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Subject:RE: Framemaker, Word and Robohelp From:Melanie Shook <mshook -at- com2001 -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 16 Jan 2001 17:32:56 -0600
Chuck Martin [mailto:twriter -at- sonic -dot- net] wrote:
<<I would suggest that FrameMaker, even in its 6th version now, does none of
that well.>>
Not to re-start the holy war, but just to offer my perspective. I have been
using Word for small documents for years, and began using FrameMaker about 1
1/2 years ago for technical docs. I had a lot of crashes on a laptop with 64
MB of RAM, but since I got my new machine, I have not had any crashes at
all. Frame appears to be memory intensive.
Frame's documentation is good, and they provide printed documentation, which
Word does not. I don't think Word provides enough [online] help on advanced
functions that I need - look up field codes, for example. I don't
particularly like FrameMaker's online help, either.
I honestly do not understand why people think Frame has a steep learning
curve. It is much more intuitive to me than Word. I am still struggling to
learn how to manipulate Word into doing what I can do with Frame. Everyone
has a preference, and when someone is trying to make a choice, they need to
consider the features each package offers and pick the one that suits their
needs. For example, I love track changes in Word, which Frame doesn't have.
But Frame's other features (conditional text, autonumbering that works, book
files, etc.) are more important for the type of documentation I produce.
I do agree that WebWorks Publisher has a steep learning curve, but it's not
that steep. I was producing HTML Help within a week, and had my templates
perfected within two to three weeks (while I worked on other projects as
well). So I had to learn a bit about regular expressions along the way -
just more knowledge for me that may come in handy down the road. Now
producing a .chm takes minutes (even seconds) from start to finish.
The bottom line is, you won't really know what your preference is unless you
try both.
Melanie Shook
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Develop HTML-Based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 ($100 STC Discount)
**WEST COAST LOCATIONS** San Jose (Mar 1-2), San Francisco (Apr 16-17) http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001
Conference East, June 4-5, Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. http://www.pdfconference.com or toll-free 877/278-2131.
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