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At 06:38 PM 1/21/2010, Keith Hood wrote:
>The "all or some" thing made me think, and I assume the manuals are
>pretty sizable...In addition to a PDF that gives the entire manual,
>you might also set up separate PDFs for each chapter. That would
>give them user the option to download only a chapter at a
>time. There are bound to be cases where a guy has spilled
>sugar-laden coffee and glued together the pages of the last chapter,
>but the rest of his manual is still usable. It would be a blessing
>to the user to be able to download only the one part he really needs
>instead of the whole thing. I know that would complicate document
>management, so I don't know if you could get away with it. --- On
>Thu, 1/21/10, Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> wrote: > From:
>Ken Poshedly <poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> > Subject: Re: website tech
>pubs, etc. > To: "Keith Hood" <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>, "Techwr-l"
><techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> > Cc: "Ken Poshedly"
><poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> > Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 4:07
>PM > Hi Keith, > > Thanks for the reply. And yes, I agree that
>user's > should let us know what they think of future help
>resources. > But right now, there are none. > > The idea for
>having downloadable manuals is really for > those who lost their's
>and need a quick replacement of > all or some pages. If they have
>the time for a download, so > be it. > > And I also agree with the
>comments about videos, that > is, that they would be used for
>workbench-type (or similar) > procedures. But something is better
>than nothing, and at > this point, whatever I get placed on that
>website is bound > to help the company's image. > > --
>Kenpo > > > > > > From: Keith > Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> > To:
>Techwr-l > <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>; Ken Poshedly >
><poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> > Sent: Thu, > January 21, 2010 3:50:28
>PM > Subject: Re: > website tech pubs, etc. > > First, I'd suggest
>finding something other than PDFs > for downloads. There's got to be
>something. I find PDFs > almost always take way too long to
>download. > > Apologies if you've already thought of this, but for >
>videos, it seems to me that you should talk to the end users > about
>what coverage they need. And, I think video > presentations would be
>more useful for training in shop > maintenance and management
>procedures, than for equipment > use. Video instruction is most
>useful when the viewer can > put his hands on the thing and follow
>along at the > same time. A mechanic can set up a monitor next to a
>test > bench and unbolt things on the real item as he sees it
>being > done on the monitor. A manager can practice filling in the >
>new form as a video shows him how. But a forklift driver > would
>have to watch the video all the way through and then > try to
>remember it when he goes into the motor pool and > starts the
>machine. That time gap between seeing and doing > makes video less
>useful in that venue. > > > --- On Thu, 1/21/10, Ken Poshedly
><poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- -dot- net> > wrote: > > > From: Ken Poshedly
><poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net> > > Subject: website tech pubs, etc. > >
>To: "Techwr-l" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> > > > Date: Thursday,
>January 21, 2010, 12:04 PM > > Fellow tekkies, > > > > I'd like to
>introduce the presence of my > company's > > technical manuals on
>our website and need some advice. > > > > > First, some background.
>I'm one of two tech > writers > > for Sany America, makes heavy
>equipment similar > to that of > > Caterpillar, Komatsu, etc. It's
>just getting > started in the > > U.S. with a sales and engineering
>office in Peachtree > City, > > a southwest suburb of Atlanta; a
>full-blown assembly > plant > > is currently under construction a
>few miles down the > road > > from my office. Even though we are a
>wholly-owned > subsidiary > > of Sany Heavy Equipment in China, the
>plan is to > truly > > "Americanize" Sany America with a great and >
>useful website > > that includes all the bells and whistles needed
>to > > get across to our current and prospective > customers that
>we > > want to be a > truly American business venture. > > > >
>While I'm not directly involved with the website > -- except > > for
>occasionally spotting errors and such and > reporting them > > to
>the powers-that-be -- I want to offer to our > customers > > various
>forms of technical publication assistance > > including: > > > > 1.
>Downloadable pdf files of our tech pubs > > 2. The ability order
>printed&bound tech pubs > > 3. Videos of specific technical
>procedures > > 4. A method of suggesting improvements, reporting >
>errors, > > etc. (i.e, customer feedback) > > > > Our audience
>consists of equipment owners and > operators who > > use our
>hardcopy materials in the field (noisy, rough > and > > very busy
>construction sites); as such, our manuals > are > > simply
>three-hole drilled, perfect-bound books with > black > > text and
>line art graphics on white paper. At this > time we > > don't see a
>need to > do online (html) versions of our manuals > > because it
>is simply not practical for an operator to > > position a laptop in
>the cab (or elsewhere on the > machine), > > then view and run
>through procedures. Videos might > work to > > augment what's in a
>manual and be viewed in an > office > > setting. > > > > My question
>is really what process and software is / > > are required to go from
>digital video camera to > online > > video? What digital editing
>software is required? (We > > currently use Windows Vista.) Do I
>simply upload a wav > (or > > whatever) file directly to our website
>or is Flare or > > somesuch intermediate program required? > > > >
>Obviously, I'm totally ignorant in this area, so > any > > pointers,
>ideas, or suggestions about other websites > or > > whatever is
>appreciated. > > > > -- Kenpo in
>Atlanta > > >
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