More on template design in Frame

[Thomas Neuburger <thomasn -at- twelfthnight -dot- com>]

(Cross-posted to interested places)

On FrameUsers, Debbi Fortney makes an excellent point about working with
templates in FrameMaker:

>... it isn't a big a deal
>to update indents and tabs for multiple paragraphs. You can do it in a
>fake document based on the template. Create a dummy paragraph for each
>tag, placing paragraphs with the same indents and tabs next to one
>another. Select all of the paragraphs with similar indents and/or tabs,
>make the changes, do a global update and update only the Basic properties.
>Of course this procedure works for any of the properties.

I would extend that point for anyone working with templates and template
design. My stong recommendations regarding template design:

1. When designing a template, make sure to keep a "master" of the chapter
doc, separate from the chapter instances that appear in the book file. The
master contains samples of all para, char, table, xref, variable, master
page, ref page material, plus special material (see below).

2. Make sure the master is always up to date.

3. Include two main sections in the master. The first shows how paragraphs
look next to each other, in logical order -- head1, body, head2, body,
note, body, etc. The second contains all similar paragraph (etc.) styles
stacked together -- for example, all "body" types, all "bullet" types, etc.
Include the tag name at the start of every tagged paragraph everywhere in
this doc.

4. Use the first section to check the results of changes. A well-designed
first section provides great fast visual "proofing." Also, you can use the
first section to explain how each style is used, especially if you're
handing this off to a customer. This section then becomes a "template user
guide" as well.

5. Use the second section as a place to make global changes, as Debbi (Dbb
to friends) wisely recommends above. In this section, you can group-select
all body types, for example, and make sure Space Below is consistent, or
change it to some other value. If all of your paragraphs using the same
font and spacing are together (all body, all bullet, all numbered, etc.),
you can make massive changes with a swoop (swp to friends). The whole doc
can then go from 9 pt Arial (ugh) to 11 pt Lucida with one global update
command. (The key command, again, is in the Paragraph Designer: Global
Update / Update All in Selection).

6. Did I say to keep this doc up to date? This takes a little discipline,
but it's well worth it. I recommend this methodology: Every time you change
a tag (etc.) in a "real" chapter, make the same change to the master, and
then export that change from the master to the rest of the book. Never take
shortcuts. This method takes practice, but with it you'll *never* overwrite
a newer tagset with an older one.

Hope this helps,

Tom Neuburger

The Masters Series: FrameMaker 6
ISBN 1-930597-01-0
www.twelfthnight.com
www.BN.com, www.fatbrain.com
www.amazon.com


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