FM + CMS + SMEs w/o $$$?

[Jack DeLand]

John,

 

Thank you very much for your detailed reply and kind offer.  To answer your question, the SMEs would not be able to publish to user docs; I am the sole owner. We (developers and I) do all have access to XML editors, and this may be the push I need to finally “go structured”.  

 

We do a lot of work with Federal clients and others who for reasons of security do not have access to the Net, and for that reason, web-based solutions such as wikis would not reach about 20-22% of our user base.  Internal documentation is another circumstance and one that I can’t go into.

 

I’ll do some cogitating about the structured route.  It makes a lot of sense, and now would be a perfect time to do it.  

 

Regards,

Jack DeLand

 

From: John Sgammato [mailto:jsgammato at IMPRIVATA.com] 
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 9:08 AM
To: 'jackdeland at comcast.net'; framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: RE: FM + CMS + SMEs w/o $$$?

 

If you go to structured FM, then the SMEs can write topics in their favorite XML/text editor. 

But getting structured is a major change that your organization might not be ready for. 

 

I would ask the boss to refine the task. Is it for SMEs to publish to users without your attention? That’s tricky. But if you have to edit it to company standards and do any wordsmithing at all, then they may as well just send you content in Word or in an email. In my experience, the reformatting part of it is quick compared to making sure the content is complete and accurate for the reader.

 

We are setting off into a project that will include your goal: Our Support crew needed a new knowledgebase that includes their Solutions and my product documentation. I got involved and suggested MindTouch (which was recommended to me by Scott Abel and which you can see in action at the AutoDesk/AutoCad knowledgebase).  

What we get: All my legacy content becomes nodes in the knowledgebase – each procedure, every Heading 1 and Heading 2, becomes a tagged article in the KB. All the content is searchable by keyword and by product version. 

All new content can be published from FM. The published content is HTML with a familiar sort of interface, so Support can continue entering their own Solutions, but now they can reference all the product documentation as well. Access is role-based, so Services can add their own articles, and make them readable internal-only. Articles are commentable, so a user (or a support or Services guy) can add comments to clarify or support a procedure, and I can get an automatic email notification so I can update the article as needed. 

So SMEs can publish content directly, or they can submit it to me, and we get hugely-improved functionality as well. 

I’ll be happy to answer any questions about my experience as we go through it; feel free to contact me directly.

 

John Sgammato 

Principal Technical Writer

Imprivata, Inc

 

 

From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of jackdeland at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 1:58 PM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: FM + CMS + SMEs w/o $$$?

 

All,

I have been tasked with finding a way to allow SME input directly into our publishing workflow. That is, the developers and managers would be able to edit text and add graphics to our source files. I want to keep FrameMaker as the publishing engine.  I'm thinking a CMS would be in order, but the company is aghast at the thought of spending more than 10K a year on "word processing".  I basically need functionality something like Author-it that ties into Frame.  I could do single-sourcing with RH (we have TCS3.5).  I'm thinking we would have 3 developers at a time who might be using the system, plus me.  That's a budget of $2500 or less per year per user.

Can anyone point me toward some current resources here?  

Thanks,

Jack DeLand

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