If, along with FM, you have a need to keep Acrobat, Captivate or RoboHelp licenses current then the TCS is hard to beat.
Along with the 4 apps is extra integration beyond HTM or Help outputs. Put Flash movies & simulations along with working 3D models into FM and output to the needed PDF or Help format. TCS 1.x is a bit finicky in setup and can have a 5-10 hour learning curve on the first project, but has a huge return on investment after setup. Currently there are only a few folks who can help with support outside Adobe. If you need help, let me know. If anyone else out there is working at a high level in this, let me (& Adobe) know and we can trade notes. -Matt Sullivan -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Combs, Richard Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 1:53 PM To: bruce.macarthur at vsea.com; framers at lists.frameusers.com Subject: RE: FM8 HTML output bruce.macarthur at vsea.com wrote: > Hello All, > I am new to the Framers group. > I develop the templates for the tech pubs group at my work. I have spent a > lot of time creating and maintaining templates and macros for WebWorks. > Several of our writers need to upgrade FM. I can't purchase FM7.2. This > would require the writers to upgrade to FM8. I purchased an upgrade to FM8 > and can't figure out how to generate the HTML (or XML) outputs that would > look like what I produced with WebWorks. Since FM8 does not come with WW > standard, we would have to purchase a WW seat from Quadralay at great > expense. This forces us to make a decision on whether to stay with FM or > change to another application. > > Is there a way to import templates and macros from WW? > Is there a way to define the HTML / XML page layout to include the banners > and navigation that WW created? OK, I've got bad news, worse news, and then better news for you. :-) Bad: WebWorks Publisher is long dead. You'd have to switch to its replacement, ePublisher Pro. Worse: ePublisher Pro is very different from WWP -- an xml-based solution with a non-trivial learning curve. Your WWP macro language skills don't transfer. Old WWP licenses no longer qualify for an upgrade price. And it costs an arm and a leg. Better: If you have to buy new FM licenses anyway, you should seriously consider the Adobe Technical Communication Suite instead. It includes versions of FM and RoboHelp that are tightly integrated (or so I'm told; we're still looking into it here, but are likely to upgrade to the suite soon). IMHO, YMMV, etc. Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 ------ rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 ------ _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as matt at grafixtraining.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/matt%40grafixtraining.co m Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
