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<jbreger -at- ayalogic -dot- com> wrote in message news:223522 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
> I am looking for advice on help authoring tools. Already I know about
> RoboHelp and Help and Manual. What experiences have people had with those
> tools?
>
> I am part of a start-up software telecommunications company in Akron Ohio
> and we are about to test our new product. I am in charge of documenation,
> creating help files and training. Back in my old job I just did the
> training and just pitched in on the help files and documentation.
>
> Feel free to e-mail me with tool suggestions or any ideas you may have.
>
I kinda hate to be so blunt inthis holiday season, but....
First, the answer to what tools you should use to create documentation
should be based less on what the experience of others is than on what the
information needs of your product's users will be.
Second, if you've waited until the product is in testing to begin the docs,
you've waited too long.
Third, I'm not sure what you mean by "just pitched in," but I infer that (a)
you're probably not a technical writer by training or passion, and (b) your
corporate culture is one that assumes technical documentation is "just"
writing and so is easy to do and can be thrown together at the last minute.
Fourth, while training and user assistance have some similar
characteristics, they are generally different beasts. Most of their
similarities are thaat they contain writing and graphics.
I've "pitched in" at places before in finding bugs in and making changes to
the programming code, but I'd not think that I'm a programmer, nor would I
expect to be asked by a company to work on programming. Unless my underlying
assumptions are wrong (and I kinda hope they are), your task should not be
figuring out what tool to use, but what professional you should hire (at
this very late date) to get the job done right (or as close to right as you
can get this late in the development process). (Assuming, of course, that
your corporate goal is to produce a high-quality product.) If your company's
"unique approach to software design starts with the customers," as your web
site says, you owe those customers no less.
--
--
Chuck Martin
User Assistance & Experience Engineer
twriter "at" sonic "dot" net www.writeforyou.com
"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. The day
may come when the courage of Men fail, when we forsake our friends and break
all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day! This day, we fight!"
- Aragorn
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you."
- Gandalf
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
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