I would recommend the excellent manual "Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured Framemaker 8" by Sarah O'Keefe - available through the Scriptorium website (www.scriptorium.com) for less than $20. Even though the interface has changed in FM9, the same actions that are described in FM8 in the book still work in 9. It's a great starter book for beginners (I'm one of them too).
-----Original Message----- From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of N Collins Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2010 12:24 PM To: framers at lists.frameusers.com Subject: FM9 Newbie looking for best self training tools Hi! I'm still using the trial version and need to make a recommendation to a client on if FrameMaker is the right tool for their system instruction manuals. Client has a job shop and sells many unique system configurations made from standard components to private and government clients. The idea is to quickly assemble a unique manual for each system order shipped. If I recommend FM, then client will buy FM and pay for training for several users. The client is biased against Word, and frankly for any document larger than 50 pages, I agree. Word gets tangled on itself over large files. I've never used FM before and trying to learn 9.0. I'm an advanced user of Word, in Windows 7 (technical writer using Word for over 15 years). I bought and went through most of "Classroom in a Book" for FM9, but I'm stumbling over the vocabulary (things like Headings versus Markers don't seem to be 1:1 meanings, for example). Dummies books have always given me a great head start, but the only one out there I can find is Framemaker 5.5 for Dummies. My thought is that Dummies/FM 5.5 could at least help me understand how FM "works/thinks", achieve a rudimentary glossary, so then I can use other FM training tools. What I'm tasked to do is to create multiple individual files with unique content, and create various manuals with different file combinations - each manual with a table of contents and index and automatic page numbering. I think I'm supposed to learn unstructured first in order to do this? Or do I need to learn structured first and make some master templates? Any suggestions or perhaps anyone care to send me an example to play with? Maybe I should forget about FrameMaker and try something else? I'm open to your suggestions. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks! Corrie in Tempe, AZ _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to framers as jeff.coatsworth at jonassoftware.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/jeff.coatsworth%40jonassoftware.com Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
