RE: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher
I’m running WebWorks on a six-year-old quad-core Pentium with 2 GB RAM under Windows XP, with my books and projects stored on our network, and have never found performance to be a serious issue. Mind you, my largest document is only about 300 pages if printed. I don’t think getting stationery or templates set up correctly is any more time consuming in WebWorks than it would be in RoboHelp or in the Publish module of Frame 12. Most of the work is mapping your document’s styles to the proper online format, which is a similar process in all three programs. If you have manual customizations (tweaks to CSS or scripts made outside of the GUI), it’s true that update releases can cause problems, but recent versions of WebWorks make it pretty straightforward to find the source of any problems. Regards Keith From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of gr...@hedgewizard.net Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2014 10:48 AM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher ePub is quite good at creating PDFs, but there are a couple of caveats: 1. It does not work on a remote Citrix desktop. (I suspect that it might have problems with others, but have no experience with them) 2. It *really* wants a modern system with lots of RAM (8GB ) and drive space. It will work on lesser machines, but you might as well go see a movie while you are waiting. Finally: It takes quite a while to get the stationery (templates) set up correctly, and there are problems with the stationery for one release not always working with another release (or update). Grant On March 12, 2014 at 3:00 PM Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.commailto:rob...@lauriston.com wrote: As long as you're evaluating alternatives, you should check out WebWorks ePublisher. It can use Word, FrameMaker, and/or DITA as source and the output. I haven't looked at its PDF output since my source was in FrameMaker, but it kicked RoboHelp 10 to the curb as far as web help. NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY This e-mail, including all materials contained in or attached to this e-mail, contains proprietary and confidential information solely for the internal use of the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or otherwise and ensure that it is permanently deleted from your systems, and do not print, copy, distribute or read its contents. AVIS DE CONFIDENTIALITÉ Le présent courriel, y compris tous les documents qu'il contient ou qui y sont joints, renferme des renseignements exclusifs et confidentiels destinés uniquement à l'usage interne du destinataire prévu. Si vous avez reçu le présent courriel par erreur, veuillez nous aviser immédiatement, notamment par retour de courriel, et vous assurer qu'il est supprimé de façon permanente de vos systèmes; veuillez également vous abstenir d'imprimer, de copier, de distribuer ou de lire son contenu. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher
Are you speaking specifically about PDF there? I found the web help stationery usable pretty much out of the box. On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 7:47 AM, gr...@hedgewizard.net gr...@hedgewizard.net wrote: ePub is quite good at creating PDFs, but there are a couple of caveats: ... Finally: It takes quite a while to get the stationery (templates) set up correctly, and there are problems with the stationery for one release not always working with another release (or update). ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher
Hey Keith— I'm pleased to read that ePub is working for you. I don't find it a *bad* tool, just problematic (and every tool has its own problems). I was reporting on the experience I and the other writers at my current employer have found; which was that the more local you could make things, the better. I don't know what my coworkers are using (I'm remote), but I do know that they are laptops. I'm running a mid-level i5 Quadcore with 16GB RAM and multiple TB of disk space. We have found that what takes me 5 min takes them 60+ min. (1300pp), and about 2 min/45 min (800pp, but more graphics (PNGs). As for the template/stationery issue, again, I have to go by the problems the writer who is our dedicated person for that has discussed with me, and the fact that we are having to run two different versions of ePubExpress because of licencing issues (and corporate bean counting); and that either the stylesheet writer will need to keep two separate style sheets in sync, or some writers will be able to process only some docs (and others, others). The company is actually working at dropping all copies of FM and WebWorks, and moving to DITA (SDL+XMetaL). I will say that the stylesheet issues there are currently *much* worse than with FM/WWP, mostly because the company has contracted with some third party to control them. $ for any change, so changes only happen every 6 mo or so. Somebody related to upper management must have needed work, or had a cousin who did. grin On March 13, 2014 at 1:39 PM Keith Soltys keith.sol...@tmx.com wrote: I’m running WebWorks on a six-year-old quad-core Pentium with 2 GB RAM under Windows XP, with my books and projects stored on our network, and have never found performance to be a serious issue. Mind you, my largest document is only about 300 pages if printed. I don’t think getting stationery or templates set up correctly is any more time consuming in WebWorks than it would be in RoboHelp or in the Publish module of Frame 12. Most of the work is mapping your document’s styles to the proper online format, which is a similar process in all three programs. If you have manual customizations (tweaks to CSS or scripts made outside of the GUI), it’s true that update releases can cause problems, but recent versions of WebWorks make it pretty straightforward to find the source of any problems. Regards Keith From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of gr...