Why FrameMaker? Technical Communication. Presentation to STC India Radisson Hotel, Delhi N.C.R. Cheri Mullins 30 June 2007

Transcription

1 Technical Communication Why FrameMaker? Presentation to STC India Radisson Hotel, Delhi N.C.R. Cheri Mullins 30 June June Cheri Mullins. All rights reserved

2 About Me More than 27 years technical writing & information development More than 17 years with FrameMaker First massive online documentation project at IBM (SGML, InterLeaf, KnowledgeSet, DocBook) Undergraduate, graduate degrees in telecom & technical communication thesis on structured authoring Graduate work in industrial engineering, PhD candidate Primary domains include telecom, computers, networking, fault tolerance Adjunct faculty in technical communication Manage teams of writers working manager Director of Information Development at USA-based GENBAND Inc., with offices in Noida; Plano & Austin, Texas; Florida; Shanghai, China

3 When to Use FrameMaker? Many documents Technical or scientific Long Complex Tightly-controlled Graphics-intensive Formula-intensive Different types of information Many situations Multiple chapters Multiple authors Multiple locations Multiple documents Multiple document types Internationalization/ Localization Multiple styles Many books, overlapping content Reuse content Text insets: takes format Multiple book documents Repurpose content Variables, conditional text Text insets: takes format Just say no to cut-and-paste!

4 Cern World-famous & esteemed particle physics laboratory Brightest minds in technology Where the web was born Guess what they use for document authoring? You re right! They use FrameMaker!

5 Which FrameMaker? Structured Multiple inputs Multiple formats Multiple outputs Multiple conditions Buzzwords Single sourcing Content reuse Content repurposing DITA XML Topic-based authoring Content management Structured authoring Related technologies SGML, XML DTD, DocBook, DITA XSLT, CSS HTML, DHTML Micro to Macro Unstructured Helpful tools Spreadsheet: Excel Word Processor: Microsoft Word HATs and HTML creation: FrameMaker, WebWorks Publisher, HomeSite, RoboHelp, DreamWeaver, FrontPage Presentation: PowerPoint Graphics: Adobe Illustrator, Creative Suite, PaintShop Pro, SnagIT Production: Adobe Acrobat FrameMaker PlugIns Silicon Prairie Software Paragraphs Characters Tables Macro to Micro

6 Why FrameMaker? Authoring benefits Templates lead the author to the next style Style consistency and easy updates Powerful table handling Tagging Cross references Insert objects Variables Spelling checker Change tracking Familiar folder concept Book concept Small, easily managed chapters Easy to reorganize Easy to manage and update using templates Numbering Generate Contents, Index, Numbering, Lists (Tables, Figures, etc.) Graphics handling, control Graphics reuse (reference) Automatic updates, external control, reduced file size FM callouts consistent, text Native graphics Book features Numbering Master & Reference pages Headers, footers, layout Powerful layout function: different first, left, right, rotated, etc. Book manipulation Production benefits Links & bookmarks convey Translation/localization Print: colors - Pantone & CMYK; fonts PostScript, embedded; output quality; trim marks

7 Some Random Points to Remember Everything is a frame Authors do not modify the frames; they use them Just write! FrameMaker does not spuriously change formats! Use search be careful with replace Searches entire document and repeats until it turned over every stone

8 Disadvantages of FrameMaker Relatively expensive Not optimal for XML authoring/production Can have a steep learning curve Until release 7.2, only one level of undo Some of your favorite Word or Windows features may not work, or may not work the same way Graphics display is not as simple as Word Remember that everything is a frame? Graphics must go into frames. Tables are not as simple as Word Design and apply table formats Too many organizations attempt to have one person do everything Can be annoying to learn, but powerful! And controllable!

9 Why Not Word? Microsoft Word is a good and useful program as a DTP, not a TPS Is not conducive to writing large documents Does not handle large files or multiple files well Makes unpredictable and undesirable ad hoc format changes Does not lend itself to single sourcing Runs on a single platform only (Wintel) Provides extremely limited variables support and does not support them across documents (or chapters) Does not provide powerful (or easily used) template feature Limits headers, footers, and other book features within a single document and different h/f require a section change Does not easily generate or configure indexes, contents, other lists Reasonable cross references practically impossible Word wants to control the document Word is a great word processing tool for letters, short reports, etc. FrameMaker is a technical publishing system.

10 Who Writes? Manager Information Architect Designer Technical Editor Managing Editor Style Editor Illustrator Tool-chain expert Content manager Writer Authors Information Developer Technical Writer Documentation specialist Production Editor Domain experts (SMEs) Organization experts Writing experts Template experts Style/usage experts Tools experts Production experts Components experts

11 Writers Focus on Content Why don t writers write? More Reasons They are busy with other tasks Plan Architect Research & analyze Interview Design Author Convert Write Illustrate Meet Edit Manage Produce They are distracted They want to work on the template They want to illustrate They want to be FrameMaker experts They want to be domain experts They want to be be Bollywood screenwriters! Breathe Start again

12 Underutilized Features Spelling checker Just do it! Prevent word wrap Prevent hyphenation Create a custom, library-wide dictionary Be careful, though! Variables & Text Insets Use institutional variables Do not change variable names Change names Create white box documentation Reuse or repurpose content

13 FrameMaker Templates Domain of the Template Designer, Managing Editor, Production Editor Book2 Cover Preface Contents & Lists Chapter Appendix Index Chapter Chapter Chapter Book1 Preface Cover Preface TOC Chapter Appendix Index Templates

14 Do You Like the Template Style? Yes? Fantastic! Then use it! No? That s ok. Use it anyway. Register your thoughts or suggestions, but do not dwell on it. Just write!

15 FrameMaker Content Domain of the Author (plus Architect & Content Manager) V TI Co Book2 Cover Preface Contents & Lists Chapter Appendix Index Chapter Chapter Chapter V V TI Co Book1 TI Co Cover Preface TOC Chapter Appendix Index Chapter Chapter Chapter Ch

16 Useful Keyboard Shortcuts Ctrl-T Table Designer Ctrl M Paragraph Designer Ctrl-q Shift-q Em dash Esc t h r Select table row Alt-0151 Section mark Ctrl doubleclick Select column Alt-0134 Dagger Esc t h t ~or~ Ctrl triple-click Select table Esc f S Save all files in a book Ctrlspacebar Nonbreaking space Ctrl-Enter Add a new row to a table Esc f O Open all files in a book Shift-Enter Line break Esc Tab Insert tab in a table cell Esc f C Close all files in a book Esc F l k Lock a file (links become active)

17 Everything is a Frame Right? Use the.book file to manipulate documents Open (double-click or right-click Open) Save (select all and right-click Save) Close (select all and right-click Close) Set page, paragraph, chapter, and volume numbering at the book level Show/hide conditional text from the book level Set change bars at the book level Run spell-checker and search and replace from the book Build supporting documents (TOC, index, lists of figures and tables) at the book level Think of the book as a frame for the book documents Don t forget to save the book!

18 Prime Benefit Consistency Institutionalizes corporate style We all want to FrameMaker experts, but Just write!

19 Resources David McMurrey, Director, Technical Communication Department, ACC Contact me: