Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
December 2004/January 2005
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Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter December 2004/January 2005 |
Steve Homer, a consultant who specializes in setting up FrameMaker and Webworks processes in addition to developing documentation, provided an engaging overview of WebWorks Publisher at the October 20th STC meeting.
In a nutshell, WebWorks Publisher converts FrameMaker or Word files to HTML, MS, HTML Help, WinHelp, WebWorks Help, and more. It is basically a mapping tool that lets you translate the structure in your FrameMaker files (paragraphs, characters, tables, cross references, etc.) into corresponding structure in the output format that you want. The bottom line? -- WebWorks Publisher is a good alternative to RoboHelp and can be purchased for about $850-$950.
The major benefit of WebWorks Publisher is that it allows single sourcing: you can get multiple outputs without changing your source.
Now for the downside, Steve admitted it's a rather complex program and you will probably need to spend some time to get the templates to look the way you want them to. Lone writers who don't enjoy setting up tools may want to consider the following:
Steve offered the following wisdom to the STC participants: "Deliver clean source files to ensure smooth conversions." When asked "How do we know when a source file is clean enough?" Steve offered the following advice:
If you would like to download a copy of Steve's presentation, visit his web site at www.homertechpubs.com.
Flo Sparks is a member of the San Francisco Chapter STC.
Copyright © 2004 by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter (www.stc-sf.org). This article may be reprinted in another STC publication under the provisions of the chapter's copyright policy.