On 5/11/2012 3:04 AM, Peter Schofield wrote:
Hello
I have been following this discussion and found it very interesting. However, I
would like to make one suggestion for the paragraph styles - KISS - keep it
simple st----.
One example - why is there three styles for numbers and lists? There should be
just one for each, that is OOoNum 123 and OOoList 1. There is no need for
Start, Cont and End styles if you set paragraph spacing correctly.
Prior to around 2008, OOo docs did not use any special list paragraph
styles and primarily used direct formatting (use of manual overrides)
for creating their lists--much like using the formatting bar instead of
using character styles, etc. The OOo texts suggested the wise advice
that manual overrides not be used in general; however, OOoAuthors tended
to not always utilize such suggestions in their own writings. Using
styles makes any reformatting of the texts much more professional--in
addition to saving mucho time and effort afterward.
So, using the list paragraph styles was incorporated in OOo writings
around four years ago in an attempt for OOoAuthors to "eat their own
home cooking" by using styles instead of the manual overrides from the
earlier writings in this respect--for lists. Since then, various
template designers expanded on them--resulting in what exists today in
that regard--some good, some bad, some ugly.
Revisiting this issue while still using the list paragraph styles would
be my advice for lists. The heavy-lifting work would then would be done
by the template designers so that the authors could simply use the
predefined (the factory defaults or custom) list paragraph styles in
coordination with the list styles themselves--use the LO (predefined or
custom) list styles for the selection of type of the ordered or
unordered lists (indentation and bullet symbol used, etc.) and have the
other list formatting done by the list paragraph styles.
Second example - why do the style names begin with OOo? It would be better to
simply name each style as Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on. This would make it
easier to import the template into other software because other software
normally uses Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on for style names.
That usage dates back at least as far as OOo's pre-version 1.x days and
was never discarded since. Personally, I prefer using the typical
noncustom Heading n style names and creating custom styles only when
necessary--e.g., when a factory-default style name does not exist.
Another thing that might be considered is adapting the various flavors
of the "Emphasis" character styles from MS Word, so that authors
migrating over from Word could use them without creating them themselves.
My experience comes from working in MS Word to initially create a document and
then using Framemaker for the publishing program, which my opinion was one of
the best in the market. So easy to compile many chapters into one massive
manual.
OOo/LO and MS Word are fancy word processors, whereas FrameMaker is a
hybrid word processor and DTP application. A DTP app typically utilizes
advanced typesetting algorithms, in addition to other DTP functions that
word processors often do not do with ease. Adobe's InDesign is much like
FrameMaker, especially since InDesign now has most of FrameMaker's
capabilities. InDesign is typically used for creating advertising
glossies and magazines/newspapers, while FrameMaker is more geared to
building books.
Myself, I tend to write book chapters with a word processor like OOo/LO
or Word, then import them into FrameMaker prior to publication. Because
learning how to use FrameMaker has a steep learning curve for most, it
is advisable to have authors use word processors for their writing,
copyediting, and rewrites, and afterward pre-publication layout editors
can use DTP applications to create the final PDF to be sent off to a
publisher or commercial printer.
Regards
Peter Schofield
psaut...@gmail.com
Gary
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