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>"David Orr" wrote..
>
> Tell me again why I should give this template away?
>You shouldn't. You should use it in your business to make money. Just
like
>anybody who develops a template should use it to make their lives easier.
>Naturally, if you want to give it away for free that is your prerogative.
But I
>would probably fire any employee who handed out company assets like that.
>My original point was that it is lame to ask a forum of 4000 strangers to
hand
>you a template for free. Go get it yourself or build your own.
I was being facetious. I agree with you totally.
>However, the template is merely the beginning. It doesn't matter how
brilliant
>the template - the content is still what truly matters.
>Also, templates are not commandments from God. They need to be tweaked and
>fixed as necessary. Any place that locks up the templates and doesn't
allow
>writers to make changes or tweaks is asking for trouble. Templates like
any
>process should be seen as guidelines, not the Word of God.
We've found that having a well-defined template allows writers to focus on
content rather than format. Our writers can always tweak a document for
particular
project needs; but, even so, most of the document adheres to the standard
look.
For example, a writer may decide to add icons in the margins, or overhead
markers in an instructor's guide. If a writer comes up with a particularly
good innovation, we add it to the template.
As for saying "that may all be well and good, but the content is still the
most important thing," I consider that argument a setting up and knocking
down of a straw man. No good technical writer ignores the importance of
content or format.
______________________________________________
M. David Orr
Orr & Associates Corporation http://www.orrnet.com
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