Weighing H&M versus FrameMaker and WebWorks

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Jessica Betterly
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Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:39 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado

Weighing H&M versus FrameMaker and WebWorks

Unread post by Jessica Betterly »

Currently, I work in FrameMaker 7 to create my PDF, then single-source to a CHM using WebWorks. My company will be partnering with another in the future, and this new company uses Help & Manual. So I have a decision to make: Continue using Frame and WW or move to H&M.

The way I see it right now, the biggest thing I gain by remaining with Frame and WW is more control over the PDF output. (And from someone who values a good hard-copy user guide, this is important to me. Maybe less so to our customers.) H&M's interface is easier than WW, but I think I can do most of what I need with either program.

I'd love to hear other folks opinions on the pros and cons for either option.

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can give me!!
Jessica
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Jessica,

Have you discovered the Print Manual Designer bundled with H&M, which is a separate program for creating and editing the print manual templates that give you full control over the appearance and layout of your PDFs and printed manuals? For information on how to access and use the PMD and attach templates to your projects see the chapter PDF and Printed Manuals in the help. Then have a look at the help of the PMD itself, and if you have any questions just post them on the forum. :)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Jessica Betterly
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:39 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado

Unread post by Jessica Betterly »

Hi Tim -
Yes, I've been working with the Print Manual Designer over the last few days, trying to learn its ins and outs. My initial feeling is that I lose quite a bit of flexibility using it (as compared to Frame). (As an example, my Frame chapters all include a 1st-level TOC in a side bar, adjacent to the chapter number and title. Haven't figured out any way to do something similar with the PMD.)

I'm hoping to learn if other people migrating from a desktop publishing program like FrameMaker have found design satisfaction with the Print Manual Designer, or if it is really just a means to create a basic PDF, less emphasis on style.
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Dean Whitlock
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

Hi Jessica,

I was pleased with the results I achieved in the PMD, but I was trying to reproduce a fairly straightforward Word Doc layout. I've seen enough of Frame to know that it can do much more (however, not a matter of style - i.e., typography - so much as a matter of layout). If that is such a major consideration over ease of producing different types of output (I use PDF and browser-based, along with CHM), then you may well be better off sticking with Frame.

That said, I think that you could achieve something similar to your chapter-level TOC in the PMD by using the Top Level Intro Page, which is essentially a cover page to each chapter. You can put text blocks and graphics anywhere you like on it. In the text blocks, you can use variables to put in the chapter number and heading, and I think you can also build a small TOC. Studying the text blocks in the existing TOC should show you which variables to use.

Another possibility is to build a TOC block next to the Chapter Title block in the Top Level Heading area on the Topics Page. You would have to resize the chapter block first, of course.

Mind you, I haven't tried either of these tricks myself...but it looks possible from the little I have done. I have been so pleased with H&M's editing capabilities in general that I would be inclined to use up the whole trial period (and maybe a second one) trying every possibility before giving up.

Good luck,
Dean
Jessica Betterly
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Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:39 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado

Unread post by Jessica Betterly »

Thanks, Dean. That's exactly the kind of input I need. It's a big decision and I know that, no matter how hard I try, I won't think of everything.

:)
Jess
Vizzini: "Inconceivable!"
Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think that word means what you think it means."
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