Hi Aaron...
FrameMaker and WebWorks are a very good combination, and would most
likely do what's needed. However, you might want to get more
clarification on how the source documentation may be integrated into the
development environment as well as what types of output are expected and
how that output is to be integrated into the shipping product. Being in
the unique situation of setting things up, as you are, it's worth taking
some extra time to make sure that the tools you choose will really
provide the solution.
Something that you may want to look into is using DITA as your
underlying data model (if you're entertaining the idea of using
structured authoring). One of the biggest problems that people have in
using DITA is the migration of legacy content .. you don't have this
problem. If the focus of your output is to online Help or web delivery,
DITA's topic-oriented focus may be ideal. One of the benefits of using
DITA is that through the OpenToolkit (free open source set of tools),
you get all you need to generate various forms of online output (no
WebWorks required). (Caveat: you will need to spend time/money modifying
the XSLT transformations to get the output to look the way you want, but
perhaps you've got some XSLT developers on staff(?).) Also, because DITA
is XML, you can easily integrate (both in and out) with code in your
development stream. If you're really on a tight budget, you could also
forgo using FrameMaker and just use an XML editor (you do want to make
sure that it really supports DITA in a useful way).
This may be more than you really want to deal with, but it's probably
worth looking into. For more info visit the following URL ..
http://dita.xml.org/introduction
Good luck!
...scott
Scott Prentice
Leximation, Inc.
www.leximation.com
+1.415.485.1892
Aaron Bennett wrote:
Hello all:
I am starting a new venture on Monday at a startup company that has never
had a tech writer and needs me to write all the doc from scratch.
I've been
using FrameMaker 6.0 for several years now with WebWorks Professional
2003.
My new boss (VP of Engineering) has asked me to put together a doc tools
strategy plan for design and delivery for the technical documentation.
Being a startup, my budget will be fairly low so content management
systems
are not an option at this point. I've been doing research over the past
week and it's been a daunting process. What I'm thinking of
purchasing is
FrameMaker 7.2 and using it's structured capabilities. For HTML
generation,
I'm considering WebWorks ePublisher Pro. Is anyone using these two
products
together (and if so, could you share your thoughts). I'd also appreciate
advise on other options.
I'm thinking that I'll need training to get up and running, so if
anyone can
recommend trainers in the Massachusetts/NH/RI areas that would also be
helpful.
Thanks for your assistance,
Aaron
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