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Subject:Re: Need real-world information about Framemaker From:"Jan Cohen" <familyforever -at- mindspring -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 20 Feb 2003 17:45:26 -0500
Hi Shannon,
A real-world answer from someone who learned how to use Framemaker on the
fly:
If you're going to be working with large docs in a multi-developer
environment, Framemaker might be the best choice for you. Mind you, it does
come with a bit of a learning curve as far as some of its more advanced
features are concerned (structured docs, conditional text, etc.). For the
most part though, your average tech writer (whatever that means) can pick it
up and run with it, and should be able to start being productive within a
day or so.
That said, before you make the move to Framemaker, evaluate what your
long-term needs are. Does your plan include an eventual move to
single-sourcing? How much of your work will include creating online help?
Will your developers share a common repository (like Documentum)? Is xml in
your future? These are just some of the questions you might give thought to
before dedicating a chunk of your budget toward the purchase of Frame
licenses.
When I originally made my move from Word to Framemaker, I thought Framemaker
was a bit clunky, what with it's old-fashioned interface and the like. But
I quickly came to appreciate that interface, and now would never consider
going back to Word (just the thought makes my stomach rumble... oops , that
means I'm hungry, sorry : P.
And writing docs in Pagemaker, Quark, or Publisher--that's probably best for
the Marketing folks.
Anyway, let me know if you'd like to know anything more.
Jan Cohen
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Caldwell, Shannon [mailto:Shannon -dot- Caldwell -at- earthtech -dot- ca]
> Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 01:16 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Need real-world information about Framemaker
>
> My position is expanding into proposal and SOQ writing, along with
contract
> administration. The only type of formatting software that my company has
> right now is Quark. This is great if all you are doing is brochures and
> smaller marketing materials. I am trying to sell my Division Manager on
> FrameMaker. I have read about it on Adobe's website but am a new user.
> Could you please give me some real-world, tried and true experiences and
> opinions about the software. My pros for the software is the added
> formatting that it has for large documents. The people here have been
doing
> their proposals on Word templates. I think that FrameMaker can be an
asset.
>
> Thanks ahead for your comments.
>
> Shannon Caldwell
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