examples, "Case of the Month," and a giant link library for technical communicators. It even has teaching resources, such as Microsoft PowerPoint slides for using as lectures! Your time roving this site is well-spent.

KU Writer's Roosts
This site puts you in contact with writing consultants who can work with writers from all disciplines. These consultants are qualified to look at papers from architecture to zoology. They are also able to work with students at any level and at any stage of their writing process, from first draft to final product.

The Roosts are open in several different locations across campus. Check the website at www.writing.ku.edu for current locations and hours. The Roosts welcome both drop-ins and appointments, and they do not charge for their services.

Dictionary.com
This site contains another online dictionary.

Internet.com PC Webopedia
This site contains a dictionary of technical terms.

Free Microsoft Office Viewers
If you want to post, say, a Microsoft Word document on your website, some people might not be able to read it because they don't have Microsoft Office on their computers. But, hark! Here is your answer: Include a link to the free readers listed on this page, and all will be well. Also, this might be your answer if you want to read Office documents created elsewhere, but don't want to buy Office for your home (or shared) computer.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary
This site contains Merriam-Webster's online dictionary.

Society for Technical Communication
The STC is a membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication.

Symbols.com
This website contains "the world's largest online encyclopedia of graphic symbols," and uses an advanced index with search feature to help you find the symbol you need for your technical document.

TechWeb Encyclopedia
This site contains an encyclopedia of technical terms.

WinWriters
Resources and conference for technical writers (particularly in the computer field).

Wikipedia.org
The worldwide, open-source encyclopedia. If you can't find it here, add it yourself!

WinWriters' List of Software Tools for Technical Writers
Go here to find the tool you need for your documentation projects. Includes authoring, editing, graphics, web, and project management tools with links to the manufacturers; some of those links lead to free trial downloads of the software tools.

 HTML and Website-Building Links

Getting Your Own Web Space - Free

KU Academic Computing Web Hosting
Sign up here for a free personal Website at KU. Go here to see the whole tutorial on How to Create a Free KU Website.

KU Web Standards Reference
If you want to build an official KU Website, you need to follow these guidelines.

HTML References

Backgrounds and Colors Reference
Handy and in-depth reference for writing Web page backgrounds.

Basic Background Image Samples
Good, basic background images to give your pages some texture. Download these and FTP them up to your site rather than hot-link to this site.

Background Image Samples
This is a really nice resource for background images to use on your Web pages. Download these and FTP them up to your site rather than hot-link to this site.

Color Scheme Designer
A super tool for trying out color schemes for your website. It uses a color wheel and then shows colors that go well together... heck, it's easier to just show you a screenshot of it in action.

Font Directory by Google
This page lists several font faces and shows how they appear on your browser, plus discusses how to use the open API they offer.

Forms in HTML (W3C standards)
Abstract: This document specifies how to create forms in HTML. An HTML form is a section of a document containing special elements like checkboxes, radio buttons, menus, and labels on those controls. Users generally "complete" a form by entering text, selecting menu items, and so on before submitting the form to a Web server, mail server, and so on.

Frames in HTML (W3C standards)
Abstract: This document specifies level 1 of the Cascading Style Sheet mechanism (CSS1). CSS1 is a simple style sheet mechanism that allows authors and readers to attach style (e.g. fonts, colors and spacing) to HTML documents.

HTML and CSS Tips and FAQs
I put together this little demo and mini-tutorial to give you ideas and help solve basic problems. Check it out!

What's New in HTML5
This page lists the new elements and attributes unique to the new HTML version 5.

HTML Color Codes
This page lists all the colors, their friendly names, and their corresponding HTML codes for use in brightening up Web pages.

HTML Font Faces
This page lists several font faces and shows how they appear on your browser. Handy!

HTML Special Characters
This page lists the codes to type when you want something like the trademark symbol™, non-breaking spaces, and much more. And here's another one.

List of HTML Tags
A simple list of all the tags you can use when building a website.

Webmonkey Color Codes Reference
This page lists all the colors and corresponding codes for use in brightening up Web pages.

Webmonkey HTML Codes Reference
This page lists and describes the most-used HTML tags for use in building Web pages.

