Is my beloved tool withering on the vine?

[Matt Sullivan]

Standardization inevitably leads to structured authoring, DITA or another model.

Structure improves content management, accessibility, localization, and consistency of content.

Once you're doing structured authoring, you can use any structured authoring tool you like. Or use multiple tools, if you like…the files are now (presumably) .xml and can be edited by any xml editor. (Kinda like the HTML editor wars a few years ago)

In my opinion, FrameMaker has the best mix of price, cost of implementation, cost of maintenance, and existing user base. Put that together with other apps in the TCS, and Adobe's continuing development of the product, and it's tough to make a case for an existing Fm user to switch to another product.

FWIW, Flare isn't a structured authoring app, and I don't know enough about AuthorIt to weigh in on it.

-Matt

Matt R. Sullivan 
co-author Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 11 
P: 714.798.7596 | C: 714.585.2335 | matt at mattrsullivan.com 

@mattrsullivan LinkedIn facebook mattrsullivan.com 

On Nov 24, 2013, at 3:42 AM, Steve Rickaby <srickaby at wordmongers.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> At 10:10 +0000 22/11/13, Harro de Jong wrote:
> 
>> If FrameMaker's reuse options no longer meet your needs, Author-it (and Flare presumably, although I've no experience with it) is a possible replacement.
> 
> Or (surely?) moving to DITA with Frame?
> 
> -- 
> Steve
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