Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
Pinkham, Jim [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 10/05/2007 11:23:54 AM: Depending on how basic your manual and how limited your scope, you might even try Access or Publisher, if you already have them as part of the MS I tried to import a procedures doc in Word w/ callouts and arrows into Publisher and it just deletes the callouts and scrambles up the text into different areas, like Flare did when I imported the same thing. It's a known issue, i contacted Flare support. At this point my brain is so fogged with crisscrossing questions... it seems to me that I can hardly tell what questions are the right ones to ask...because i don't have the conceptual framework in place to figure that out. Also I don't do well w/ these video tutorials with the moving cursors and arrows either, they put me to sleep and cause brain fog. I just need personal interaction and immediate feedback on what I do and don't do wrong and right to learn it. Right here, right now, yes and no---bing bam boom, easy! I'm figuring out that what i really REALLY need is: Hire a consultant to: 1) Evaluate my company needs and match w/ software that's fairly user-friendly and based on a MS Word-like model or interface 2) Train me and a few others here on basic ability on the software 3) Design a template I can work from and make minor adaptations to My company did it the way we're doing now with enterprise software. By implementing a software ERP or somesuch, Epicor's Vantage, that has caused thousands of dollars and hours and headaches and inefficiency by the sales staff, for whom it seems ANTI-designed. It has a horrible, clunky CRM that everyone hates and has reduced our productivity by maybe as much as 50%! I'm not repeating that if I can help it. Does anyone know of such a consultant? That's what I'm going to recommend to my supervisor. I have serious BRAIN FOG trying to learn too much in too short a time w/o standing-next-to-me guidance. Basically, learning software is boring. Writing is fun. Editing is fun. Formatting--boring but necessary, at least I already know how to do it. They're thinking very ballpark 3 months as a starting point w/ knowing the factors involved, it's already 4 weeks into it and I still have NO idea what software to get. With an entire manual to write and docs to import, and format...it's just impossible with the timeframe and my current knowledge/abilities. I feel frustrated! I'm a writer/editor, that's my strength...give me something to write, and I'll learn software slowly along the way... Tim __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
[TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
I'm still trying to determine if an intranet, with the manual designed as a web page, is a good spot for the sales manual... Still trying Flare, and it's having some issues importing If you know of any good free web design software I can use to publish an interactive sales manual, please post it! I just tried Blaze Composer 3.0 (Author's homepage is http://baliganikhil.googlepages.com/) and it would not import my Word doc converted to an .htm doc. Is this common with web design software? This is the first one I've ever tried, plan to try a few more and a trial version of Dreamweaver. Are there low priced good software not as expensive as Dreamweaver or Frontpage? Tim Mantyla __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
As a side note, I would never EVER save a Word document as an HTML file and then attempt to do anything with it without first cleaning up the code. There are utilities out there that will strip the garbage tags that MSO inserts. That may actually be part of your import problem. Personally, I prefer Dreamweaver. I think you may find that you have better and more features using a tool that you pay money for, versus a freeware tool. You do sometimes get what you pay for, and if this is going to be your process going forward, it's a good investment to purchase the tool that does what you need. ...sue On 10/4/07, Tim Mantyla [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm still trying to determine if an intranet, with the manual designed as a web page, is a good spot for the sales manual... Still trying Flare, and it's having some issues importing If you know of any good free web design software I can use to publish an interactive sales manual, please post it! I just tried Blaze Composer 3.0 (Author's homepage is http://baliganikhil.googlepages.com/) and it would not import my Word doc converted to an .htm doc. Is this common with web design software? This is the first one I've ever tried, plan to try a few more and a trial version of Dreamweaver. Are there low priced good software not as expensive as Dreamweaver or Frontpage? Tim Mantyla __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
Sue Heim wrote: I would never EVER save a Word document as an HTML file and then attempt to do anything with it without first cleaning up the code Personally, I prefer Dreamweaver. I think you may find that you have better and more features using a tool that you pay money for, versus a freeware tool. You do sometimes get what you pay for, and if this is going to be your process going forward, it's a good investment to purchase the tool that does what you need. Right behind ya Sue, The last thing you want to do is save a Word document as an HTML file, unless you like to spend hours picking out the garbage to make it look and work properly. If want a good investment, you can't beat Dreamweaver. If you want cheap, you get what you pay for. I prefer Dreamweaver myself. However, some months ago, someone on another list serv raved about an open source web development tool that was as good as Dreamweaver. I can't remember the name of it (since I already have Dreamweaver), but maybe someone else on the list does. (I think it was NVU.) Al Geist Technical Writing, Help, Marketing Collateral, Web Design and Award Winning Videos Voice/Msg: 802-872-9190 Cell: 802-578-3964 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.geistassociates.com (Online portfolio and resume) See also: URL: http://www.geistimages.com (Fine art photographic prints for home or office and beautiful note cards for all occasions.) __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
