Re: REquest for advice on Workflow & Tools

[Goober <techcommgoober -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> 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

OK, do you need to justify your existence by making
more work for yourself? Why stick with Word if you're
going to be publishing with FrameMaker? I don't get
it. Why not stick with Word then, make the PDF, and
then save as HTML like they are doing? You're not
making the workflow better... you're just adding
overhead. IMHO, of course. ;)

> 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

Sounds like you need to fix workflow, not jump to a
new tool. You may be able to fix your workflow without
jumping to tools, or at least by revisiting the
workflow in detail you could get an idea of how new
tools will help you. As of right now, I see no benefit
whatsoever in adding FM+WWP to your workflow.

> I'm looking for advice on workflow, cooperation, and
> also tools. Thanks!

So you can't author any of this yourself, and you
can't get the Architects to use FM? Not even if you
create "bulletproof" templates? I'm curious, is your
role only as a typesetter/publisher? I'm just curious.

I suggest revisiting the workflow. Talk to the authors
of the content and see what makes sense. Maybe you
could use SGML instead and have them write using very
finitely-defined styles and a specific structure of
elements... you could then create print and HTML from that...

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