At 02:41 PM 11/20/04 +0100, Johannes Gebauer wrote: >True, but I don't want to change them either. In fact I doN't think MM >would even consider making html manuals, if this was the only reason for >having them.
Since this started as a hypothetical, I'll leave MM waaaaay out of it. :) To add to the rhetoricals & hypotheticals... How do you make notes in your manual? Do you print it and write marginal notes? Then how do you index your notes? How do you highlight important features? If it's printed, how do you undo your highlights and marginal notes when you don't need them anymore? Do you print the pages again & rebind the manual? How do you find out what plugins do? Do you randomly check manuals hoping to find the plugin feature you want? Do you browse to the plugin websites? Do you ask here as I do all too often? Do you commit all this to memory? How do you learn new working techniques? Do you watch the Finale videos every time? How do you cross-check multiple pages in the manual? Do you put them side by side on your desk? On the screen? Of course, you would need a nice HTML editor to make personal updates effective & efficient. No denying that. And it's all pointless for the folks who do print their manuals. For that, PDF is great. This is a good conversation because it really shows the difference in working styles and expectations. I don't care at all about the look of the printout because I don't do it except for bathroom reading. In fact, I'm looking around me right now as I type this to see if there is any manual that I actually use in print. None. I see I've printed out a copy of the "Scoring for Film FAQ" for reading later in the bathroom. I have a Dutch-English dictionary sitting here, only because the latest version of Systran broke something and has a CPU spike every 10 seconds, so I can't have it resident. I have a copy of the latest issue of "Funny Times", but that's really my monthly manual for dealing with life. And there's my nicely printed to-do list, where crossing things out with a big fat pen is a comfort. That's it. (I can't share the HTML manuals I've created because they are for private businesses. But with top and side navigation in addition to chapter/section tables of contents, plus symbol and text indices, animated examples, and an open structure, they are incredibly easy to use and personalize.) Dennis _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
