Technical communication (Forums)

There are many forums available on the internet that provide support, assistance, debate, or argument on all facets of Technical communication. The activity levels on these forums varies from almost nonexistent to extremely busy. Some forums are supported by the publisher of the application being discussed, while many deliberately seek to distance themselves from any conflict of interest issues by remaining fiercely independent.

= General Technical Communication Forums =

The following forums are generally accessed through Electronic mailing list. Each external link is the web presence of the forum. *TECHWR-L ([http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/]) for any technical communicator *[http://www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter AUSTECHWRITER] for technical communicators based in Australia

The following blogs are also available for disussing technical communication issues: *[http://tw-india.blogspot.com/ Writers India: Blog on tech writing] *[http://www.creativetechwriter.com/ the creative tech writer] *[http://tcomm.blogspot.com/ .TechComm] *[http://swexegete.typepad.com/GuysBlog/technical_communication/ GuysBlog] *[http://www.writethinking.net/ Write Thinking]

= Common Professional Activities Forums =

The following forums are generally accessed through Electronic mailing list. Each external link is the web presence of the forum. *[http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/copyediting-l.html COPYEDITING-L] for discussions on Copy Editing *[http://www.electriceditors.net/ The Electric Editors] for editors, proofreaders, indexers, translators, and publishers

= Tool-Based Forums =

The following forums are generally accessed through Electronic mailing list. Each external link is the web presence of the forum. *[http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/word-pc.html Word-PC] for users of Microsoft Word *FrameUsers.com for users of Adobe Framemaker *[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WWP-Users/ WWP-Users] for users of WebWorks Publisher *[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/authorit-users/ AuthorIT-Users] for users of AuthorIT *[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HATT/ HATT] for Help Authoring Tools & Techniques *[http://xdk-l.nu/ XDK-L] for users of Republicorp XDK and HDK *[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/powerpoint/ PowerPoint] for users of Microsoft PowerPoint *[http://www.oooforum.org/ The OpenOffice.org Forum] for all aspects of OpenOffice.org

The following forums are accessed through usenet. *comp.text.frame *adobe.acrobat.windows *list.comp.software.adobe.acrobat *adobe.acrobat.capture *adobe.acrobat.sdk *adobe.acrobat.reader *adobe.acrobat.macintosh *adobe.acrobat.unix *adobe.acrobat.distillerserver.windows *adobe.acrobat.reader.pocketpc *adobe.acrobat.distillerserver.unix *umn.cs.text.framemaker *umn.itlab.text.framemaker *adobe.framemaker *adobe.framemaker.sgml *adobe.framemaker.unix *microsoft.public.word.docmanagement *microsoft.public.word.general *microsoft.public.word.vba *microsoft.public.word.word97vba *microsoft.public.word.newusers *microsoft.public.word.numbering *microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs *comp.graphics.apps.gimp *comp.graphics.apps.photoshop *comp.graphics.apps.paint-shop-pro *microsoft.public.visio *alt.visio *microsoft.public.visio.wizards *microsoft.public.visio.filters *corel.support.ventura7.ventura *coreldevelopers.ventura *corel.graphic_apps.ventura-old_version

= Technology Forums =

The following forums are generally accessed through Electronic mailing list. Each external link is the web presence of the forum. *[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/XHTML-L/ XHTML-L] for XHTML, XML, and HTML developers

The following forums are accessed through usenet. *alt.html *alt.html.critique *alt.html.writers *comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html *comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets *microsoft.public.helpauthoring *microsoft.public.htmlhelp *microsoft.public.vstudio.helpauthoring *comp.text.sgml *comp.text.pdf *comp.text.xml