Inventory of Template Features

[Yves Barbion]

Hi Nancy

This plugin can prevent you from wrecking your headers (Running H/F):

http://www.frameexpert.com/plugins/importformatsspecial/index.htm

I don't have a spreadsheet, but I do have a "Template Guide" (or sometimes I
call it a "metatemplate"), in which I document (almost) everything which I
have designed in my template. It's just a regular FrameMaker file in which I
have examples of all of my paragraph tags, character tags, table formats,
cross-reference formats etc. I also briefly describe how to use some
components of the template. For DITA-based templates, I have included
hyperlinks to the DITA Language
Specification<http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.1/CD01/langspec/ditaref-type.html#topic>for
more tips on usage and examples.

You've made a good point here: "document your template" (for yourself and
your colleagues). This is also rule n° 1 of my FrameMaker Template Design
classes.

Cheers

-- 
Yves Barbion • Managing Director • Adobe-Certified FrameMaker Instructor
www.scripto.nu  • skype: yves.barbion  • T: +32 494 12 01 89


On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 7:33 PM, Nancy Allison <maker at verizon.net> wrote:

> Hi, everyone. I've created a template that I'm pretty happy with. It is
> structured like a book file and contains separate files for front matter,
> preface, body text, and index.
>
> I am trying to keep track of how I did things in it. For example, I've used
> one variable in the headers for the unnumbered chapters (Index, TOC,
> Preface). I've used a separate variable in the headers of the numbered files
> (chapters and appendixes). This means that I can't carelessly copy the page
> layouts from, say, the Index file into the Chapter file, or I'll have to
> spend time fixing the headers that I've just wrecked.
>
> Just to be clear, here are the things I can copy from one file into all the
> others without doing harm:
>
> Variable definitions
> Cross-reference formats
> Table formats
> Character formats (the list is short, so no reason to tailor it to each
> type of file)
> Color Definitions
> Document Properties
> Reference Pages
> Conditional Text Settings
> Math Definitions
>
> Things I can't -- I have settings tailored to each type of file in the
> template:
>
> Paragraph formats (in each file I include only the relevant paragraph
> formats. Cuts the list way down.)
> Page Layouts
>
>
> I think.
>
> My question to you: Do you have a spreadsheet, or some other table or form
> that you use to keep track of what the heck you have set in your template?
>
> I googled "Framemaker template inventory" and got only hits for templates
> for tracking inventory (like widgets).
>
> Right now, all the nifty features of my template are fresh in my mind. If I
> go away and work on something else, I won't remember how I set it up. Surely
> after all these years there are off-the-shelf tools for keeping track of how
> a template is set up.
>
> I am more than willing to shell out for a wondrous plug-in, if someone has
> created one that meets this need.
>
> --Nancy
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