Getting experience with expensive tools?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Becky Edmondson wondered: <<Anyone have any creative ideas on how to  
get experience with expensive tools like Flare and Robohelp, when you  
can't afford to just buy them and don't ever work at places that can  
afford them or have the bandwidth to deal with changing to a dedicated  
doc tool?>>

Most companies offer free trial versions of their software as  
downloads. That's the easiest way to get a copy you can play with.  
Typical trial versions either have a limited shelf life (they expire  
after X days), lack various features (e.g., the ability to work with  
documents longer than a certain size), or add annoyances such as a  
watermark that prints over top of all output. But they'll let you get  
up to speed and show off the tool's features to your colleagues.

Also check whether they offer a competitive upgrade price. For  
example, Madcap offers a competitive upgrade for Blaze for $299 if you  
have Framemaker, versus the full price of $699. (Didn't recheck the  
price, so I may be off by a few bucks.)

<<All my clients are startups, and all they ever have is Word and  
occasionally Frame. I now have tons of experience setting up  
shoestring singlesourcing systems, but I can't figure out how to  
expand into other tools.>>

The usual answer is that you submit a business case for adopting the  
tool, in which you demonstrate how you plan to recover the cost of the  
purchase. If you can't demonstrate that payback based on time savings  
alone, odds are good you either don't really need the tool or are  
choosing the wrong tool.

<<I'd prefer to stay a contractor now...>>

Then you need to create a budget that will let you purchase your own  
tools. Would you hire a car mechanic or doctor if they asked you to  
pay for their tools? I think not. <g> I have purchased and own all the  
software I use in my work, and most contractors operate similarly. The  
exception is when, as part of your contract, you'll be setting up a  
workflow for the client. In that case, it's reasonable to insist that  
they pay for the tools, since they'll be using them once your contract  
ends.

<<Maybe I should be looking at opensource HATs? I can't find anything  
other than industrial-strength stuff like DITA.>>

I believe that Microsoft still offers their help development workshop  
for free. <checks the MS site> Indeed they do: <http://tinyurl.com/6m4knv 
 >. It's not as elegant as the commercially available tools, but you  
can't beat the price.

You should also check out the MadCap products. They are currently  
offering an "impoverished contractors who can't afford new tools given  
the current state of the economy" deal for Flare that substantially  
reduces the price. Details available by e-mail, but you can see the  
link to the offer on their home page (towards the bottom right): <http://madcapsoftware.com/ 
 >. You might be able to sweet-talk them into providing a similar deal  
for other products.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat