RE: Using forms instead of templates

["Lisa Wright" <liwright -at- qwest -dot- net>]

Lil asked:
"If I used Word forms (with formatting built in) how could I build in
some flexibility?"

Lil,
I'm sure someone else will come up with a clever alternative, but when I
was at a previous company with strict configuration management rules,
there was a release note template that everyone used, created in Word.
They provided flexibility by using continuous section breaks and
unprotecting certain sections for forms. Other sections were protected
and you could only check a box here or fill in a field there. 

(Someone else will chime in here saying that you need to watch out for
continuous section breaks, and someone may even tell you to avoid them
like the plague. I can't right now remember specifically what issues
they cause -- headers/footers most likely. It always comes down to
headers/footers.)

It was a *lot* of work to get the templates right, but everyone seemed
to be able to use them okay once they were set. The tech writers did end
up being format monkeys though. Part of this had to do with the CM
aspects and not so much the formatting, but it became such a huge part
of the job that I ultimately left... but that's another story.

HTH,

Lisa 


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