TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:REquest for advice on Workflow & Tools From:Joe <jsokohl -at- mac -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 8 May 2002 00:06:41 -0400
Hi all,
Here's a request for input. Situation: I'm a new tech writer with a
group of strategic-level software (enterprise) architects. they produce
all sorts of documents...strategic vision papers, blueprints,
guidelines, that sort of thing (no user manuals or online help). Current
process is they use Word, send the Word around for comment/review, and
ultimately publish finals in PDF on an intranet.
I'm thinking of this workflow:
Architect creates draft in Word 97 (standard, not upgradeable) --> I
edit in Word --> Architect gets technical reviews --> I edit finals -->
Architect gets approvals --> I publish with FrameMaker 7 and WebWorks to
both PDF and HTML
Reasons for FM: Document design control, mostly, as well as
single-source publishing, basic version control
Detractions from FM: Cost, bottleneck, dependence on Adobe
Reasons for Word: Architects have it, control changes faster, I don't
become a publication bottleneck, no divergence of versions
Detractions from Word: Shared templates don't work (Word does weird
things based on writers's normal.dot's resident on their computers),
numbers are a nightmare, easy for non-approved changes to occur
I'm looking for advice on workflow, cooperation, and also tools. Thanks!
joe
Joe Sokohl
Sokohl & Associates
----------------------------
Helping create digital solutions for real people
Technical writing, information architecture, and usability consulting
----------------------------
www.sokohl.com
www.cafepress.com/hcistuff (for fun)
+1-804-355-7227
+1-804-873-6964 (mobile)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Buy RoboHelp Office in May and you'll save $100 with our mail-in rebate.
Or switch from Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp to RoboHelp Office for only $499.
Get the help authoring tool PC magazine recently awarded a perfect score!
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
