Inventory of Template Features

[Fred Ridder]

Jim Pinkham wrote:

> I think what we do is a bit ancillary to what you're asking, Nancy, but
> I'll mention it, FWIW. On the title page of our manuals, we include a
> variable that we populate, but not insert or print, called "Version."
> There we'll say something such as this: "5/12/2009 -- This manual was
> created using our new April 2009 U.S. FM 9.0 template, and based upon
> the previous manual for Order No. 99999999, the ThermoFrazzler O-WOW for
> Acme Paper, Timbuktu, AL." It gives us a point of reference when we go
> to do an updated manual for the next ThermoFrazzler. Or when we try to
> figure out why and how a specific manual may have deviated from the norm
> for similar manuals.


This is a fine concept, but I think the execution could be improved if you avoided using a variable to store the information. The biggest issue is that a user variable with a standard name is vulnerable to overwriting if you unintentionally import variables from anothe title page file. (Of course, nothing unintentional *ever* happens in real life...) If you instead put the information on a reference page or in the placeholder text frame on a master page, you've made it easier to find the information and made it much more impervious to accidental deletion or overwriting.

-Fred Ridder