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Instruction manual creation recommendations?
Armando:
Armando, I also just read your long post about styles on the previous page. Thank you. That is good advice, and I'll be trying it out with this project.
I just spoke with our organization's top guy about this, and it's pretty serious. I need to get this done. They don't care about what I'm doing with the technology, but politically speaking, the heat is on. As far as the technology, I want to make sure i don't corner myself by not organizing it well, or by not keeping track of changes made, or committing to a style and finding out that the managers want something else and having that become a big headache. I have to do this the right way. Maximum efficiency, as much "undo" capabilities as possible, integrated/linked solutions for page numbering, sections, TOC, etc.
All that has been done so far is very basic Word editing. And the content is all there already. So I'm stuck with something that is almost already complete. Ideally, I'm looking for tools and/or methods that will allow me to do as much batch editing and modifying as possible.
-superboyac (May 11, 2010, 12:24 PM)
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AFAICT, apart from latex, it's MS Word (or maybe OOo or textmaker) that's the best tool for that. That's what all the PhD students here use for their thesis, technical documents, etc. Ask Darwin, maybe he'd have other ideas though.
1-Use Word since that's what you're using and it's good.
2-build your styles wisely (be rigorous about NOT formatting by hand but always using styles for everything that's formatted in special ways (titles, body, references, notes, etc. : when you do that (apart from italics and bold in the body), formatting is a breeze and any formatting can always be changed globally... Which is of course easier to do if it's one long document than several pieces put together)) ,
3-and use a backup/versioning software like DropBox or file hamster... and you're set.
The link for chapter by chapter : http://pagesperso-orange.fr/sebastien.berthet/cbc/
Carol Haynes:
How about InfohesiveEP
Its designed for documentation projects that can be output in different formats. For example the same source document can be used to produce windows help files and PDF manuals.
Royalty-free distribution of InfoHesive publications: Windows eBook, PDF, HTML, CHM Help File, RTF & more.
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superboyac:
Thanks Armando. I've noted the bold part, and will adopt that strategy. I've never used styles before, but I've always known it's the right way to do things. I haven't used them because I've never sat down to set up my own styles; and when I've attempted, i've become frustrated. but my frustration is more with ordered/unordered lists, than with styles in general.
I just set up AutoVer to keep versioned backups. I'm ready to dive in now.
Armando:
One last word. I'd probably use one big document if I was you. It's bigger but easier to manage (especially if you have less than 6 y old computer), and the Map View makes the navigation a breeze once you set your styles and linked them to outline levels.
Experiment with styles and levels a bit first in a short document and use the map view or the outline view, you'll see what I mean. (I personally don't use the outline view too often, but I ALWAYS use the map view... Word would be useless to me if it didn't have that and I'd use something else. OOo has a good map view too. I think TextMAker also. But theirs aren,t as flexible IIRC)
superboyac:
Hmmm...one big document, you say? OK, I'll give that a shot. Personally, that feels better to me. And I have to learn about this Map View. Thanks again.
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