@hedgewizard.net Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2014 10:48 AM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher ePub is quite good at creating PDFs, but there are a couple of caveats: 1. It does not work on a remote Citrix desktop. (I suspect that it might have problems with others, but have no experience with them) 2. It *really* wants a modern system with lots of RAM (8GB ) and drive space. It will work on lesser machines, but you might as well go see a movie while you are waiting. Finally: It takes quite a while to get the stationery (templates) set up correctly, and there are problems with the stationery for one release not always working with another release (or update). Grant On March 12, 2014 at 3:00 PM Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com mailto:rob...@lauriston.com wrote: As long as you're evaluating alternatives, you should check out WebWorks ePublisher. It can use Word, FrameMaker, and/or DITA as source and the output. I haven't looked at its PDF output since my source was in FrameMaker, but it kicked RoboHelp 10 to the curb as far as web help. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher
I wasn't around for the OOB version, so I don't know how much work needed to be done for the initial setup; I just know by anecdote that maintenance for both was apparently a PITA for the person responsible. On March 13, 2014 at 2:33 PM Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com wrote: Are you speaking specifically about PDF there? I found the web help stationery usable pretty much out of the box. On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 7:47 AM, gr...@hedgewizard.net gr...@hedgewizard.net wrote: ePub is quite good at creating PDFs, but there are a couple of caveats: ... Finally: It takes quite a while to get the stationery (templates) set up correctly, and there are problems with the stationery for one release not always working with another release (or update).___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher
ePub is quite good at creating PDFs, but there are a couple of caveats: 1. It does not work on a remote Citrix desktop. (I suspect that it might have problems with others, but have no experience with them) 2. It *really* wants a modern system with lots of RAM (8GB ) and drive space. It will work on lesser machines, but you might as well go see a movie while you are waiting. Finally: It takes quite a while to get the stationery (templates) set up correctly, and there are problems with the stationery for one release not always working with another release (or update). Grant On March 12, 2014 at 3:00 PM Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com wrote: As long as you're evaluating alternatives, you should check out WebWorks ePublisher. It can use Word, FrameMaker, and/or DITA as source and the output. I haven't looked at its PDF output since my source was in FrameMaker, but it kicked RoboHelp 10 to the curb as far as web help.___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher
I'm very biased, but I vote for FM plus WebWorks ePublisher. I've used it for years and I've been very happy with it. One thing that I'm not sure of is if WebWorks ePublisher supports FM 12. That doesn't mean that it won't work with FM 12, I just don't think it's been certified with FM 12, yet. You can run FM 12 through a trial version: http://www.webworks.com/Tour/Try_ePublisher/ If you want more information or if you have specific questions, you can contact me off the list. Nadine From: gr...@hedgewizard.net gr...@hedgewizard.net To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2014 10:47:54 AM Subject: Re: FM 12 + RH 11 OR WebWorks ePublisher ePub is quite good at creating PDFs, but there are a couple of caveats: 1. It does not work on a remote Citrix desktop. (I suspect that it might have problems with others, but have no experience with them) 2. It *really* wants a modern system with lots of RAM (8GB ) and drive space. It will work on lesser machines, but you might as well go see a movie while you are waiting. Finally: It takes quite a while to get the stationery (templates) set up correctly, and there are problems with the stationery for one release not always working with another release (or update). Grant On March 12, 2014 at 3:00 PM Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com wrote: As long as you're evaluating alternatives, you should check out WebWorks ePublisher. It can use Word, FrameMaker, and/or DITA as source and the output. I haven't looked at its PDF output since my source was in FrameMaker, but it kicked RoboHelp 10 to the curb as far as web help. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: FM 12 + RH 11
Unless you need PDF output or are using structured authoring, then there's no need to single source out of FM. As for tracking usage, if your help is on a web server (not a LAN server), you can check out the Adobe forums or RoboColum(n) (www.cmcandrew.com/robocolumn/http://www.cmcandrew.com/robocolumn/) as he's a RH Server user for his feedback. Several people on the forums have used GA in their WebHelp. From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of hessiansx4 Sent: March-11-14 7:25 PM To: Framers Subject: FM 12 + RH 11 My boss is asking me to provide a justification for using FM12 (which now outputs webhelp and responsive html5) as a single-source for our webhelp (as opposed to using only RH or importing FM into RH). Has anyone had experience with any of these methods in ATCS 5? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Also, we currently do not have a method for capturing 1) what help pages (this is not context-sensitive help) users access or 2) whether they are even accessing the help. It has been suggested that we purchase RH server to track help file use (vs. using Google analytics). I have used neither. Have any of you? Suggestions? TIA for any assistance/comments. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11
