Re: Question from a re-virginized newbie

[Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com>]

Adding to MadCap Flare: As far as the PDFs, I find them most useful as a
"search" resource, and the best resource for learning how to do stuff. I
find their actual help file to be awful (I'm on 7, not sure if it's better
in 9). I have the PDFs downloaded and simply open and search if I need to
look anything up.  Google is a good friend, too.


On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 9:14 AM, Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> If you're going to be producing online Help, take the time to download a
> trial copy of MadCap Flare and play around with it.  Also, MadCap has
> recorded webinars available on their web page.  I've attended many over the
> years, and found them to be useful, and often (but not always) tool
> neutral.
>
> http://www.madcapsoftware.com/resources/
>
> One warning though, MadCap seem to have gone a bit crazy recently with
> their documentation, producing almost 40 PDF guides.   As an experienced
> user I've only flipped through a few of them, and it looks like the bulk of
> their doc is reused content included in multiple guides (showing off how
> you can single source), so pick and choose what you need to read and don't
> even think you have to read the entire doc set to understand how to use
> Flare.  (I'd start with the section in the Help
> http://webhelp.madcapsoftware.com/flare9/Default.htm  about How to Develop
> a Project)
>
> I've also spent some time recently with RoboHelp, as I've had to use it at
> a couple of gigs in the past couple of years.
>
> http://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp.html
>
> In general I've found Adobe's help to be less useful than I'd like.  Their
> web site is harder to navigate, and their forums less helpful (the answer
> to every one of my questions always seems to be "here is this complicated
> workaround to make it work the way people think it should"). I've taken
> several Adobe webinars, and they tend to be more focused on marketing/sales
> than training.  I've also found that their webinar offerings are often
> either for complete beginners who have never used their tools, or for
> advanced users who are using their tools to solve extremely complicated
> problems that are often irrelevant to anything I'm currently working on.
> Since I fall somewhere in the middle, I don't often find them to be time
> well spent.
>
> Hope that helps!
>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 1:06 AM, Erika Yanovich <ERIKA_y -at- rad -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Mark,
> > I'd go for a video tool, something like Captivate or alike.
> > HTH,
> > Erika
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> > Hello all! I was a tech writer for 8 years before becoming a stay home
> dad
> > for the last 5. I am venturing back into the field, rust in tow. My
> > question is as follows: I have a limited amount of $ to spend on
> training,
> > so given where the industry is headed, what utilit(ies) training should I
> > pursue?
> > Humbly,
> > Mike
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > Doc-To-Help: new website, content widgets, and an output that works on
> any
> > screen.
> >
> > Learn more: http://bit.ly/1eRs4NS
> >
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>
> --
> Julie Stickler
> http://heratech.wordpress.com/
> Blogging about Agile and technical writing
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Doc-To-Help: new website, content widgets, and an output that works on any
> screen.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/1eRs4NS
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
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-- 
Hannah L. Drake
Lead Technical Documentation Specialist
Formulatrix, Inc.

781-788-0228 x137 (office)
617-610-6456 (cell)
hannah.drake.formulatrix (skype)
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