Hugh's Muse

Windows Media Encoder is free of charge. Use this procedure to quickly and easily produce screen capture videos, including audio, mouse movements, text entries, and application dialogs. It is best used to show short procedures where a visual representation is warranted. For audio, a microphone headset is strongly encouraged.

1. Download and install Windows Media Encoder 9.

2. Start > Programs > Windows Media > Windows Media Encoder.

3. Click Capture Screen > OK.

4. Choose options for the screen capture:

a. Specific window – The next dialog box allows you to choose any window that is already open on your system.

b. Region of the screen – The next dialog box allows you to enter exact coordinates, or choose to drag the pointer over the region to be captured.

c. Entire Screen – The next dialog box allows you to specify a location for the output file.

d. Choose audio if you want > Next.

5. If you haven’t already done so, specify a location for the output file > if desired, click the checkbox to Flash border during capture > Next.

6. Choose a file setting option (Medium is most common) > Next.

7. Enter information as desired in the display text boxes > Next.

Note: This information is displayed only if users have enabled captions in their Windows Media Player.

8. Review the options.

9. If you did not choose Audio in step 4d, then you can start capturing immediately by verifying that the checkbox is chosen to Begin capturing screens when I click Finish > Finish.

10. If you chose Audio in step 4d, then you should first confirm your microphone setting by deselecting the checkbox to Begin capturing screens when I click Finish > Next.

a. In the top menu bar, click View > Properties Panel > click the Audio checkbox > in the drop-down, select your microphone device > Apply.

11. In the top menu bar, click Start Encoding > OK. Your encoding session begins.

Note: To pause the encoding session, click the encoder button in your Windows taskbar.

12. To stop encoding, click the encoder button in your Windows taskbar > click Stop in the top menu bar. The system saves your finished wmv file to the location you specified in step 5.

13. To review your wmv encoding, click Play Output File or launch Windows Media Player and browse to the wmv file.

14. When you close Windows Media Encoder, you are prompted to save the session, which saves the application settings in a handy wme file. Later, you can use this wme file to launch the program directly without reconfiguring the settings.

To whom it may concern, in 2005 I wrote an article for the NC chapter of the STC, entitled An Intranet Story

It occurred to me that technical writers would make the best ghost writers, as that is what they do in the corporate environment anyway. As I have most of my experience as a writer in an engineering world, my focus was always customer-facing. Then, with the advent of the web, I became a web-writer and knowledge manager. Today, I see the need for writers across the board in any company — especially in these three areas:

1. Sales
2. Support
3. Marketing

All these orgs need writers to develop and manage information that is either web-based or is distributed primarily via the web. Pages and collateral should represent their respective organizations, but do not need to be written by them. The web infrastructure itself may be created and maintained by an IT group, or some other technical wizard, but the information therein needs a professional communicator to shine.

No longer must the tech writer be confined to the customer documentation group in the enterprise. The sooner they realize this and break out, the better off any company will be, whether in their intranet/extranet/internet channels.

Just like good indexes in books, information is best organized into categories of nouns and verbs. For example, "Ordering - Posters, Hardware Universe" and "Posters, Hardware Universe - Ordering." This way, users can find information along the two paths that are most natural to the human condition. The user may think to himself I need to order a Hardware Universe poster...and so he goes off to find either how to order, or the poster itself. Such is the nature of implicit and explicit searching.

Common enterprise web pitfalls to avoid

- Competing sites or communication channels.
- Competing page content on same site.
- Duplicated content in multiple sites.
- Stale links.
- Links to other sites not labeled as such.
- Inconsistent look-and-feel and/or architectual framework.
- Non-standard or unexpected UI layout.
- Unclear enterprise sites' hierarchy.
- Acronym jungle.
- No timestamps or feedback links.
- Busy too-textual pages.
- High-value info buried below 3-clicks.
- Non-complementary cross-linking.
- Text links not explicit, cater to expert audience only.
- Focus on consumers but not contributors.

Enterprise website goals

1. Consistency
2. Consolidation
3. Clarity
4. Collaboration
5. Current+critical content
6. Quick & Easy

Enterprise portals

All of the above, plus...
- Navigational hub
- Single authority for resources

The business of the enterprise web is to facilitate the management of information for an ever-changing audience with ever-changing needs. Therefore, you should build an architecture that supports all facets of information, and which does not simply view content as data or objects. This means working in the world of Information Lifecycle Management (ILM).

Not all information is created equal — you should consider:
- WHO are the contributors and consumers (and how many over time). Who, among these, represent the PRIMARY audience?
- WHAT topics the content addresses (for example: the type is functional spec, the subject is replication, the category is release 12.4.1, and the product is FAS4000). What is its purpose?
- WHERE the information is within its workflow (phases and gates — plan/design/review/implement/maintain/archive) and WHERE it lives in knowledge base (multiple paths to same content)
- WHEN it was created and WHEN its status changes (online draft/final, nearline maintenance, offline archived, retention period until expiry)
- WHY it has value over time and to which audience (purpose changes).
- HOW it is used which directly impacts its overall treatment.

So who cares? Well, it all boils down to how we, as keepers of information, promote effective communication. After analyzing content using the techniques above, the webmaster is armed with enough information to properly manage information and leverage its value to the fullest.

Fist, this is me:


Now, the rulez.

These are personal guidelines only. They are based upon the premise that an intranet is a communication channel. I add a rule when I feel that it is an absolute truism, which occurs nowadays only about once a year.

The system of interaction is the foundation of the experience. Content is largely the means to an end – it has a dimension in social space as well as on the screen...In practical terms, that means moving a product's center of gravity out toward the edges, where the network can build a phenomenon around it. - The Lonely Crowd, Industry Standard, 2/26/01

In no particular order:

Content is king.
Change is an absolute.
You can't satisfy everyone, but you should try to satisfy most of 'em.
Simpler is better.
Proof before you post.
Steal everything.
Every end-user is correct.
It's not your web, it's your audience's.
Keep pages current/familiar/fresh.
Omit needless words.
High maintenance is bad.
Obey the 3-click rule.
Build navigation your grandmother could follow—along seek path, not file type.
You can bring an end-user to water, but you can't make him collaborate.
Use the tools at hand; don't reinvent the wheel.
Customers know what they want, but not what else you can give them.
When providing information, answer who/what/where/when/why/how?
The web is like a telephone—critical, taken for granted, and sorely missed when unavailable.
There are always 3 customers: contributors, consumers, and everyone else.
More features = more complexity.
Buried content = lost content.
Enterprise consumers believe: If content is on the web, then it's in a final state within its context.
Enterprise contributors believe: Content shouldn't be uploaded until it's final.
Users search in two ways: explicitly (to find a specific something), and implicitly (to find one or more things through context).
Meet end-users' page-layout expectations, consistently.
Site stickiness comes from high-value content and "quick and easy" usability.
Lost+confused syndrome comes from poor labeling, non-topical organization, and bad navigation.
Implement big changes gradually.
Trust usage statistics, not opinion.
GIGO nullifies a great search engine; and a lousy search engine negates good metadata.