What are you using now? An earlier version of FrameMaker? FM12 basically has most of RoboHelp folded in so you get two for one. To see what you'd lose with only RoboHelp, generate a PDF from RoboHelp and compare it with one saved from FrameMaker. Note that FrameMaker can save PDF with change markup. You can get free 30-day evaluations so you'd know exactly what you were buying. Personally I'd use WebHelp on Apache and Google Analytics rather than RoboHelp Server to avoid having to deal with a Windows server. On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 4:25 PM, hessiansx4 hessian...@yahoo.com wrote: My boss is asking me to provide a justification for using FM12 (which now outputs webhelp and responsive html5) as a single-source for our webhelp (as opposed to using only RH or importing FM into RH). Has anyone had experience with any of these methods in ATCS 5? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Also, we currently do not have a method for capturing 1) what help pages (this is not context-sensitive help) users access or 2) whether they are even accessing the help. It has been suggested that we purchase RH server to track help file use (vs. using Google analytics). I have used neither. Have any of you? Suggestions? TIA for any assistance/comments. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11
Thanks for your comments, which I will share with my team. In answer to your questions Robert: we have ATCS 5 (FM 12, RH 11) installed. I'm working on creating a FM template. We currently output to .pdf (from Word - ugh) and webhelp (from RH). We'd like to output to responsive html 5 and may, at some future point, need to create a hardcopy-printable document. I don't foresee the need to move to structured/DITA anytime soon (within the next 5 years) so with the new output for FM, I think that can suffice for now. On Wednesday, March 12, 2014 9:52 AM, Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com wrote: What are you using now? An earlier version of FrameMaker? FM12 basically has most of RoboHelp folded in so you get two for one. To see what you'd lose with only RoboHelp, generate a PDF from RoboHelp and compare it with one saved from FrameMaker. Note that FrameMaker can save PDF with change markup. You can get free 30-day evaluations so you'd know exactly what you were buying. Personally I'd use WebHelp on Apache and Google Analytics rather than RoboHelp Server to avoid having to deal with a Windows server. On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 4:25 PM, hessiansx4 hessian...@yahoo.com wrote: My boss is asking me to provide a justification for using FM12 (which now outputs webhelp and responsive html5) as a single-source for our webhelp (as opposed to using only RH or importing FM into RH). Has anyone had experience with any of these methods in ATCS 5? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Also, we currently do not have a method for capturing 1) what help pages (this is not context-sensitive help) users access or 2) whether they are even accessing the help. It has been suggested that we purchase RH server to track help file use (vs. using Google analytics). I have used neither. Have any of you? Suggestions? TIA for any assistance/comments.___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: FM 12 + RH 11
As long as you're evaluating alternatives, you should check out WebWorks ePublisher. It can use Word, FrameMaker, and/or DITA as source and the output. I haven't looked at its PDF output since my source was in FrameMaker, but it kicked RoboHelp 10 to the curb as far as web help. On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 1:51 PM, hessiansx4 hessian...@yahoo.com wrote: Thanks for your comments, which I will share with my team. In answer to your questions Robert: we have ATCS 5 (FM 12, RH 11) installed. I'm working on creating a FM template. We currently output to .pdf (from Word - ugh) and webhelp (from RH). We'd like to output to responsive html 5 and may, at some future point, need to create a hardcopy-printable document. I don't foresee the need to move to structured/DITA anytime soon (within the next 5 years) so with the new output for FM, I think that can suffice for now. On Wednesday, March 12, 2014 9:52 AM, Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com wrote: What are you using now? An earlier version of FrameMaker? FM12 basically has most of RoboHelp folded in so you get two for one. To see what you'd lose with only RoboHelp, generate a PDF from RoboHelp and compare it with one saved from FrameMaker. Note that FrameMaker can save PDF with change markup. You can get free 30-day evaluations so you'd know exactly what you were buying. Personally I'd use WebHelp on Apache and Google Analytics rather than RoboHelp Server to avoid having to deal with a Windows server. On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 4:25 PM, hessiansx4 hessian...@yahoo.com wrote: My boss is asking me to provide a justification for using FM12 (which now outputs webhelp and responsive html5) as a single-source for our webhelp (as opposed to using only RH or importing FM into RH). Has anyone had experience with any of these methods in ATCS 5? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Also, we currently do not have a method for capturing 1) what help pages (this is not context-sensitive help) users access or 2) whether they are even accessing the help. It has been suggested that we purchase RH server to track help file use (vs. using Google analytics). I have used neither. Have any of you? Suggestions? TIA for any assistance/comments. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
