Greg Carpluk’s Writing Samples
This page provides links to writing samples
of Greg Carpluk. These samples include copyrighted
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- SAP GRC* Products: Compliance Calibrator Version 5.1 Installation
Guide
Although I wrote this installation guide for version 5.1, there was no
previous installation guide for this product. All content for this guide
was written "from scratch," with no supporting developer documentation.
To accomplish this, I invited the responsible developers to two meetings
in which they performed an installation, while I ran a Web-Ex session to
record the computer screen. I then played that recording repeatedly to
make sure I captured all installation steps, in order.
This process left little time for the subsequent actions I would usually
take to improve usability -- shortening the long procedures, providing
contextual information about why tasks need to be performed, and providing
an overview of each sequence of operations before the procedures.
- SAP GRC* Products: Compliance Calibrator Version 5.2 Installation
Guide
The schedule
for Compliance Calibrator Version 5.2 did not ever provide Technical
Publications with product access, for the purpose of updating the
installation guide. To minimize the impact of this scheduling problem, I
negotiated with a member of the QA team to install the version 5.2 product
using the 5.1 version of the installation guide, to identify required
documentation changes. I inserted all of the changes that evening, so that
the revised document could be included with the product for the SAP
validation process.
In addition to the changes required to update the installation
information, I also updated the document to provide both installation and
upgrade instructions, including data migration. Unfortunately, the
schedule did not include enough time to properly integrate the upgrade
information. I added this upgrade information on the same night I added
the version revisions, the night before the product shipped. If I had more
time, I would have split the installation and upgrade processes
completely. Installation instructions and upgrade instructions address two
separate audiences; mixing those two operations confuses the reader.
Usually, I would make these changes when converting an installation guide
to an installation, upgrade, and data conversion guide.
This
guide is not original work, except for the chapter about
"Configuration," which is not yet complete. I’m including this guide to
provide background on the current state of the documentation set.
While I hope that the writing in the Configuration chapter shows improvement
over the other sections, I believe most of the contents of this guide could be
moved to Online Help, because it primarily addresses user interface issues, and
repeats information. The Configuration chapter needs to be moved to another
guide, because it addresses a different audience (the System Administrator).
The Configuration section also needs to address System Administrator tasks,
such as Log Management, and common Background Job operations, rather than
presenting information in a "screen-by-screen" format.
These
pages were all created and written by Greg Carpluk,
in late-night hours, after it was discovered that no Virsa products could be
sold through or downloaded from the SAP web site without them.
- Network Appliance: File Access Management
Guide
This link
provides access to a draft copy of the Network Appliance storage device
network protocols manual, the Data ONTAP™ File Access Management
Guide. I’ve posted a draft
version of this document because it includes change bars in the margins
that identify changes I made to this document when I took over the
project. Internal corporate ratings
gave this subject area a grade of D (on an A through F scale) before I
worked on the project. After this
draft was finalized and published, the D grade was upgraded to a B grade.
- Network Appliance: Release Notes
This
link provides access to release notes for Network Appliance’s proprietary
storage device operating system, Data ONTAP. I wrote Chapter Three of this document,
which describes changes made to the File
Access Management Guide.
- San Jose Mercury News: San
Jose Mercury News Columns, 1995-1997
This link
provides access to an index page for samples of the weekly column I wrote
for the San Jose Mercury News, called "Sitings."
The goal of this column was "to provide a view of the Silicon Valley online hiring scene, with a
Dilbert-like sensitivity." All samples in this area were written by
Greg Carpluk and edited by the editorial staff
of the San Jose Mercury News. Some of the original graphics do not
properly render on these sample pages.
* SAP GRC is the
Governance, Regulatory, and Compliance division of SAP Americas, Inc. This
division was formed in 2006, following the acquisition of Virsa Software, Inc.