SUMMARY: WWP Project Times

[Melanie Shook <mshook -at- com2001 -dot- com>]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my questions.  

The overwhelming vote is for WebWorks Publisher.  Everyone was very positive
about using WWP to convert Frame documents to HTML.  I'll summarize:

1.  Everyone raved about the ease of use of WWP versus using Frame's Save as
HTML.  This goes for HTML Help and WinHelp projects (maybe others - these
were mentioned).  Apparently Frame's HTML requires a lot (weeks) of fixing
and possibly having someone write a filter program to make it work.
Everyone claimed WWP would save many hours, weeks of time over Frame alone.

2.  When setting up a new document, it takes some set up time to map Frame's
tags to HTML tags.  This was estimated at anywhere from 3 days to several
weeks, depending on your level of expertise with Frame, HTML, etc., and the
complexity of your documents.  Once the set up is complete, the conversion
itself takes only minutes (under an hour).  You only have to do the set up
once.

3.  For HTML Help (what I'll be using), the process goes:  1.  Set up the
mapping  2. Convert  3. Compile the help. That's it.  You're done.

4.  Most of the respondents stated no manual fixing was necessary if the
mapping was set up properly; a few stated that slight fixing was necessary.
Probably depends on how precise you want to be.

5.  The software takes some time to learn, and one person commented that the
printed documentation is short on procedural how-to, long on talking about
cool features.  However, several people commented on the great technical
support (free with trial period, 30 minutes free when you buy.)  Some
suggested training might be in order. 

6.  You can sign up for the WebWorks Publisher mail list at
www.quadralay.com/support/ .

Hope this helps!

Melanie Shook
Technical Writer
COM2001.com