Writing documentation

Structured authoring helps writers to write more efficiently and targeted. Users of structured documents can quickly find relevant and clear information.

Structured authoring is a way of writing in which you use:

• “information building blocks” determined by an information model
• standards, rules and guidelines to structure your text

You can apply structured authoring to all kinds of texts, regardless of the software application that you use. Read more.

Contact us if you need any of the following document types:

• technical: maintenance and repair manual, process description, quick start guide, work instruction, safety manual, standard operating procedures (SOP), reference guide
• web: web content, intranet
• business: presentation, policy, business plan, product description, service level agreement, offer
• training: trainer manual, training plans, e-learning, simulation, training guide, presentation
• IT: use case, specification, wiki knowledge base, online and onboard help, installation and configuration guide

DITA is an innovative method and an international OASIS standard for structuring and publishing content. The main idea of DITA is that you write small, structured chunks of information (“topics”) containing text, illustrations, tables and even video, which you manage in a central repository and reuse in various publications and documents (“single sourcing”). You save the topics in a standardized format (XML), which you can maintain and publish using a myriad of tools. DITA topics are easy to maintain, cut translation costs and are ideal for omnichannel publishing, for example on a smartphone or tablet. You can use various XML editors to write content in DITA, such as oXygen XML Author, FontoXML, XMetaL Author and Adobe FrameMaker with DITA-FMx.

You haven’t the slightest idea how to start writing that process description? Or does everyone write it in a different way, so there is no consistency? Use Flow’s document outlines. Forget those worries about the layout or structure of your document. Our outlines give you these basic structure, so you can focus on writing the content that you need.
Our document outlines are available in several languages and for different types of documents.

Documentation is written by experts, but not often for experts. We at Flow are the first real ‘users’ of your documentation or product. That is why our Flow team can ask the right questions:

• Which information is important for your customer?
• Which questions will your customer have?

Flow walks the thin line between expert and customer.

Does your documentation comply with the current norms and laws, like ISO IEC 82079-1:2012 and the machinery legislation?
Do you want to reorganize your documentation to obtain an ISO certification? We analyze your documentation and the requirements. That way you can convert existing documents and structure new documents right the first time.