New doc group: FrameMaker or Flare?

[Mary Moore <mmoore100 -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

I'm consulting for a company that needs to set up documentation from scratch and doesn't have an authoring tool. They've heard that FrameMaker is the tool of choice and asked my opinion.

They will not have a full-time writer. I will be setting things up and creating the initial documentation and then they will hire contractors as needed. Call me cynical, but I've seen a couple of companies turn the minor updating tasks over to engineers who can indeed figure out how to make the minor changes, but then trip up on conditional text, generating TOCs and indexes, and so on.

Given that they don't have a tool already and that they will not have a full-time writer, I'm thinking of suggesting Flare, but I'm worried about the learning curve -- for them AND me.

If I sell them on Flare, how long do you think it will take me to create simple templates for an installation guide and user guide that would be output as PDF?

Does Flare come with any default templates?

If they decide to make minor changes themselves and bring in a writer only for a major release, is it conceivable that they could do this?

Miranda Moreland
 		 	   		  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help. 
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try 
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

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