Re: how to make a gigantic doc set easily searchable?

[Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

   Samantha Slate wrote:

     Much of our documentation is intended to help in-house consultants
     and tech
     support, as well as the occasional tech-savvy customer, with the
     very
     complicated task of installing and configuring our products.
     Currently, we
     publish all of our docs as PDFs. However, we've been getting
     complaints
     recently that the doc set is not easy to navigate.

   Sounds like a TOC or Index problem.  If your TOC is accurate and your
   document logically designed, your customers should have no problem
   finding information.

     We are looking at
     reorganizing the books in ways that will seem more intuitive to
     users, but
     even so, we would like to be able to offer some sort of
     advanced-search
     capabilities that lets the user search more than one book at a
     time, using
     more than one search term (unlike PDF, which only lets you search
     for one
     text string at a time).
     The obvious thing (to me) that comes to mind is a
     password-protected web
     site.

   How would a password protect site solve your document navigation
   problems?

     But is it possible to single-source our documentation so that it
     can
     be used both as the content of such a Web site *and* in a
     PDF-publishable
     format, since some customers do still want the PDFs?

   I've seen threads on this subject at least twice a year on this site,
   and I've been a member for quite a while.  What do you use currently
   for your document creation software and how much is your company
   willing to spend to move to something else?

     Also, have any of you ever been asked to enhance search
     capabilities for
     your documentation? If so, how did you respond to the request?

   Anything my readers want to help them find the information they need
   is open for discussion.  Try looking into search programs such as ZOOM
   from WrenSoft.  I used it at a previous position and it did a great
   job, even searching PDFs.
   Al

   --

   Al Geist
   Technical Writing, Online Help, Marketing Collateral, Web Design,
   Award Winning Videos, Professional Photography
   Voice/Msg: 802-658-3140

   Cell: 802-578-3964
   E-mail: [1]al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com 
   URL: [2]www.geistassociates.com (online portfolio/resume)

   See also:
   URL: [3]www.geistimages.com (fine art prints for home for office, and
   note cards for all occasions)
   "When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know
   whether to answer "Present" or "Not guilty.""
                            Theodore Roosevelt

References

   1. mailto:al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
   2. http://www.geistassociates.com/
   3. http://www.geistimages.com/
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