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> I don't really have a direct answer to your question, but I've never had
> problems with where my FrameMaker documents are pointing to get their
> imported images once I change it the first time. That being said, I
> don't use FrameMaker templates. I just import formats from other
> documents. Since the import formats feature does all I would ever want,
> I have never seen any point to the FrameMaker templates. Perhaps this is
> because I've been using FrameMaker since 1991, when they didn't have
> templates, but it sure sounds like it works easier than it does using
> templates!
You know, it hadn't occurred to me that there are different interpretations of "using templates" (or that how you use them could have a bearing on the issues Monique is having).
I think of myself as using FM templates religiously. But by that I mean that I've crafted, tested, and refined sets of FM files with formats, layouts, settings, etc., for creating certain sizes/types of books, PDFs, or online help. I call them templates. I upload them to our Confluence site so that other tech writers in the company can use them. We talk about them as templates, discuss template revisions, new templates needed, etc.
But I can't remember the last time I chose File > New > Document > Use Template. It must have been years and years.
To start a new doc based on a template, I just copy (in the file system) the template file -- or some other doc based on the template. And of course, I use File > Import > Formats a lot (also the Clean Import plug-in).
I consider what I'm doing as "using templates" because I'm ensuring that my docs conform to certain standards, as defined in the templates.
Do other people think of "using templates" in the narrower sense of creating a new file by pointing FM to a template to base it on?
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
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