Sandra said: > I still have to > apply some sort of > headings and styles so that I can keep the document content > organized while > I write it.
I completely agree. I wasn't arguing against that. I was arguing against the need for an author to have the ability to visually style elements above and beyond just being able to style via structural markup. Joe said: > For the specific example that I used you would be incorrect. > I've got over > 100 large-scale CM projects under my belt, more than half of them > newspapers, I'd trust me on this one. But how would the author know (or care, I suppose) if the article was going to be sent to the AP, and perhaps picked up by another paper, with a different style format, who then might publish it on their web site to be viewed by a reader using a Palm OS PDA? > While your statement is correct, you're assuming web > publishing. I deal > with more than simple web publishing. I'm assuming any publishing. Web, paper, audio, etc. In fact, the more media formats you publishg to, the MORE important it is to retain only structural markup and not stylistic markup. > Provided that is your requirement, and your writers can adapt, sure. Right. I thought I made that clear. If your requirement is for only one delivery platform/format, than my points are all moot. However, if at any point the content may be repurposed for a different format, then arbitrary style markup for one medium gets in the way. > You've got to be management, or an engineer...you're > obviously not creative. All people are creative...just in different areas. I have a Art Degree/Graphic Design and am currently pursing a computer science degree. If you are a programmer, then you should be working creatively on the application methedologies and code...you probably shouldn't be putting too much effort in the the packaging graphics. Basically, put your creativity to work in your area expertise. Even though I'm a graphic designer, if I'm writing a proposal, I start in notepad. I style it later depending on how I am going to deliver the content (a printed piece vs. an email, for instance). > If van Gogh were alive today > would you demand > that he use a pen tablet and Photoshop? Well, first of all, he's an artist. He can do whatever he wants in the context of art. If he were producing commercial art for me, however, I'd want him to concentrate on what he does best...painting. If I hire a writer, I'd want them to concetrate on what a writer does best, writing...not specifying column widths or kerning tables. If you are saying that any request of management asking a writer to use a specific tool is a hindrance to the working style, well then I certainly agree. I'm a Mac guy but I'm forced to use a PC here at work. Damn. Oh well. I had to ADAPT to meet the PRACTICAL business needs of the organization. I can whine all I want about not being able to be as creative with my PC as I was with my Mac, but no one cares except me. And while getting a Mac would make ME happier, it would cause problems for several other people. If you want your writers to do whatever they want to do produce content, and you're OK hiring people to manually clean up and THEN properly structurally mark up the content, then by all means, go ahead...the writers will love you. But I don't think it is asking too much to have a writer properly style their headlines in word using the HEADER 1 style vs. choosing whatever they think looks best at the time. But now I think I'm taking this subject beyond the CMS umbrella. Bottom line is I don't think accomodating the whims of every individual content author is a practical goal of any CMS system. It should be easy to use, uncomplicated, and provide 'just enough' visual feedback as to be usable without adding extras just to make the particular individual author happier (and, in turn, making someone else's job harder). -Darrel -- http://cms-list.org/ trim your replies for good karma.
