A Comprehensive Guide to Technical Writing Tools and Software
Like any field in tech, technical writing also requires the use of some tools and software. Many times these tools may vary based on different organizations. Regardless, there are some tools that every technical writer must be familiar with. You’ll see some of these tools listed as requirements in most technical writing job roles.
This article will highlight the tools that are required to use as a technical writer as well as resources to learn some of these tools.
Markup Languages
Markdown
Markdown is a lightweight and plain-text-based markup language used for formatting text documents. It is used for creating various forms of documentation, README files, and blog posts. One of the things you should learn as a technical writer is Markdown as this is a major requirement for a lot of jobs.
Markdown editors
VScode(Using extensions)
Dillinger
Typora
Obsidian
Resources to learn Markdown
AsciiDoc
ASciiDoc is a lightweight and powerful markup language used for creating structured documents like writing notes, documentation, articles, books, ebooks, slideshows, web pages, technical manuals, and blogs.
It supports a wider range of features, such as tables, footnotes, and cross-references. ASCIIDocs is also designed to be extensible, so users can create custom tags and markup to meet their specific needs.
AsciiDoc Editors
VScode(Using extensions)
AsciiDoctor Editor
Atom
Emacs
Resources to learn AsciiDoc
AsciiDoctorXML(Extensible Markup Language)
XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language and it is designed to send, store, and receive structured data. Unlike HTML with predefined tags, XML is extensible, meaning you have to create the tags yourself.
XML Editors
VScode(Using extensions)
Notepad++
Emacs
Resources to learn XML
HTML(HyperText Markup Language)
HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the standard markup language for creating web pages and web applications. It defines the structure and layout of web content and consists of a series of elements, which are identified by tags.
HTML Editors
VScode
Notepad++
Sublime Text
Atom
Resources to learn HTML
Version Control Tools
Git
Git is the most popular version control tool used today. It is a distributed version control system which means that each user has a complete copy of the repository on their local machine. This makes it easy to collaborate together on projects.
As a technical writer, most times you’ll be required to use the docs-as-code approach when working on documentation and Git is one of the important tools used.
Resources to learn Git
GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket
GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket are popular version control platforms that share many similar features. They all provide a centralized location for storing and managing code repositories, enabling collaborative development.
These platforms offer features like code versioning, branching, merging, issue tracking, and project management. Different organizations use either of these platforms depending on their needs and requirements.
One notable difference among them is that they are owned by different organizations, with GitHub owned by Microsoft, GitLab operated by GitLab Inc., and Bitbucket managed by Atlassian.
Site Generators
Docusaurus is an open-source static site generator (SSG) that makes it easy to create and maintain technical documentation websites. It is owned and developed by the Facebook team and it is built on the React library. It has a lot of rich features such as Versioning, theme customization, easy deployment, etc.
VuePress is a static site generator (SSG) that makes it easy to create and maintain documentation websites, blogs, and other content-related sites. Vue.js powers it and has a lot of similar features to Docusaurus.
MkDocs is a static site generator (SSG) that is popular among technical writers. It allows you to write your documentation in Markdown and then generate a static website that can be hosted anywhere. It is simple and flexible to use and it is powerful enough to be used to generate complex documentation.
Sphinx is a robust documentation tool widely used in the Python community. It operates primarily with ReStructuredText, providing powerful features like code integration and multiple output formats. It’s ideal for complex and larger documentation projects requiring extensive code references and API documentation.
GitBook streamlines the process of creating and managing technical documentation, making it a valuable tool for technical writers, developers, and anyone looking to create well-structured, collaborative, and easily accessible documentation. It offers a lot of features that make it suitable for writing documentation.
Developer Documentation and API Tools
Swagger, now known as OpenAPI, is a set of rules, specifications, and tools for designing and documenting RESTful APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). It defines a standard format for describing REST APIs in a machine-readable format. The core of Swagger is the OpenAPI Specification, which provides a consistent way to describe RESTful APIs using JSON or YAML.
It features a lot of tools such as the Swagger UI, swagger Codegen, and Swagger Editor to aid in API development, testing, and documentation
Postman is an API development platform primarily used by developers to create and manage APIs but it can also be used by technical writers to document APIs, test and verify APIs, and also collaborate with developers to work on API documentation.
ReadMe is a tool that is used to build, document, and deploy APIs. It can generate comprehensive API documentation from OpenAPI (OAS) files or directly from code. It also provides features such as interactive documentation, versioning, collaboration, and deployment.
Redocly is a platform that provides solutions for API documentation. It offers a suite of tools and services for creating, managing, and publishing API documentation. It includes features such as API documentation generation, collaborative workflows for teams, style checking, and version control.
Project Management and Collaboration Tool
Jira is a project management tool used for issue tracking, bug tracking, and agile project management. It helps teams organize their work, track progress, and manage tasks in various software development projects.
Jira is a project management tool used for issue tracking, bug tracking, and agile project management. It helps teams organize their work, track progress, and manage tasks in various software development projects.
Confluence is a collaboration and documentation tool designed for teams. It functions as a wiki-like environment to create, share, and collaborate on projects, documents, and content.
Dropbox is a cloud-based file storage and collaboration platform, that offers secure file storage, sharing, and synchronization across devices.
Conclusion
Technical writing tools and software are essential for technical writers to produce high-quality documentation quickly and efficiently.
There are many other technical writing tools available, even though this article may not have covered them all. That doesn’t mean they’re not important, but most of the tools mentioned in these articles are the ones you’ll most commonly see in job postings. Not every organization will require you to be an expert in all of these tools, but learning them will be a valuable asset to you as a technical writer.