RE: Release Note problem

["McIntosh, Cathleen" <Cathleen -dot- McIntosh -at- vistacpg -dot- com>]

Jackie, 

I know it can be tough to do release notes, let alone documentation, when a
product changes constantly. I work at a software company that is not a start
up, but at which processes were never clearly defined. I am the sole writer,
and I do all of the documentation and release notes. After over a year of
wrangling, the confusion and frustration is starting to go away. This is the
process we now have, and it makes things a lot easier! 

First, product management drafts business requirements, and I read them.
Based on these, I draft pre-release notes (one document), which summarize
the functionality that we intend to include in the next release. We try to
publish these pre-release notes at least 2 months ahead of time.

Second, based on the business requirements, the technology department drafts
technical specifications and begins coding. I read the specifications to
understand functional and gui changes and to see if and where documentation
will be affected. If necessary, I begin creating any new documents that I
need, so that the framework will be ready when it's time to write.

Third, once the technology department does its first compile of the new
version, I begin writing and taking screenshots and inserting the new
content into the documentation. Typically, technology does many compiles
before our product is released to a customer. 

If specs change during development, then the technical specification
document is supposed to be updated as well, and I am supposed to be told
about the change. Sometimes I am not kept as well informed about these
changes as I should be, but I will keep being proactive about keeping the
communication open between me and whoever I need information from. 

Fourth, as the bugs are worked out of the system and I finalize the
documentation as much as possible, I draft the release notes. I make sure
that the release notes and the documentation are reviewed by at least 2 of
the following: 1)the project manager in charge of the first customer
receiving the release, 2) the developer who programmed the piece, 3) the
product management person who drafted the business requirements, and 4)
(always) the the Quality Assurance  (QA--and I hope I'm not being over kind,
but you said you had no experience) manager.

This process has worked well over the last few months, and I think it will
continue to work well and improve with time and communication. Hope this
helps. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Cathleen McIntosh
Documentation Specialist
The Vista Technology Group
cathleen -dot- mcintosh -at- vistacpg -dot- com


Of course, if your company doesn't have the resources to do all of these
things yet, this might not work completely, but it may be a goal for you.
Subject: Release Note problem
From: "Jackie Gishkin" <jgishkin -at- temposoft -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 14:08:16 +0100
X-Message-Number: 15

Hello,

I have just started a job as a technical writer in France without having
any real prior experience.  My first project is to write Release Notes
for the latest build for our "internal software".  The problem is that
the Builds are changing everyday.  Recently, I have started to write
about a new feature only to find out that it had completely changed 2
days later.  I now have to go back and delete what I wrote.  I was told

that I will be printing out the Release Notes once we come across a
really "good" Build. =20

Also, instead of having a few Release Notes floating around for the same
Version, is there a way to compile them together into one coherent
document?

Since I am in a start-up, there haven't been any established ways for
doing technical documentation.

Do any of you have some advice to give me? I would apprciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Jackie Gishkin
Temposoft, FRANCE

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY.
http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.

Take XML and Tech Writing courses online!  Our instructor-led courses
(4-6 hrs/wk) give you "hands on" experience at your convenience. STC members
get 20% off!  http://www.online-learning.com/index.html.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.