need help selecting doc tools

[Scott Prentice]

Hi Aaron...

FrameMaker and WebWorks are a very good combination, and would most 
likely do what's needed. However, you might want to get more 
clarification on how the source documentation may be integrated into the 
development environment as well as what types of output are expected and 
how that output is to be integrated into the shipping product. Being in 
the unique situation of setting things up, as you are, it's worth taking 
some extra time to make sure that the tools you choose will really 
provide the solution.

Something that you may want to look into is using DITA as your 
underlying data model (if you're entertaining the idea of using 
structured authoring). One of the biggest problems that people have in 
using DITA is the migration of legacy content .. you don't have this 
problem. If the focus of your output is to online Help or web delivery, 
DITA's topic-oriented focus may be ideal. One of the benefits of using 
DITA is that through the OpenToolkit (free open source set of tools), 
you get all you need to generate various forms of online output (no 
WebWorks required). (Caveat: you will need to spend time/money modifying 
the XSLT transformations to get the output to look the way you want, but 
perhaps you've got some XSLT developers on staff(?).) Also, because DITA 
is XML, you can easily integrate (both in and out) with code in your 
development stream. If you're really on a tight budget, you could also 
forgo using FrameMaker and just use an XML editor (you do want to make 
sure that it really supports DITA in a useful way).

This may be more than you really want to deal with, but it's probably 
worth looking into. For more info visit the following URL ..

    http://dita.xml.org/introduction

Good luck!

...scott

Scott Prentice
Leximation, Inc.
www.leximation.com
+1.415.485.1892



Aaron Bennett wrote:
> Hello all:
>
> I am starting a new venture on Monday at a startup company that has never
> had a tech writer and needs me to write all the doc from scratch.  
> I've been
> using FrameMaker 6.0 for several years now with WebWorks Professional 
> 2003.
> My new boss (VP of Engineering) has asked me to put together a doc tools
> strategy plan for design and delivery for the technical documentation.
>
> Being a startup, my budget will be fairly low so content management 
> systems
> are not an option at this point.  I've been doing research over the past
> week and it's been a daunting process.  What I'm thinking of 
> purchasing is
> FrameMaker 7.2 and using it's structured capabilities.  For HTML 
> generation,
> I'm considering WebWorks ePublisher Pro.  Is anyone using these two 
> products
> together (and if so, could you share your thoughts).  I'd also appreciate
> advise on other options.
>
> I'm thinking that I'll need training to get up and running, so if 
> anyone can
> recommend trainers in the Massachusetts/NH/RI areas that would also be
> helpful.
>
> Thanks for your assistance,
>
> Aaron
>
>
>
>
>