DOCUMENTATION TOOLSRaghunath Soman

Contents

• Office Suites• Word Processors• Help Authoring Tools• Wikis• PDF Editors• Text Editors• HTML Editors• XML Editors• Image Capture/Editing Tools• Design/Graphics Tools• Audio/Video Editing Tools• Presentation Tools• Layout Tools

• Language Resources• Style Guides• Localization Tools• Review Tools• Code Documentation Tools• Mobile Documentation Tools• Database Documentation Tools• Cloud/Web-based Tools• Version Control Systems• Content Management Systems• Documentation tools for Linux• Niche Documentation Tools

Office /Productivity Suites

• Apache OpenOffice [formerly known as OpenOffice.org]

• Apple iWork [Mac-only]

• Google Docs, Sheets and Slides [Web-based]

• Microsoft Office [Windows-only]

• Microsoft Office for Mac

• IBM Lotus Symphony [discontinued in 2012]

• Adobe Creative Suite

Word Processors

• Apache Writer [part of Apache OpenOffice suite]

• Apple Pages [part of Apple iWork suite]

• Adobe FrameMaker

• Microsoft Word [part of Microsoft Office suite]

Help Authoring Tools

• Adobe Robohelp

• Author It

• MadCap Flare

• Doc-To-Help

Wikis

• Atlassian Confluence

• Jive

• MediaWiki

• TWiki

• IBM Connections

PDF Editors

• Adobe Acrobat

• Foxit PDF Editor

• LibreOffice Draw

• Nitro PDF

• Most of the help authoring tools and productivity suites also support PDF as an output format.

Text Editors

• NotePad ++ [Windows-only]

• vi [Windows, Linux]

• Text editors are particularly useful for read me files, short release notes, etc.

HTML Editors

• Adobe Dreamweaver

• Google Web Designer

XML Editors

• PTC Arbortext Editor

• Oxygen XML Author, Oxygen XML Editor

• XMetaL XML Author, XMetaL XML Editor

• Xopus DITA Editor

Image Capture/Editing Tools

• GIMP

• FastStone

• SnagIt

• HyperSnap

• Paint.NET

Design / Graphics Tools

• Adobe Illustrator [vector-graphics editor]

• Adobe PhotoShop [raster-graphics editor]

• Microsoft Visio [vector-graphics editor]

Audio-Video Editing Tools

• Adobe Audition [part of Adobe Creative Cloud]

• Adobe Premiere Pro [part of Adobe Creative Cloud]

• Adobe Captivate

• Apple iMovie [Mac]

• Camtasia Studio

• Windows Movie Maker [limited set of features]

Presentation Tools

• Apple Keynote [part of Apple iWorks suite]

• Microsoft PowerPoint [part of Microsoft Office suite]

• Google Slides [Web-based]

• Prezi [Web-based]

Layout Tools

• Adobe InDesign

• CorelDraw

• Microsoft Publisher

• Scribus [open-source, cross-platform]

Language Resources

• Purdue OWL - Purdue Online Writing Lab

• Thesaurus.com [online dictionary, thesaurus, translation]

• WordWeb [desktop dictionary]

Style Guides

• Apple Publications Style Guide

• Chicago Manual of Style

• Cisco Technical Documentation Style Guide

• Elements of Style

• Google XML Document Format Style Guide

• HCi Style Guide for Technical Documentation

• IBM Style Guide

• ISO/IEC CD 18019: Guidelines for software user documentation

• Microsoft Manual of Style

• Mozilla Style Guide

• Documentation Style Guide for OpenSolaris

• NASA SP-7084: A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors

Localization Tools

• MadCap Lingo

Review Tools

• Acrolinx

• Boeing Collaborative Document Reviewer (BCDR) [web-based document review application for aerospace industry documents]

• Collaborator

• XMetal Reviewer

Code Documentation Tools

• Doxygen [generic source code documentation]

• Javadoc [Java API documentation]

• Sandcastle [.NET API documentation]

• phpDocumentor [PHP documentation]

Mobile Documentation Tools

• sigil [creates EPUB files]

Database Documentation Tools

• RedGate SQL Doc

• Turtle SQL [from CodePlex]

Cloud/Web-based Tools

• Adobe Creative Cloud

• EtherPad

• Google Docs

• HelpIQ

• ZenDesk

Version Control Systems

• Accurev

• Subversion (SVN)

• Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server

• IBM Rational ClearCase

• IBM Rational Team Concert

• Perforce

• Git [Linux]

• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe [almost obsolete]

Content Management Systems

• EMC Documentum [enterprise-scale content management]

• DITA CMS [enterprise-scale DITA documentation process management]

• Drupal

• Joomla!

• Microsoft SharePoint

• WordPress

Documentation tools for Linux

• OpenOffice Writer [word processors]

• GIMP, KSnapshot [screen capture]

• JavaHelp/JHelpDev, JHelpBuilder [online help]

• Javadoc, Doxygen, ROBODoc [source code documentation]

• DocBook XML, DITA Open Toolkit for Linux [XML]

• Git [version control system]

Niche Documentation Tools

• LaTeX [document preparation system and document markup language, widely used for technical documents in many fields, including mathematics, physics, computer science, statistics, economics, and political science]

• Mathematica [computational software program used in many scientific, engineering, mathematical and computing fields]

Thank You

This content is for reference purpose only.

The lists are neither exhaustive, nor suggestive.

All product and company names are trademarks™ and/or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

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