HTML Tutorials

How to Create a Free KU Website
Start here if you're new at this. I put together this quick overview of how to get a free website at KU, make the pages that will become your website, and then upload your files to the Internet.

HTML Code Tutorial
A great way to learn all about HTML, frames, and cascading style sheets.

HTML Dog
This site contains a number of excellent HTML, CSS, and other tutorials.

HTML Goodies
A great source for learning about HTML. Includes a self-directed course.

HTML Tutorial
Learn how to write HTML. By the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI).

Markel's Web Design Tutorial
Super resource site for building Web pages.

Web Pages That Suck
This site helps you make better Web sites by pointing out common errors Web-designers make.

HTML and FTP Program Downloads - Free

ConTEXT
This full-featured program-language interface highlights elements of code (in this case, HTML) far easier editing than with Notepad alone.

Firebug
If you use the Mozilla Firefox Web browser, this free snap-in gives you development tools to make building your website a snap. Still requires some learning to take full advantage of its features, but if you keep building websites, it's worth a try.

HTML Kit
This full-featured HTML editor is also available to download from Download.com.

Mozilla Composer
Go here to download Mozilla - the Web browser - with its built-in HTML editor called "Composer."

Notepad++
This program gives you a lot more power in editing Web pages than a basic text editor like Notepad, because it shows tags, tag attributes, and content in different colors. Check out this screenshot I took to get an idea of how handy it can be. To download, click Download Notepad++ executable files on the SourceForge page.

TextWrangler (for Mac)
This is a highly recommended basic-text editor for use on Macintosh computers. Think of it as Notepad for Mac.

Transmit (for Mac)
This is a recommended secure FTP (SFTP) program for use on Macintosh computers. Be sure to use the SFTP tab in the program!

WinSCP
This kind of program is necessary for transferring files from your computer to your Website, safely and securely. Important: You must use a secure FTP (SFTP) program, like this one, to upload files to KU servers.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Scripting, and XHTML

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for Beginners (W3C)
Learn to use cascading style sheets (CSS) from the people who set the standards. "The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding."

Cascading Style Sheets, Level 1 (W3C standards)
Abstract: This document specifies level 1 of the Cascading Style Sheet mechanism (CSS1). CSS1 is a simple style sheet mechanism that allows authors and readers to attach style (e.g. fonts, colors and spacing) to HTML documents.

Cascading Style Sheets, Tips and Tricks (W3C)
A random collection of CSS examples and some help in using them.

CSS Tips and Tricks
A nice guide to mastering CSS with lots of tips.

Scripts in HTML Documents (W3C standards)
Scripts allow you more control over your HTML documents and Web pages than simple HTML coding allows. This W3C document specifies scripting standards for HTML pages.

XHTML References and Tutorials
This site contains much of what you need to know in order to get started in XHTML, the Web language that brings XML online.

Other HTML Tools

Textism: Word HTML Cleaner
This neat tool allows you to clean up documents saved in Microsoft Office and turn them into HTML documents... though it still requires a bit of cleanup.

 Research Links

Here are links to some popular Web search engines:

AltaVista
Ask Jeeves
Excite
Google
HotBot
Lycos
Metacrawler
MSN Search
NorthernLight
Yahoo!

More research-related links:

SearchEngineWatch
This Website tracks all the search engines in use. Lots of information, some of which might be useful.

Diana Hacker's Companion Website
This site contains almost all of the information you'll find in Diane Hacker's handbook, Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age. Appropriate enough for a book about online research, I might add!

Google's Guide to Advanced Web Searches ("Cheat Sheet") 
This is the reference you need to perform the most-accurate and quickest Web search using Google and many other Web-based search engines. Invaluable.

KU Faculty Experts Guide
Search here to find subject-matter experts who work for the University.

The KU Libraries Research Website
This is the portal to all the University Libraries have to offer, including online databases. Invaluable!

Lexis-Nexis
Use this free-to-KU (from campus terminals) research site to find anything ever published. An awesome research tool.

Librarians' Index to the Internet
Wonderful research for all researchers, put together by librarians whose job it is to help you find what you need.

The WWW Virtual Library
Another Internet index put together by the loving hands of librarians.

Click this link to go to the Careers in Technical Communication Page

Stay tuned - more links to come.