Writing Sample

All of my current technical writing work to date has been proprietary and private, meaning that I have no way to share it with prospective employers without violating NDAs or confidentiality agreements. Because of this, the only published writing I have available to share is my work in tabletop games.

That being said, those samples don't always do an adequate job of conveying the type of content I create as a technical writer. That's what this page is for. The products discussed on this page are invented for the sole purpose of demonstrating how I do the work of communicating developers' work to end users.

Product Variables

Throughout this page, I'll be using a product variable, productName, to reference the name of this imaginary product. This allows me to refer to the product by name within the documentation, without making unchangeable decisions about what the product will be called in perpetuity. If the name of the product changes five or ten years from now, I won't have to go back and revise all of my documentation to accommodate that change.

The following table lists the variables that are used on this page.

Variable Usage Demonstration
companyName The name of our company, to be used when offering recommendations and best practices on behalf of the development team. 52 Maples
productName The name of the product being showcased in this documentation set. Each time the product is mentioned after the first on a given page, use the productShort variable instead. VIOLINS Et Cetera
productShort The shortened name of the product, which should be used after the first time the product is mentioned on a given page. VIOLINS

Configuration Procedure

This is a sample procedure for configuring a setting in the VIOLINS system.

To configure the string setting:

  1. On the main screen of the application, from the Settings menu, select Configure Strings...
    • Expected Result: A window appears, labeled String Configuration.
  2. For each of the following settings, enter the whole number that corresponds to the string's tuning:
    • A String
    • G String
    • D String
    • E String
  3. Click Save.
    • Expected Result: The window closes; throughout VIOLINS, the configured values will be used for each of the above strings.

Reference Table

The table below describes the configuration fields in the ViolinSettings.config file.

Field Default Type Description
tuningType standard string Sets the method of tuning throughout the application.
timerDelay 600 integer Sets the number of milliseconds the timer will wait before starting a new action after the previous action has been completed.
composer Mozart string Assigns the configured composer to the system. This setting alters composition styles, harmonic performance settings, and output file formats. For more information about composers, see the Composers User Guide.

In the above table, the bolded text "Composers User Guide" would be a hyperlink to the landing page for the Composers User Guide.

Feature Overview

The Violinist feature enables users to preview compositions prior to publication, in order to facilitate troubleshooting in a contained, pre-production environment.

Out of the box, VIOLINS is configured with two Violinist settings: Concert Hall, and Practice Room. The 52 Maples development team recommends creating a third Violinist setting—Rehearsal Room—in order to create an additional environment for testing.

In This Guide:

In a full documentation set, the items in this list would be hyperlinks to the corresponding pages.