Instructions

Technical Writing Instructions

How to Use WriteBoard.com

WriteBoard.com is a collaborative writing software program available online at http://www.writeboard.com. It is unique in that it allows multiple users to work on the same document at the same or different times, it allows you to save multiple versions of a document so you never lose a good idea (if you decide a previous version of a document was better than a more recent one, for example), and it allows you to compare versions of a document to see what you changed from one version to another. You can also export documents you have created on WriteBoard, though you can't import them (but you can copy and paste them in from other places). The software is completely free to use, and is appropriate for all types of writers, from students to novelists to song writers to business people writing company plans and memos. Here are step-by-step instructions for how to use WriteBoard.

First, go to the WriteBoard website at http://www.writeboard.com. On the left-hand side of the page is a yellow box titled, "Create a Write Board." You will need to fill this out to get started. There are three things required to create your Write Board. First, name it (just like naming a document you're going to save to your computer). Next, assign a password to it so you can access it while keeping it private (though you can share the password with anyone else who may be working on the document with you). Finally, provide your email address, which you will need for identification on the WriteBoard site, so the site can be sure you are you when you go to access your document(s). There is a little box to check underneath the email field that says you agree to the terms of the site. Be sure to click that (and read the terms first, to be sure you know the rules of the site), then click the button that says "Create the WriteBoard." You can create as many WriteBoards as you like for free, but each time you make one, you will have to go through this simple three-step process of adding a new one to the site.

After you click the "Create the WriteBoard" button, you will immediately be taken to a page with a large, empty white box on it. This is the page where you will enter your writing. You do not have to go to the email you entered to confirm your WriteBoard. You can start writing immediately upon creating the WriteBoard. The title that you gave the WriteBoard will be at the top of the box, just outside of the writing area. Either copy and paste your writing from another location into the WriteBoard box or type something original in the box from scratch. You can write as little or as much as you want; there is no limit on the size of your WriteBoard document.

At the bottom of the writing box is a place for your name. You can put whatever name you like here, either your real one or a user name or a pen name. If you are working on a document with other people, this name box is especially helpful, since it will identify who wrote what part of the document, and you can always go back to the part that you wrote with ease. Even if you're working on something alone, you still need to enter a name with which to identify the author of the document.

On the right-hand side of the page where the writing box is, there is a grey colored area that gives some examples of formatting you can use in your document. It only shows you how to format italics and bold script, but there is a link in blue in the last sentence there that is clickable and leads you to a full formatting guide, so you can read about all the different ways you can format you document on WriteBoard, including how to make lists and headers and many other things you may find desirable, depending on the type of document you're writing. When you click on the formatting guide link, the guide will appear in the form of a table at the top of the writing box area of the page, just above the title of your WriteBoard. You can keep it open for easy reference, or have a look at it to see what kinds of formatting you can do and then close it. Once you are done writing in the writing box area of WriteBoard, click on the "Save This WriteBoard" button, which is just below the box for your name.

After you save your WriteBoard, you will be taken to a page that looks similar to the one you just left. It will have your writing on it, all in one big, white writing box. Your WriteBoard title will be at the top of the writing box. However, just above your title will be two buttons. The one to the far left will say "Edit This Page" and the one on the right will say "Export." If you want to edit what you have written, click on the Edit button. If you want to export the writing somewhere else, click on the Edit button.

Just above these buttons is a green strip of screen. In this strip is the URL where your WriteBoard is located. You can use this URL to go back and find your WriteBoard to make additions and changes at any time, or you can give it to other people to do the same if it is a collaborative project. Below the writing box is a link to Add a Comment. You can click on this to comment on the WriteBoard. This feature is similar to commenting on a blog, and is especially useful for teachers who are grading papers or looking at papers before grading them, because they can comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the document, which will benefit the student(s) working on it. Other collaborators on the project can also comment on the document, giving their ideas and suggestions to anyone else who may be a part of the writing team for this document.

Below the comment link are links for Help (in case you need it), to change the password of that particular WriteBoard, to delete that WriteBoard, to log out of WriteBoard, to subscribe to the RSS feed of that particular WriteBoard (good for collaborative projects, as anyone who is working on it will get updated when other people make changes to it), and to create a new WriteBoard. There are also links to the WriteBoard company's two other websites, Backpack, and Campfire. To the right of the writing box, in a grey colored area, is a link to invite other people to collaborate on the document with you. You can use this if you are the first person to create and use this particular WriteBoard, but want other people to help you write it. There are also links in this area to take a tour of the WriteBoard site or to get some examples of different ways to use Writeboard. This is also the area where different versions of your document will appear once you make any edits to the original document. You will be able to click on any version of your document in this area, so you never lose any of your writing (useful if you decide something you wrote previously is really good, upon retrospection).

If you do edit your WriteBoard, click on the Edit button at the top of the page, make your changes, and then either click the "Save as the Newest Version" button at the bottom of the page, click the cancel link to abort the changes and keep the document as it is, or click the "Minor Edit, Don't Save a New Version" box. In most cases, you'll be saving the edited version as the newest version (not always, but most of the time, most likely). When you click the "Save as the Newest Version" button, you'll be taken to a page much like the previous one, except the grey colored area to the right will no longer have the tour or examples links. Instead, it will tell you that you are viewing the latest version of your document and will also tell you how long ago that latest version was created. Below that will be a link to your original version of the document (and this link will also tell you how long ago the original version was created), and you can click that link to go back to the original version, if you should want to do so.

In the grey colored area, in place of the tour and example links, will be a button to compare any two versions of your document, and a link to compare the most recent and previous version of your document as a quick compare. Any time you do an edit to your document, one more version of it will appear in the chronological list in the grey colored area to the right of the writing box and each version will have a little box beside it. You can click on any two of these boxes to compare any two versions. Just click in the boxes of the two versions you want to compare, and then click the Compare button. You will be presented with a screen that tells you what versions you are comparing, and the things you took out of the older version will be in grey and crossed out, while the things you changed and added will be highlighted in green. Once you're done comparing, just click the "I'm Done Comparing" link at the top of the screen. If you just want to compare the current and most recent previous version of your document, you can do so by clicking the quick compare link to the right of the writing box, and you will get a comparison screen just like the one you did when you used the Compare button. As with the Compare button, click the "I'm Done Comparing" link when you're ready to go back to the most recent version of your document. Again, you can always change to viewing a previous version of your document by clicking on the links for any of the previous versions on the right-hand side of the screen.

If you want to invite other people to collaborate on the document with you, click the "Invite People" link on the right side of the screen. A box will appear above the writing box, and it will have places for you to enter the email addresses of whoever you want to invite, as well as a box for your name, so the people you're inviting will know who the invitation came from and that it's not spam. Once you've entered the appropriate information, you can click the Send Invitation button to send the invitations, or click the cancel link to be taken back to your document.

If you want to export your document to your computer, you can do so by clicking the Export button at the top of the page. When you click the Export button, you'll be given the option to download it as a .txt file or as an HTML file. Choose the one you want, and then click on the box that pops up to save the document to your computer. It will be saved as whatever you named the document when you created the WriteBoard. You can export any version of your document you like, simply by clicking on your preferred version of the document on the right-hand side of the screen to open that version, then clicking the export button and saving the document to your computer.