Re: Engineers as authors

Nice to hear you're not going to make that common mistake. Supposedly you can lock down Word templates these days to restrict styles to a defined list. I'll believe it when I see it. On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 11:00 AM, Stephen O'Brien sobr...@innovmetric.com wrote: Your answers actually helped

Re: Engineers as authors

You can lock it down. We've done something similar where I work--created a Word template with the styles named the same way as in our Frame template, and then locked the Word template to prevent on-the-fly formatting. The engineers vacillate between loving it (everything's already set up! yay!)

Engineers as authors

You can lock it down. We've done something similar where I work--created a Word template with the styles named the same way as in our Frame template, and then locked the Word template to prevent on-the-fly formatting. The engineers vacillate between loving it (everything's already set up! yay!)

Engineers as authors

Hi, Many thanks to everyone that answered my question as to how best to work with engineers who will soon become content providers for my team of technical writers. The answers (18) were mostly all of the same mind - have them use the authoring tool that they know (ex. Word), set up templates

Engineers as authors

Hi, Many thanks to everyone that answered my question as to how best to work with engineers who will soon become content providers for my team of technical writers. The answers (18) were mostly all of the same mind - have them use the authoring tool that they know (ex. Word), set up templates

Engineers as authors

Nice to hear you're not going to make that common mistake. Supposedly you can lock down Word templates these days to restrict styles to a defined list. I'll believe it when I see it. On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 11:00 AM, Stephen O'Brien wrote: > > Your answers actually helped me nudge an existing

Engineers as authors

At 03:26 a.m. 8/10/2013, Stephen O'Brien wrote: >Hi, > >A few mechanical engineers have been asked, as part of their varied workload, >to author certain documents in English (How To, Webinars, software essentials) >in the near future. > >Working with authors who are not formally trained is a

Re: Engineers as authors

IMO you'll have more success and happier times if you take the latter route. They'll never need to know FrameMaker and may resent having to learn it. OTOH showing them some of the principles of tech writing shows them that there is more to our profession than transcription and formatting. A lot of

Re: Engineers as authors

That's a proven approach. If you're going to do that, you should look into using a wiki. On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 7:26 AM, Stephen O'Brien sobr...@innovmetric.com wrote: Or, maybe the role of the engineers should be to write rough content within guidelines (get the ideas and workflows on

Re: Engineers as authors

Working with railway engineers in the UK, Id have to agree with Matt. Your biggest challenge is going to get the engineers to adopt brevity, or minimalism as we sometimes call it. You will need to define a level of assumed knowledge in your

Re: Engineers as authors

To begin with, if at all possible, I'd recommend you give each engineer you will be working with an outline of each document you'd like written. The outline should include: 1. Description of the target reader. 2. General description of the document. 3. List of topics/subtopics in outline form if

Re: Engineers as authors

At 03:26 a.m. 8/10/2013, Stephen O'Brien wrote: Hi, A few mechanical engineers have been asked, as part of their varied workload, to author certain documents in English (How To, Webinars, software essentials) in the near future. Working with authors who are not formally trained is a new

RE: Engineers as authors

these documents. Ann Z -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Helen Borrie Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 7:43 PM To: Frame Users Subject: Re: Engineers as authors At 03:26 a.m. 8/10/2013, Stephen O'Brien

Re: Engineers as authors

Letting the engineers write within guidelines works for me. I am the sole technical writer in the company. I also installed and manage two wikis - one is a mirror image of suitable parts of the internal one containing material suitable for the outside world. Simon North On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at

RE: Engineers as authors

I recommend... - Creating a simple Word template - if Word is their tool of choice - which will make it easy to import their content into Frame. - Provide some very brief documentation on how to use this template (use the styles, keep it plain, don't worry about ToCs, and so

Engineers as authors

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Engineers as authors

: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of John Sgammato Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 7:44 AM To: Stephen O'Brien Cc: Frame Users (framers at lists.frameusers.com) Subject: Re: Engineers as authors IMO you'll have more success and happier times

Engineers as authors

these documents. Ann Z -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Helen Borrie Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 7:43 PM To: Frame Users Subject: Re: Engineers as authors At 03:26 a.m. 8/10/2013, Stephen O'Brien

Engineers as authors

Letting the engineers write within guidelines works for me. I am the sole technical writer in the company. I also installed and manage two wikis - one is a mirror image of suitable parts of the internal one containing material suitable for the outside world. Simon North On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at

Engineers as authors

I recommend... - Creating a simple Word template - if Word is their tool of choice - which will make it easy to import their content into Frame. - Provide some very brief documentation on how to use this template (use the styles, keep it plain, don't worry about ToCs, and so

