Rebranding/OEM'ing Frame files

Tue Jan 17 12:34:46 PST 2006

I rebrand our docset for a partner much the way described by Deb, with
some of Grant's ideas. The main difference is that I do the rebranding
myself rather than send source files to the partner (which has no tech
writer resource).  It is likely that this year will see at least one
additional rebranding partner, so I have put a lot of thought into it. 

I am a lone writer, so I have to be methodical and my system has to be
simple enough for me to manage even in that brain-dead state at the end
of the product release.

My conclusion so far:

(These are sometimes generally specific and sometimes more- or only
applicable to a software product or to a doc set that will keep the same
basic layout and doc size as our own. If the product is not software, or
if the rebrander will use different page layouts, sizes, etc, then some
of these do not apply to your situation.)

Use a set of variables for things like the company name, product name,
and part number, and to store the variables in one dedicated document so
I remember to update them all. 

Put all images in an Images folder, and use the same names and
dimensions. Screen captures can be tricky, because if they are not
captured the same way (geographically) then the edge of the screen
capture can be a variable distance from the edge of the frame. Assume
the rebrander will have to get all new screen captures and set a process
for it with image resolution, file format, etc all predefined. 

Put all text insets in an Insets folder. I especially use one for the
trademarks and copyright info on the back of the title page. 

After changing the variables, do a global search-replace for your
company and product names to catch any that were not variables,
including variants in a command line illustration or other types of
usage. For example, we used to install our software product into
\onesign\... and the partner installed into \touchpass\... That caused
headaches, so now we both install to \ssoprovider\.... Until that time,
it was a problem for me, because the \onesign\ did not work with the
variable OneSign. 

Changing the variables in the text does not change the variables in the
markers, so the index has to be rebranded separately with a
search/replace. IXgen saves A LOT of time and effort here, because you
can do the search-replace in the IXgen file and then apply the changes
throughout. 

Use different variables for bolded and unbolded forms. IIRC markers do
not keep character formatting information. You can have apparently
random bold entries in your ToC if the variable is used in a heading
that has a bold format. Figure captions and unordered lists were also
problematic, all solved by using two variable styles.

If you use a logo or similar graphic treatment in a footer or to open a
chapter, the rebrander must use an image of similar dimensions unless
they are willing to adjust the page layouts to suit their own corporate
look.

If the rebrander uses a different font, be sure to look for special
characters like some bullets or "code" text. For example, if you use
Courier to show user input and Arial for everything else, and the
rebrander uses Verdana where you use Arial, then the Courier might also
need to be changed, or can get caught up in a careless
SelectAll-change-to-Verdana step.

Our product is called OneSign, and theirs is TouchPass. If their product
was called Applesandorangesandotherneatstuff, then two issues arise: 
1) pagination issues because their name is so long, so you may get odd
pages or two page spreads just because one lousy line got bumped to
another page
and 
2) every place that I say you need "a OneSign profile" they need to say
"an Applesandoranges...." profile - the a/an is not part of your
variable and must be caught with a search-replace. 

Remember if the rebrander will need new screen captures, then they need
the software to get them from, including lists of acceptable usernames
if the product is a software product that shows lists of user accounts,
etc. I keep a separate database of users and applications and then when
it is time to get my final screencaps I purge all others out of the
machine I am working on and import my own known safe users and
applications. 

Be sure to check all examples and illustrations for hidden references to
your own company name. 

***
I am wondering if switching to Structured FrameMaker will make any of
this easier or more difficult...any ideas?

-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces+jsgammato=imprivata.com at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces+jsgammato=imprivata.com at lists.frameusers.com] On
Behalf Of Deb Hardy
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 2:23 PM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Rebranding/OEM'ing Frame files

I originally posted this question on Friday, but it
didn't go through. (Switching to plain text now!)
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Deb Hardy <edittur at yahoo.com> wrote:
For those of you who distribute your source files to
OEM partners, would you be willing to share the basics
of how you prepare your Frame files for rebranding? I
think our rebranding efforts are going to be very
simple, but I want to go into this
feeling confident that I've picked the best approach.
I would be extremely grateful if any of you who have
successfully created re-brandable Frame files could
share some wisdom. Here's what I'm thinking so far:

* For company name (and product names, if it becomes
necessary), we'll create a user variable.

* For the corporate logo that appears on our cover
page and in our running footers, we'll give our file a
generic name like "corp_logo.gif" and instruct the OEM
partners to replace this file with their own similarly
sized corporate logo.

Do both of these approaches seem reasonable and
optimal? I'm particularly concerned about the
logo-replacement issue. I'm pretty sure that images
and anchored frames can't have user variables attached
to them, so I'm sort of perplexed about any
other option besides replacing the existing logo. It
seems like there should be a better way than
overwriting our file... Am I missing something
obvious? Is there a good argument for using
conditional text for this problem? I'm hesitant to add
more conditional-text tags to our book, but I will
happily do it if it turns out to be the best solution.

I've Googled my little heart out searching for
OEM/rebranding best practices, especially in terms of
FrameMaker capabilities, and I'm coming up short.
Thanks so much in advance for any advice you can
offer!

-deb h.

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