Re: What are the latest tools

["A.H." <isaac840 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Can you clarify what you mean by online help? If your
user docs are on Confluence, then it's online help,
no? 

We use Confluence to host our developer and end-user
docs and it's been going good for us so far. 

Although Confluence has its limitations, it seems to
be good for a young product (like ours). 

Any insight into your experience with Confluence would
be appreciated. 

Regards,
Anthony Hernandez

--- Ronald Schwarz <RSchwarz -at- cosmocom -dot- com> wrote:

> My company has dumped all its documentation,
> including engineering
> documents, into a wiki (Confluence provided by
> Atlassian). I did the
> same for user documentation. It was my understanding
> when I started here
> that I no longer need to produce online help.
> 
> Lo and behold the customers want online help. They,
> and even the
> salesmen here, need printable documents, such as
> PDFs. The PDFs produced
> by Confluence can be described in 4 letter words.
> Exporting information
> to HTML so I can create online help is another bag
> of worms. 
> 
> I've been reading in a few places that FrameMaker is
> "showing its age."
> I was even notified by a vendor that Webworks
> Publisher is no longer
> supported. They are supporting a newer product in
> its place. 
> 
> Independent of all the above what is the currently
> favored software to
> produce documentation?
> 
> In connection with wikis, is there single sourcing
> documentation tool
> that is compatible with maintaining user
> documentation in wiki and
> "static" format, such as online help and PDF?
> Obviously, dynamic wiki
> content can be converted only at snapshot intervals,
> such as major
> contract award or product release, to static online
> help and PDFs.
> 
> Would it be a good idea to dump a large document
> full of screen captures
> and other attachments into Word and use Word Help to
> generate online
> help? 
> 
> For a Confluence user, this would also mean cleaning
> Confluence gaffs
> like footnotes that resemble table entries, editing
> tables to make them
> look reasonable, etc.
> 
> Since the single source would remain the wiki (so
> that the sages among
> customers and engineers can enter their own changes
> and comments), the
> snapshots entail house cleaning prior to
> publication. Using conditional
> text for version control and revision planning would
> not be possible.
> (Nevertheless, management wants to give customers
> detailed change
> history, topic by topic.)
> 
> 
> Ronald Schwarz
> 
> Senior Technical Writer 
> 
> CosmoCom, Inc.
> 121 Broad Hollow Road
> Melville, NY 11747 USA
> Phone:   +1 (631) 940-4320
> Fax:     +1 (631) 574-3161
> EMAIL:   RSchwarz -at- cosmocom -dot- com
> URL:      http://www.cosmocom.com
> 
>
________________________________________________________________________
> Maximize Your Investment in CosmoCom Technology at
> CosmoCommunity 2007
> Join us 30 May - 1 June, 2007 - Hauppauge, New York
> Learn more and register at
> http://www.cosmocommunity.com 
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> 
> Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to
> Help file formats or 
> printed documentation. Features include single
> source authoring, team authoring,
> Web-based technology, and PDF output.
> http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
> 
> Now shipping: Help &amp; Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r)
> import! New editor,
> full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based
> help and PDF in up
> to 106 languages with Help &amp; Manual:
> http://www.helpandmanual.com
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring,
Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

Now shipping: Help &amp; Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help &amp; Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com

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