Dave Lonning's guest appearances

Dave Lonning

The Omni Show

Daniel Jalkut

Kourosh Dini

David Sparks

Tim Stringer

Joe Buhlig

John Gruber

Tim Wood

Jake Bernstein

Dave Budge

Ken Case

Naomi Pearce

Cindy Cohn

Liz Marley

Meg Edwards

Sam Newman

OwlTail

Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com It's probably no surprise that writing software is a somewhat difficult task. There's an unfathomable amount of iteration and detective work that goes into creating a product that feels intuitive for the new user, yet familiar to the ardent fan. Surprisingly, the art of crafting effective software documentation demands some of the exact same iteration and detective skills. Inserting helpful guidance at just the right point in the user conversation (without over-explaining) can be a tricky dance. Luckily, Dave Lonning, documentation wrangler, is up to the challenge. He returns to the Omni show (Episode 10, for you longtime listeners!) to talk about how his role has shifted over the last few years. Andrew and Dave discuss how he's approached the fresh challenges emerging in the software documentation process. You can find Dave @davelonning on Twitter. Some other people, places, and things mentioned:  Apple Help format Apple Help Viewer WebView EPUB iBooks PDF OmniGraffle OmniFocus OmniOutliner OmniPlan Omni Slack Channel Omni-Automation.com Documentation at support.omnigroup.com

Full transcript and show notes at <a href="https://theomnishow.omnigroup.com/episode/the-return-of-dave-lonning-documentation-wrangler/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">theomnishow.omnigroup.com</a> It's probably no surprise that writing software is a somewhat difficult task. There's an unfathomable amount of iteration and detective work that goes into creating a product that feels intuitive for the new user, yet familiar to the ardent fan. Surprisingly, the art of crafting effective software documentation demands some of the exact same iteration and detective skills. Inserting helpful guidance at just the right point in the user conversation (without over-explaining) can be a tricky dance. Luckily, Dave Lonning, documentation wrangler, is up to the challenge. He returns to the Omni show (<a href="https://theomnishow.omnigroup.com/episode/dave-lonning-documentation-wrangler" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 10</a>, for you longtime listeners!) to talk about how his role has shifted over the last few years. Andrew and Dave discuss how he's approached the fresh challenges emerging in the software documentation process. You can find Dave <a href="https://twitter.com/davelonning" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@davelonning</a> on Twitter. Some other people, places, and things mentioned: <ul> <li><a href="https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Carbon/Conceptual/ProvidingUserAssitAppleHelp/authoring_help/authoring_help_book.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Help format</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Help_Viewer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Help Viewer</a></li> <li><a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/webview" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WebView</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EPUB</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.apple.com/ibooks/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iBooks</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PDF</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniGraffle</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniFocus</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniOutliner</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omniplan/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniPlan</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/slack/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Omni Slack Channel</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.Omni-Automation.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Omni-Automation.com</a></li> <li><a href="https://support.omnigroup.com/manuals/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Documentation at support.omnigroup.com</a></li></ul>

The Return of Dave Lonning, Documentation Wrangler

Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com Dave Lonning — world-traveler, world-builder — joins the show to talk about writing documentation for Omni apps — and about how the tools and formats have changed over the years. He also talks about moving, after college, to Japan — where he taught English and later worked on video game localization. He was there in 2011 when a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit. Dave’s hobbies include role-playing games — running and creating — and painting miniatures. And, most importantly, he’s a cat person who’s learned to love the office canids. You can find Dave @zroundbls on Twitter. Some other people, places, and things mentioned:  Apple Help format Apple Help Viewer OmniOutliner Python WebView EPUB iBooks PDF MultiMarkdown OmniGraffle OmniFocus OmniPlan OmniGraphSketcher The bus to work Documentation at support.omnigroup.com Apple-II-compatible Laser 128 Performa 405 Silo Macalaster College Japan The Last Samurai All your base are belong to us PCs 2011 Japanese Earthquake William Van Hecke Seattle Interbay Caffe Appassionato Role-playing games (RPGs) Dungeons &amp; Dragons (D&amp;D) Pathfinder Painting miniatures Cat Made-up languages The Rocketeer

Full transcript and show notes at <a href="https://theomnishow.omnigroup.com/episode/dave-lonning-documentation-wrangler/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">theomnishow.omnigroup.com</a> Dave Lonning — world-traveler, world-builder — joins the show to talk about writing documentation for Omni apps — and about how the tools and formats have changed over the years. He also talks about moving, after college, to Japan — where he taught English and later worked on video game localization. He was there in 2011 when a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit. Dave’s hobbies include role-playing games — running and creating — and painting miniatures. And, most importantly, he’s a cat person who’s learned to love the office canids. You can find Dave <a href="https://twitter.com/zroundbls" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@zroundbls</a> on Twitter. Some other people, places, and things mentioned: <ul> <li><a href="https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Carbon/Conceptual/ProvidingUserAssitAppleHelp/authoring_help/authoring_help_book.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Help format</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Help_Viewer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Help Viewer</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniOutliner</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.python.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Python</a></li> <li><a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/webview" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WebView</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EPUB</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.apple.com/ibooks/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iBooks</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PDF</a></li> <li><a href="http://fletcherpenney.net/multimarkdown/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MultiMarkdown</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniGraffle</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniFocus</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.omnigroup.com/omniplan/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniPlan</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/graphsketcher/GraphSketcher" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OmniGraphSketcher</a></li> <li><a href="https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/schedules-maps/040.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The bus to work</a></li> <li><a href="https://support.omnigroup.com/manuals/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Documentation at support.omnigroup.com</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_128" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple-II-compatible Laser 128</a></li> <li><a href="https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_performa/specs/mac_performa_405.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Performa 405</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(store)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Silo</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.macalester.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Macalaster College</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Japan</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_samurai/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Last Samurai</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">All your base are belong to us</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PCs</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.livescience.com/39110-japan-2011-earthquake-tsunami-facts.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2011 Japanese Earthquake</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/fet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William Van Hecke</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.seattle.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seattle</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbay,_Seattle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Interbay</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.yelp.com/biz/caffe-appassionato-seattle-8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Caffe Appassionato</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_video_game" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Role-playing games (RPGs)</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dungeons &amp; Dragons (D&amp;D)</a></li> <li><a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinder/rpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pathfinder</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Painting miniatures</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cat</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_constructed_languages" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Made-up languages</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocketeer_%28film%29" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Rocketeer</a></li></ul>

Dave Lonning, Documentation Wrangler