Al Geist wrote: I prefer Dreamweaver myself. However, some months ago, someone on another list serv raved about an open source web development tool that was as good as Dreamweaver. I can't remember the name of it (since I already have Dreamweaver), but maybe someone else on the list does. (I think it was NVU.) NVU is the former Netscape composer. Its owned by Linspire, who stopped developing it in 2005. The source was forked and now its available as KompoZer. http://www.kompozer.net/ Its an OK, basic visual web page editor, but it far from being even remotely close to DreamWeaver. I've heard good things about TopStyle for Windows for basic HTML/CSS editing. ($80, http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/TopStyle/Default.aspx) For the Mac, Coda just came out and is supposed to be incredibly awesome. ($80, http://www.panic.com/coda/) Laura __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
What Sue said... snipAs a side note, I would never EVER save a Word document as an HTML file and then attempt to do anything with it without first cleaning up the code. There are utilities out there that will strip the garbage tags that MSO inserts. That may actually be part of your import problem./snip However, if you *have* to import a Word doc and don't have anything to clean it with, you can export as HTML (uggghhh!) then run a program like Word Cleaner (http://zapadoo.com/wordcleaner/index.htm) over it to remove the garbage. I'm not affiliated with Word Cleaner, but it's saved hours of time 'cleaning up after elephants!' Rhonda Rhonda Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cybertext.com.au AuthorIT Certified Consultant __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
Don't you mean Kangaroos? On 10/4/07, Rhonda Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What Sue said... snipAs a side note, I would never EVER save a Word document as an HTML file and then attempt to do anything with it without first cleaning up the code. There are utilities out there that will strip the garbage tags that MSO inserts. That may actually be part of your import problem./snip However, if you *have* to import a Word doc and don't have anything to clean it with, you can export as HTML (uggghhh!) then run a program like Word Cleaner (http://zapadoo.com/wordcleaner/index.htm) over it to remove the garbage. I'm not affiliated with Word Cleaner, but it's saved hours of time 'cleaning up after elephants!' Rhonda Rhonda Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cybertext.com.au AuthorIT Certified Consultant __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com -- Wade Courtney North San Diego County Yahoo: wcourtne http://blog.stinkingbadges.org http://www.frappr.com/elpicoso http://www.myspace.com/elpicoso http://www.linkedin.com/in/wadecourtney Persian Officer: Fools! Our arrows will blot out the sun. Stelios: Then we will fight in the shade! __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
There is an open source content management system called PostNuke http://www.postnuke.com/ - although I do not know that it has the functionality that you are looking for. It does do a lot of things. Jim Jones __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
What about bandicoots, dingos, koalas, numbats, platypuses (platyputii?), wallabys, wombats, or (my own personal favorite) tasmanian devils? (Sorry, couldn't resist) On 10/4/07, Wade Courtney [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Don't you mean Kangaroos? On 10/4/07, Rhonda Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What Sue said... snipAs a side note, I would never EVER save a Word document as an HTML file and then attempt to do anything with it without first cleaning up the code. There are utilities out there that will strip the garbage tags that MSO inserts. That may actually be part of your import problem./snip However, if you *have* to import a Word doc and don't have anything to clean it with, you can export as HTML (uggghhh!) then run a program like Word Cleaner (http://zapadoo.com/wordcleaner/index.htm) over it to remove the garbage. I'm not affiliated with Word Cleaner, but it's saved hours of time 'cleaning up after elephants!' Rhonda Rhonda Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cybertext.com.au AuthorIT Certified Consultant __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com -- Wade Courtney North San Diego County Yahoo: wcourtne http://blog.stinkingbadges.org http://www.frappr.com/elpicoso http://www.myspace.com/elpicoso http://www.linkedin.com/in/wadecourtney Persian Officer: Fools! Our arrows will blot out the sun. Stelios: Then we will fight in the shade! __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual?
Hi Sue I replied to Wade off-list, but to kill this thread before it goes off in all sorts of it's Friday directions, here's my answer to him: Oooo no! Kangaroos are neat and tidy (think goats and sheep... but you really don't want to go there) and besides, they're nowhere near as lucrative as elephants! (Acknowledgement: I heard the phrase cleaning up after elephants can be lucrative on the STC Lone Writers or CIC SIG lists the other day - it was so evocative that it stuck.) And for WAY more than anyone needs to know: http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/september2004/ (warning: pictures of scat!) OK, we can kill this thread now. Rhonda (who today is trying real hard to finish editing a PhD thesis on the wine grape industry in Australia... fascinating stuff!) Rhonda Bracey [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cybertext.com.au http://www.cybertext.com.au/ AuthorIT Certified Consultant From: Sue Heim [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, 5 October 2007 8:46 AM To: Wade Courtney Cc: Rhonda Bracey; tcp@techcommpros.com Subject: Re: [TCP] Any good free web design software for sales manual? What about bandicoots, dingos, koalas, numbats, platypuses (platyputii?), wallabys, wombats, or (my own personal favorite) tasmanian devils? (Sorry, couldn't resist) __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