Engineers as authors

Hi, A few mechanical engineers have been asked, as part of their varied workload, to author certain documents in English (How To, Webinars, software essentials) in the near future. Working with authors who are not formally trained is a new experience for me. I am wondering how to best define

Re: Engineers as authors

How are the engineers responding to this? --Milan Davidović Sent from my Yost 10 On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Stephen O'Brien sobr...@innovmetric.comwrote: A few mechanical engineers have been asked, as part of their varied workload, to author certain documents in English (How To,

Re: Engineers as authors

Training engineers in tech comm tools is usually about as effective as training tech comms in the software tools the engineers use--that is, it's not generally effective.I recommend the engineers use whatever tool they're most comfortable with (Word) and you provide a template and train them in

RE: Engineers as authors

: Monday, October 07, 2013 11:07 AM À : Stephen O'Brien Cc : Frame Users (framers@lists.frameusers.com) Objet : Re: Engineers as authors How are the engineers responding to this? --Milan Davidović Sent from my Yost 10 On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Stephen O'Brien sobr...@innovmetric.commailto:sobr

Re: Engineers as authors

It looks as though the documentation they create has the potential to reduce the time they spend on those tasks. Aside from being open to the new responsibilities, do they see how it benefits them? Or do they simply see more work? --Milan Davidović Sent from my Yost 10 On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at

RE: Engineers as authors

) 418.688.2061 -Message d'origine- De : Milan Davidović [mailto:milan.li...@gmail.com] Envoyé : Monday, October 07, 2013 12:45 PM À : Stephen O'Brien Cc : Frame Users (framers@lists.frameusers.com) Objet : Re: Engineers as authors It looks as though the documentation they create has

Re: Engineers as authors

I think the first step is to determine the value proposition of the product.  Then determine how much of that value must come from the engineers, and how much your group can provide.  From there the responsibilities should shake out on their own.  This may be a negotiation, but I think it's the

Engineers as authors

Hi, A few mechanical engineers have been asked, as part of their varied workload, to author certain documents in English (How To, Webinars, software essentials) in the near future. Working with authors who are not formally trained is a new experience for me. I am wondering how to best define

Engineers as authors

How are the engineers responding to this? --Milan Davidovi? Sent from my Yost 10 On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Stephen O'Brien wrote: > A few mechanical engineers have been asked, as part of their varied > workload, to author certain documents in English (How To, Webinars, > software

Engineers as authors

Training engineers in tech comm tools is usually about as effective as training tech comms in the software tools the engineers use--that is, it's not generally effective. I recommend the engineers use whatever tool they're most comfortable with (Word) and you provide a template and train them

Engineers as authors

? : Monday, October 07, 2013 11:07 AM ? : Stephen O'Brien Cc : Frame Users (framers at lists.frameusers.com) Objet : Re: Engineers as authors How are the engineers responding to this? --Milan Davidovi? Sent from my Yost 10 On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Stephen O'Brien mailto:sobrien

Engineers as authors

It looks as though the documentation they create has the potential to reduce the time they spend on those tasks. Aside from being "open" to the new responsibilities, do they see how it benefits them? Or do they simply see more work? --Milan Davidovi? Sent from my Yost 10 On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at

Engineers as authors

) 418.688.2061 -Message d'origine- De?: Milan Davidovi? [mailto:milan.lists at gmail.com] Envoy??: Monday, October 07, 2013 12:45 PM ??: Stephen O'Brien Cc?: Frame Users (framers at lists.frameusers.com) Objet?: Re: Engineers as authors It looks as though the documentation they create has

Engineers as authors

I think the first step is to determine the value proposition of the product.? Then determine how much of that value must come from the engineers, and how much your group can provide.? From there the responsibilities should shake out on their own.? This may be a negotiation, but I think it's the

Engineers as authors

IMO you'll have more success and happier times if you take the latter route. They'll never need to know FrameMaker and may resent having to learn it. OTOH showing them some of the principles of tech writing shows them that there is more to our profession than transcription and formatting. A lot of

Engineers as authors

That's a proven approach. If you're going to do that, you should look into using a wiki. On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 7:26 AM, Stephen O'Brien wrote: > >Or, maybe the role of the engineers should be to write rough content > within guidelines (get the ideas and workflows on paper), and my team

Engineers As Authors.

Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2013 14:26:23 + From: Stephen O'Brien <sobr...@innovmetric.com> To: "Frame Users (framers at lists.frameusers.com)" ??? Subject: Engineers as authors Message-ID: ??? ??? Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso

Engineers as authors

Working with railway engineers in the UK, I'd have to agree with Matt. Your biggest challenge is going to get the engineers to adopt brevity, or minimalism as we sometimes call it. You will need to define a level of assumed knowledge in your audiences, and then determine the questions that need