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RE: Total Confusion; was, "RE: RoboHelp: Ready to Publish...how do I do that?"
Subject:RE: Total Confusion; was, "RE: RoboHelp: Ready to Publish...how do I do that?" From:"Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com> To:"Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>, "Rick Stone" <rstone75 -at- kc -dot- rr -dot- com> Date:Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:59:19 -0700
Leonard C. Porrello wrote:
> Rick,
>
> I am sorry you are "totally confused." Perhaps you should go back an
> read Missy's first and second messages. Here they are:
No, those aren't her first and second messages. The thread goes back to
Tuesday (thus the "RE:" on what you think is her first message). Her
first message Tuesday morning began:
> I have TCS2. I am working on a LINKED FrameMaker9 book in RoboHelp8.
> Message 1
> "My new employer wants to make our help system available to our
customer
> to download. What files are needed to create a "portable" help system?
> Is this still WebHelp?
> "Personally, I don't know why it is so critical to offer a
> downloadable help system to customers. I can't understand why they
can't
> use a .pdf. All of our products are unique and the manuals are quite
> navigatable through pdf. Any thoughts?"
>
> Message 2
> "Okay, I just came back from my boss' office. She showed me a zip file
> that they distribute and the customer downloads. The only files it
> contains is all html files and a folder with images. That's it. She
> stabs her finger at the monitor and says, "That's what I want.
> "Do you know how I can get her what she wants? Thank you."
>
> As I read Missy's words, I see no indication that she has already
> finished creating a RoboHelp project or even that her department owns
> RoboHelp. In fact, I get the exact opposite impression.
Even if you missed her original post, I don't see how you get that
impression from this statement:
> "I know the previous tech writing team used WebWorks but I have
> no idea how that works or what kind of output that is. We have Frame9
> and it doesn't work with WebWorks, plus we have TCS2 so Robo is the
> answer.
> She states,
> "What files are needed to create a "portable" help system? If she
> already has a project in RoboHelp, why would she be asking about how
to
> "create" a help system? Wouldn't the answer be in RoboHelp's help?
Because Missy doesn't understand the different help output options. She
seems to be under the impression that WebWorks creates WebWorks help and
RoboHelp creates RoboHelp help. I've tried a couple of times to suggest
that she needs to educate herself about the different help formats and
how to create and distribute them.
> But perhaps this isn't the only thing causing your bewilderment.
Perhaps
> you fail to understand the full purpose of Techwr-l. Please, allow me
to
> enlighten you. According to Techwr-l, "The TECHWR-L Mailing List
> provides a forum for any discussions related to technical
> communication." I am pretty sure that the point I raised was relevant
to
> the request Missy _actually_ made ("How do I get my Frame document
into
> WebHelp?"), is very much in line with the purpose of this forum, and
> will be helpful to anyone who subsequently searches the Techwr-l
> archives.
Your suggestion was _not_ relevant to Missy. It might be to people
subsequently searching the archives, but it was more likely to confuse
Missy further than to help her.
> Still totally confused?
Well, I don't want to presume to speak for Rick, but I suspect he's now
more annoyed and insulted than confused.
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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