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| We are considering buying WebWorks Publisher to convert Frame documents to
| HTML for online help for our software. My boss has asked me to find out
| approximate times to do the whole project of converting the document to
| online help. Our user manual is about 100 pages long with screen capture
| graphics (eps format). I am a newbie tech writer and have never done this
| before (and the only tech writer here).
|
| Does anyone have any experience with estimating this type of project? I
| couldn't find anything on the archives specifically relating to this. I
| don't have to be that specific, I just want to know approximately how much
| time WWPublisher would save over using FM's convert to HTML and doing the
| manual fixes.
I think there are two questions here: (a) how long does it take to get ready
to convert your FrameMaker files using WWP, and (b) how long does it take to
actually do the conversion once you're ready.
For a project of the size you describe, the (b) part will almost certainly
take less than 20 minutes each time you want or need to do it. However, the
(a) part will certainly take much longer than that. WWP has a fairly steep
learning curve, and you'll need to learn to use it to design, implement, and
test your conversion template. You'll need a good working knowledge of
FrameMaker and of the HTML-based format you plan to use (there are several
to choose among). Another question is how much customization you need or
want to do in the conversion. The total time for designing, implementing,
and testing a conversion template (given a good working knowledge of
FrameMaker, WWP, and your target output format) could range from a few days
to a few weeks. Sorry, but there are too many variables here for me give you
a tighter estimate.
