TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: in search for better tools From:quills -at- airmail -dot- net To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:53:35 -0600
And you will find people, me among them, who will say the exact
opposite. That Flare isn't an authoring tool.
Scott
On 12/8/09 10:24 PM, beelia wrote:
> Valerie,
>
> I don't know why people are steering you away from Flare.
>
> Frame is great - I used it for 12 years - but it's not an authoring tool.
> Flare gives you a facile XML-based environment to work in and maximum
> flexibility in outputs. Flare also does all the other things you mentioned.
> It imports Frame files very well. It also supports variables and conditional
> text. And if you don't want to go with structured authoring (although that's
> a good idea) or XML scripting to create customized outputs, it's built for
> that non-corporate, individual-writer, turnkey approach to authoring.
>
> There is, however, a learning curve, so you have to figure out exactly what
> you need (PDF? HTML Help? WebHelp? Air? Word? XHTML?) before you make that
> investment. MIF2GO / WebWorks / Help&Manual might be enough for you.
>
> I'm not selling it - in fact it looks like I'm going to have to stop using
> it and move to XMetaL because Flare is not yet fully DITA-compliant, and I
> am in a corporate environment that requires it. But it's a great tool with a
> great support organization behind it, and I hate to see it disregarded when
> it might be the very thing that would work best for you.
>
> HTH.
>
> Bee
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author,
build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at: http://www.doctohelp.com/
Help & Manual 5: The all-in-one help authoring tool. True single- sourcing --
generate 8 different formats and as many different versions as you need
from just one project. Fast and intuitive. http://www.helpandmanual.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
