Writing & documents
Markdown, LaTeX, PDF, templates and styles, technical documentation and effective presentations.
Accessible PDF: tags, reading order and testing
How to create PDFs that work with assistive technology: tag structure, real headings, reading order, tables, document language and the tools to check them.
Automatic table of contents, captions and cross-references
How to generate in Word and Writer a table of contents, a list of figures and cross-references that update themselves, avoiding page numbers typed by hand.
Changelogs and release notes: how to document changes
The difference between a changelog and release notes, structure by category, semantic version numbers and examples of entries that help people update.
Clear writing in technical documents: sentences, terms, structure
Concrete techniques for understandable technical texts: main point first, short sentences, active voice, consistent terminology, glossary and revision.
Docs as code: managing documentation like software
What writing documentation with Markdown, Git and static site generators means: structure, review, automated checks and choosing between MkDocs and Sphinx.
Document templates in Word and Writer: creating a .dotx or .ott
How to build a reusable template in Word and LibreOffice: what to include, styles, fields, placeholders, where to save it and how to keep it updated.
Effective presentations: build the structure before the slides
How to prepare a presentation starting from the message: goal, audience, outline, opening and closing, timing, speaker notes and rehearsing out loud.
Extended Markdown: tables, footnotes and task lists
The Markdown extensions that matter in real documents: aligned tables, footnotes, task lists, definition lists and YAML headers, with the limits of each.
LaTeX bibliography with biblatex and Biber: a practical guide
How to handle citations and bibliography in LaTeX: .bib files, entry types, biblatex with Biber, citation styles and a reference manager workflow.
LaTeX for beginners: the structure of your first document
Preamble, classes, packages, sections and compiling: how to write your first LaTeX document, with a minimal annotated template and the typical mistakes.
Math formulas in LaTeX: from inline text to equations
Inline and display math, fractions, sub- and superscripts, symbols, systems and numbered equations with amsmath: a guide to well-written formulas.
Tables and figures in LaTeX: booktabs, floats and captions
How to insert images and tables in LaTeX without losing your mind: graphicx, float environments, captions, references, booktabs and controlling placement.
Markdown from scratch: the essential syntax for writing text
Headings, emphasis, lists, links, images, quotes and code: the Markdown syntax you actually need, with examples and the most common mistakes to avoid.
Numbered headings 1, 1.1, 1.1.1 in Word and Writer without errors
How to link multilevel numbering to heading styles in Word and LibreOffice Writer, avoid numbers that skip or restart, and handle appendices and annexes.
Open document formats: ODT, DOCX, RTF and TXT compared
What makes a document format open, what ODT and DOCX look like inside, when to choose ODF, OOXML, RTF or plain text, and how to avoid surprises.
Pandoc: converting documents between Markdown, Word, PDF and HTML
How to use Pandoc to turn a Markdown text into DOCX, PDF, HTML or EPUB: basic commands, style templates, metadata, automatic contents and typical problems.
PDF/A: what it is and how to create PDFs fit for archiving
What sets PDF/A apart from an ordinary PDF, which parts and levels exist, how to produce it from Word and LibreOffice and how to check it really conforms.
Readable slides: text, contrast, charts and the slide master
Practical rules for clear slides: one idea per slide, titles that make a claim, readable text, strong contrast, simplified charts and the slide master.
Reducing PDF file size without ruining its quality
Why a PDF gets heavy and how to slim it down: image resolution, compression, fonts, correct export settings and Ghostscript commands to use with judgement.
Sections and different headers and footers in Word and Writer
How to handle long documents with distinct parts: section breaks, landscape pages, an unnumbered title page, per-chapter headers and page numbering.
Writing step-by-step instructions people actually follow
How to write a clear operating procedure: goal, prerequisites, one action per step, expected result, well-placed warnings and a test with a user.
Styles in Word and Writer: why to use them and how to set them up
Paragraph, character, list and table styles in Word and LibreOffice Writer: how they work, how they inherit settings and how to clean up a messy document.
Diagrams written as text: Mermaid and PlantUML
How to create flowcharts, sequence diagrams and schemes with Mermaid and PlantUML by writing text: basic syntax, where they render, advantages and limits.
Track changes and comments: reviewing a document as a team
How to use tracked changes and comments in Word and Writer: set your name, accept and reject, compare versions and avoid sending hidden traces.
How to write an effective README for a project
The sections a README needs, what order to put them in and how to write them: description, installation, usage, configuration, examples and known issues.