Support needed!

[Keith Soltys]

If you can't convince your boss that you need FrameMaker, you might want to take a look at ThirtySix Software's SmartDocs.  I've been using it for about six months now on a set of large specifications. It offers reusable snippets, variables, and conditional text, all inside Word. The interface for managing all of this is actually easier and more efficient than FrameMaker's, as you can create "snapshots" that set all of your variable values and conditional text settings with one click. It does require Word 2007 or later and SharePoint as a back end.

I would still prefer to use FrameMaker, just because it is more robust than Word and faster on large documents,  but SmartDocs itself is pretty solid and hasn't given me any major problems. It's more stable than I expected given the house of cards foundation it sits on. As always with Word, you'll want to keep your documents cleanly formatted with styles and have a solid template to start with.

Regards
Keith

> -----Original Message-----
> From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-
> bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of John Sgammato
> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 2:04 PM
> To: 'laura at lavadome.net'; framers at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: RE: Support needed!
>
> It seems to me the safest approach is to escalate it to your manager,
> explaining why your current tools are the right tools for the job. Explain how
> sophisticated your docs are and why Word won't be up to the task. The
> challenge would be to make the docs less sophisticated and harder to
> manage as a trade-off for the suggested flexibility.
> Then you could opine that the problem was not a lack of flexibility, but rather
> a lack of training if the person truly needed to edit the doc at that moment,
> or else possibly the original complainer simply overreacted to a perceived
> blocker while you were out of the office.
> Never complain to the boss - but raise the issue with clarifying information
> and provide an "out" if possible. In this case, the clarifying info supports the
> manager, and the out is that the original complainer is solving the wrong
> problem. Redefining the problem on more favorable terms is a useful
> strategy.
> Good luck!
> john
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-
> bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of laura at lavadome.net
> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:58 AM
> To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: Support needed!
>
>  Dear all
>
>  Please tell me I'm not going mad or being unreasonable.
>
>  Have just come into work to find that the company which acquired us a  few
> months ago wants me to use Powerpoint for creating datasheets  instead of
> InDesign (definite) and "a more flexible tool" (Word) instead  of our beloved
> Framemaker (proposed).
>
>  I could cry. I am the only tech author in the company of about 100  people
> and the marketing department used PP for datasheets which they  say is
> "adequate" for the job. This all arose on Friday when someone  else needed
> to edit a version of my ID files when I was on holiday.  Now  I come in to find:
>
>  "...For more technical documentation (e.g. product manuals) then I
> understand the argument for use of a more specialist tool - but even  here
> we can use more flexible tools."
>
>  Such as????? I have long user guides with masses of conditional text.
>  Just let Word have a shot at that. In fact, they were trying to do just  that
> before I started this job 4 years ago - and it wasn't working.
>
>  Sorry to clog up the forum with this but I think of you all as friends  who feel
> the same way about FM as I do.
>
>  How do I persuade them otherwise? In fact, it's just one person really  I think
> I need to convince - not in my office.
>
>  I can just about cope with datasheets in PP but using anything other  than
> Frame for long user guides is unthinkable.
>

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