Canadian Open Source Doc-a-thon Top Contributor to Azure Documentation

Today I received a nice surprise – a certificate for being a Top Contributor to Azure Documentation on Microsoft Docs in the Canadian Open Source Doc-a-thon.

According to the site, “The Canadian Open Source Doc-a-thon is an opportunity to collaborate virtually (via GitHub) with the Canadian technical community and build your reputation as an expert by reviewing and improving Azure documentation.”

The goal of the Doc-a-thon is to improve Microsoft product documentation hosted in docs.microsoft.com.

Check out the site for details on how to participate in the next phase of the Canadian Open Source Doc-a-thon.

2018-2019 Microsoft MVP renewal

On July 1st (Canada Day), I was re-awarded the Microsoft MVP award in Visual Studio and Development Technologies for 2018-2019.

I feel honoured to be recognised by Microsoft with this award. I love giving back to the developer community and this recognition is a nice feeling.

This will be my fourth straight year as an MVP and I am looking forward to continuing my work with the local community. Thanks to Microsoft for the award and to the Canadian MVP team for their support.

You can learn more about the program at mvp.microsoft.com

Visual Studio Code: Multi-line and multi-cursor editing

CC 2.0 image courtesy Antony Theobald on Flickr

A few months back I wrote a blog post about Column Mode Editing in Notepad++. In the article, I demonstrate how to edit multiple columns of text to add, edit, or remove information. After I wrote this I wondered if we could edit multiple lines at once in Visual Studio Code. It turns out we can and there are two different ways to do it.

Microsoft Canada Events Site

Microsoft Canada recently created a central page to merge all partner and community events in Canada so you can see local events happening in your area.

Microsoft Writing Style Guide: A new guide for technical communication

For technical writers and technical communicators, the Microsoft Manual of Style has been one of the main resources of style guidelines for writing about computers and technology. It was an essential manual for content developers, creators, journalists, communicators, and editors. After the 4th Edition was published in 2012, I thought for sure Microsoft would continue to release paper versions of this essential book.

In February 2018, Microsoft took the radical approach of publishing the next version of the guide as a free, web-based resource. Now branded the Microsoft Writing Style Guide, it brings Microsoft writing guidelines “up-to-date for 2018 and is an evolution of the Microsoft Manual of Style from 2012. The principles and guidelines in the guide are the same as those used by internal Microsoft writers, which allows consistent quality and style across all apps and content.”

How to check if Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is installed

CC 2.0 image courtesy Rosa Menkman on Flickr

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update came out in Fall 2017 and already 85% of PCs have it installed. This release, version 1709, has lots of new features and updates. So, how do you know if it’s installed or not on your computer? This article shows you two methods to verify if the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is installed.

Microsoft MVP Summit Checklist

In March 2018, I will be heading to my third Microsoft MVP Global Summit. Just like in past years, MVPs from around the world converge on Bellevue, Redmond, and Seattle, Washington for several days of technical sessions and camaraderie on the Microsoft campus.

While the majority of MVPs attending are returnees, a good portion is new to the experience. While I am no expert at attending Summit, I have learned a few things along the way and have also picked up some travel tips. So, I thought I would share this information with all who could benefit from it.

However, instead of having a static list live just on this blog, I have posted the general checklist to GitHub as a Markdown file in its own repository. This way MVPs can print it, fork it, or contribute their ideas back via pull requests.

You can find the list at this repo: MVP Summit Checklist + Tips

I encourage everyone to check it out and submit their ideas. There are people who have been travelling to MVP Summit longer than me and I know there are some great suggestions out there. So, let’s hear them!