High-quality and Consistent Content Using Docs-as-Code Tools and Processes

  • Software Documentation
  • 10. June
  • 16:30 - 17:30 PM (CEST)
  • finished
  •  Shavindri Dissanayake

    Shavindri Dissanayake

    • VMware
  •  Renate Kempf

    Renate Kempf

    • VMware

Contents

Technical writers can use docs-as-code processes and tools for single-sourced, up-to-date content. This presentation explores the processes we use to single source content in the product (login required) and in the doc (freely available). We discuss the tools we’re using (git, Markdown, Jekyll) and why, the process we use to review the in-product documentation, and the scripts we developed to add the content to the doc set.

Takeaways

The collaboration resulted in big gains for the product team, customers appreciate having docs without logging in, having content in sync prevents issues with outdated docs, and handling doc bugs is now an interesting challenge.

Prior knowledge

No experience necessary! This presentation is for anyone who is interested in docs as code processes: Technical writers, developers who write, tech writing managers.

Speakers

 Shavindri Dissanayake

Shavindri Dissanayake

  • VMware
Biography

Shavindri Dissanayake (Shavi) has been a technical writer for over 9 years. She started her career as a Marketing and Project Coordinator while studying for her Bachelor's in Information Technology. It led her to a career in Technical Writing. She enjoys working on developer documentation and creating user documentation that helps developers and users onboard faster. Her interests include learning new technologies, developing tutorials and videos, and using her knowledge of Python, Java, or JavaScript to manage scripts for documentation. She’s given presentations at the STC Summit, Write the Docs Portland, Write the Docs Cincinnati, and Technical Writers - Sri Lanka meetup.

 Renate Kempf

Renate Kempf

  • VMware
Biography

Renate Kempf has been a Technical Communicator for over 25 years. After a stint in Academia, she started as a technical trainer with an AI company. She switched to tech writing and had her own business for 20+ years before joining VMware. Her interests include visual communication, docs as code, and collaborative writing. She’s given presentations and workshops on Videos for the Masses, Docs in a SaaS World, and Open Source Docs.