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Hi, I am Valerie

Valerie Schipka

Technical Writer

With four years of experience in software documentation, I specialize in docs-as-code workflows. My day-to-day work includes version control with Git, collaborative reviews, and writing user documentation in markup languages, as well as configuring and maintaining static site generators for user documentation, knowledge bases, and tutorials.

Docs-as-Code
Software Documentation
Knowledge Management
Animations & Graphics
Learning New Skills
Monday Morning

Skills

Markdown + Static Site Generators
Markdown + Static Site Generators

Markdown is a markup language for creating formatted text for the web. Nowadays I write most documentation content in Markdown and publish it using static site generators.

LaTeX
LaTeX

LaTeX is software for typesetting documents with an emphasis on scientific symbols and mathetical formulas. I used to write scientific documents and lab reports in LaTeX (MiKTeX).

Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office

I’m an experienced user of the Microsoft Office Suite. This includes not only writing documentation in MS Word, but also setting up building blocks (text snippets) for company wide use.

Git
Git

I have experience with git-based version control and hosting. This includes GitHub Pages and git clients like GitHub Desktop and Fork.

HelpSmith
HelpSmith

HelpSmith is an authoring tool to create help files, print documents and more. I have basic knowledge in using HelpSmith to create software documentation that is delivered as part of a software as a .chm file.

Camtasia
Camtasia

Lately I’ve been getting into Camtasia to create tutorials and onboarding videos for publication on YouTube, as well as short animations to embed into our web documentation.

Autodesk Inventor (3D CAD)
Autodesk Inventor (3D CAD)

I have basic software skills with 3D CAD software (Autodesk Inventor, CATIA V5) to create simple 3D models and 2D technical drawings.

Adobe PhotoshopCC
Adobe PhotoshopCC

I regularly use PhotoshopCC for basic image editing and cropping to enhance screenshots, create info graphics and UI elements. Other image editting software I use are Paint.NET and Greenshot.

Adobe InDesign CS5
Adobe InDesign CS5

I used to do a lot of layouting and document preprarations for print. My InDesign print history includes posters in multiple formats and sizes, books with glue and stitch binding, business cards and small merchandise.

Recent Posts

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Virtual Environments for MkDocs Projects

After 4 years of maintaining a single MkDocs documentation project, it finally happened: I was tasked with setting up a second project. And this means handling different project dependencies. Working with documentation in a docs-as-code environment usually involves Static Site Generators such as MkDocs or Sphinx. These tools transform plain text files into documentation websites. But they usually also come with dependencies - and that’s where virtual environments come in. Virtual environments are self-contained workspaces for Python projects.

Saturday, September 27, 2025 | 3 minutes Read
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List Recently Updated Pages in MkDocs

When maintaining documentation with MkDocs, it can be helpful to give readers a quick overview of what’s been updated recently. There are a few ways to convey this kind of information, like: Adding revision dates to the bottom of individual pages using the mkdocs-git-revision-date-localized-plugin Displaying a page status (e.g. “draft”, “new”, “updated”) next to the page title in the navigation via the status feature of the Material theme Adding a table containing git commit information using the mkdocs-git-latest-changes-plugin.

Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 4 minutes Read
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How to Use Structured Data in MkDocs

Have you ever wondered how some documentation pages show up in search results with features like expandable FAQs, breadcrumb trails, or instructional step-by-steps? That’s the power of structured data. Structured data refers to a standardized format for providing information about a web page and classifying its content. It helps search engines understand the content of the page more accurately and display it in enhanced ways directly in search results. The Material theme for MkDocs already offers a solid foundation for SEO, but there are still ways to fine-tune and improve how individual pages are indexed and presented.

Friday, May 16, 2025 | 3 minutes Read