I'd agree with John... You're in the right position to put them on the right track, for a not-too-big investment. But if the argument is that they don't have the time or cash to do it right the first time, you may want to look elsewhere for a better opportunity. If they don't get started professionally now, it's going to cost them more in time and money further down the line.
*** And the single largest thing that I think you'd be giving up is the ability to set and manage style for the entire doc set / help set from book files. Art On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 5:14 PM, John Sgammato <jsgammato at imprivata.com> wrote: > You're asking a biased audience here... > IMO if they want a quality product then they should use the right tool > for the job. If their docs are in MS Word without styles, then I would > dispute the assertion that they know how to use MS Word. > With FM, Acrobat, and Mif2Go you can generate printed docs, online docs, > online help, and output to MS Word so the PM can update the docs between > releases. > Ymmv, etc, etc > john > > > -----Original Message----- > From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com > [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Angela > Akridge > Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 5:07 PM > To: framers at lists.frameusers.com > Subject: MS Word vs. Frame > > Hi, > > Question: What features am I giving up by going with MS Word? Text > insets? > Conditional text? > > I'm a contractor for a very small startup that has a limited budget. > I've been tasked to create their online help. They currently have > manuals in MS Word, though no styles/tags are being used yet. > > They have no permanent writer, and they can't afford one at this time. > There's a chance that I'll be supporting their major releases on an > ongoing basis, and they'll update the help for their maintenance > releases. Let me get to the point. > > I must choose between MS Word or Frame as the source. I don't know which > to choose, given the circumstances! > > Frame meets a writers needs now and in the future. I don't want myself > or the future writer to be stuck with MS Word. However, I know that the > Project Manager isn't gonna like learning Frame. A conversion is less > highly unlikely in an environment with very tight deadlines and where > there are limited resources. > > They know how to use MS Word. I'm good with Frame, and don't know > anything about publishing with MS Word. Also, it's easier to recruit > writers when the source is in Frame, or so I've noticed. > > Angela > _______________________________________________ > > -- Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358
