Re: Frame -> HTML

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>]

Mark Dempsey wrote:
> The basic problems with HTML are that, as good as Webworks output is
> (and it's pretty good), there's at least another edit cycle to check the
> output to see it's not garbled somehow. Also, you must mark certain
> things as "print only" with conditional text (e.g. the "Conventions in
> this manual" section that explains font use, or graphics you do not want
> to see in the HTML output). Webworks will exclude the conditional text
> settings you configure. Maintaining this difference between print and
> online is not part of the pdf output, but must be part of the HTML doc
> production.
> 
> Many experienced folks say you must maintain two versions: online and
> print. I don't disagree--the maintenance of a single version with the
> conditional text is that much work. For example, if you have a
> cross-reference to a conditional text passage, you must write so that
> cross-reference can be omitted (and make the cross-reference itself
> conditional). This is a task that can expand exponentially...

All of these issues (re-editing converted HTML, establishing 
conditional text, and cross-references) can be resolved by carefully
setting up and configuring the Wpublish template.

* Wpublish converts reliably--exactly as you tell it to. If you set it
up correctly and completely, you'll NEVER need to edit the HTML
output. (And if you do, you're creating tons more work and working
harder, not smarter, but that's another thread.)
* Wpublish remembers conditional text settings separately from the 
Frame docs, so you can do the setup in Wpublish once, then keep
your Frame docs conditional text settings configured for print, and
it'll all work. 
* Yes, you need to think about online versus hardcopy considerations
in doing cross-references, but Wpublish can automatically change
your "See Blah on Page 2, section 4" to "See Blah for more information"
for online output. If you set it up right. 

Eric