You’re struggling to manage your engineering documentation. What’s the best tool to help you get organized?

In tech, Confluence by Atlassian is a go-to collaboration platform, facilitating seamless creation and sharing of documentation with integrations to Jira and Bitbucket. Git, along with GitHub and GitLab, is widely used for version control in code-related projects, offering efficient management of technical documentation and collaboration features like pull requests and wikis.

Simplify engineering docs with a user-friendly tool. My tips: User-Friendly Interface: Go seamless for efficient workflows. Boosted our team's efficiency! Effortless Editing and Viewing: Clear, comfy interface for smooth collaboration in managing complex data. No Coding Hassles: Choose drag-and-drop or WYSIWYG editors. Streamlined content creation. Accessible Anywhere, Anytime: Cloud-based is key, especially for remote teams. Flexibility matters! Customizable Template System: Flexible templates for comfort and use cases. Improved documentation consistency. Robust Search Function: Powerful search for quick info retrieval. Essential for managing vast datasets. Choose comfort for your team. What's your must-have feature?

Auto generated documentation from standard defined schemas like Open API for the backend, a repository on GitHub or elsewhere to store structured architecture diagrams or decisions (ADRs) and design system for frontend helps reduce always getting deprecated documentation in check with minimal efforts to update and also easy to use in familiar tools

Managing engineering documentation effectively hinges on the ease of use of the systems implemented. A user-friendly interface is not just about aesthetics; it's about reducing the learning curve and increasing the adoption rate among team members. Tools with intuitive designs facilitate quicker access to files, more straightforward navigation through documents, and simpler processes to update and maintain records.The best tool is one that seamlessly integrates with existing workflows, requiring minimal disruption to the engineers' usual operations.

As an engineer, organising copious paperwork might be difficult without a simplified approach. The most effective tools support real-time collaboration, straightforward version control tracking, automated revision logs, and customisable review routines. By incorporating permission-based access and sophisticated commenting into my existing engineering software ecosystem, I can concentrate on content rather than layout. My objective is to maintain team alignment through transparency while protecting information integrity. With trust-based collaborations and technology that removes friction, we can focus more on engineering innovation rather than administrative paperwork.

Version control for code and other text-based documents: Git: The industry standard for code version control, offering excellent branching, merging, and collaboration features. It's open-source and has a large community and ecosystem. Mercurial: Another popular version control system, known for its flexibility and ease of use. It's also open-source and has a strong community. Document management with version control: SolidWorks Manage: Offers robust features for managing SolidWorks files, including version control, collaboration, and lifecycle management. Autodesk Vault: Similar to SolidWorks Manage, but for Autodesk files. PTC Windchill: A comprehensive PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)

Crafting documentation is effortless with collaborative tools. Here's my experience: Real-time Collaboration: Choose tools enabling real-time collaboration for a significant boost in team efficiency. Version Control: Opt for tools with robust version control to effortlessly track and compare changes. Comment/Annotation Features: Look for tools with comment and annotation features, facilitating easy exchange of ideas. Notifications/Alerts: Prioritize tools with notifications or alerts for changes, ensuring you stay informed. Review/Approval Feature: Select tools with a review or approval feature to streamline feedback collection and sign-offs. With these features, seamlessly work, track changes, and gather valuable feedback.

Design systems and ADRs can have pull requests for comments and collaboration, as well as API schema changes. This leads to a very narrow amount of tools to use while maintaining high cooperation in familiar environment

Engineering projects are rarely a solo endeavor; they thrive on collaboration. A tool that promotes teamwork through shared documents, simultaneous editing, and communication channels within the documentation itself can significantly improve project outcomes. It should allow for annotations, comments, and suggestions, enabling a dynamic exchange of ideas and feedback among team members.For distributed teams, especially relevant in today's global environment, the ability to work on the same document from different locations is invaluable. The tool should offer version control and history tracking to manage changes made by different team members, preventing conflicts and ensuring transparency in the documentation process.

Engineering projects are rarely a solo endeavor; they thrive on collaboration. A tool that promotes teamwork through shared documents, simultaneous editing, and communication channels within the documentation itself can significantly improve project outcomes. It should allow for annotations, comments, and suggestions, enabling a dynamic exchange of ideas and feedback among team members.For distributed teams, especially relevant in today's global environment, the ability to work on the same document from different locations is invaluable. The tool should offer version control and history tracking to manage changes made by different team members, preventing conflicts and ensuring transparency in the documentation process.

Ensuring accurate and updated documentation is crucial for your team, stakeholders, and customers. To maintain consistency and adhere to standards, seek a tool featuring a single source of truth, reusable content, style guide, validation, and compliance. This guarantees time savings, heightened quality, and improved communication in engineering documentation. It alleviates stress, enhances productivity, and elevates satisfaction for your team, stakeholders, and customers.

Going for industry standard with high maintenance from authors such as material UI, ADRs, Open API, and reusable template in note taking tools like Notion can keep the documents in the same shape and style across the board, which increases ease for usability and creation.

Engineering documentation must adhere to industry standards and internal best practices to ensure quality and compliance. A tool that enforces templates, standardizes naming conventions, and ensures that all documents meet certain criteria before being finalized can play a crucial role in maintaining consistency.The ability to customize and enforce templates for different types of documents ensures that all team members are on the same page. This not only aids in maintaining a professional appearance but also in ensuring that the necessary information is always included and easily located.

Engage someone in your team to take responsibility for it and ensure some version control is in place. Check the documentation regularly.

I find the approach of "Convention over Configuration" applicable to documentation too. Rules how to create certain document type rather than pre-configured templates, which contradicts my previous suggestions, actually more approachable by the team. They only need to know what to write about, leaving the how to their own style and imagination, this doesn't force people into a framework which doesn't always fit what they want to document