Recent Posts

3926

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 05:55 PM »

(BTW, Carol's suggestion -- infohesiveEP -- could be an interesting avenue too.)

-Armando (May 11, 2010, 05:43 PM)

yes, it seems nice.  but I just spoke with a couple of people, and we are not interested in exploring additional software right now.  it's a sensitive topic currently.  When I am more established here in about a year or so, I think things will be different.

3927

Living Room / Re: Dagnabbit - I want my cercle!

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 03:12 PM »

cercle...that's how persians say circle.

3928

General Software Discussion / Re: Help me with MS Word styles

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 03:03 PM »

This is a good article about templates.  You can download the article with it's associated template... dont know that it has outline/numbering though.  But it's a good article nonetheless.  I think one reason not many people put their templates up is because they are "generally specific," meaning specific companies create specific templates for general documents. 

http://word.mvps.org...teATemplatePart2.htm

-kfitting (May 11, 2010, 01:33 PM)

Nice!  Awesome link!  That template is great.  That's what I'm talking about.  More people should pool their templates or documents so people can use them.  That's useful.  we need fewer tutorials and more downloadable templates, in my opinion.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:49 PM »

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.

3930

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:40 PM »

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.

3931

General Software Discussion / Re: Someone MUST make a new PowerMarks program.

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:36 PM »

This is only accessible AFTER one has installed the program.  That's not what I'm referring to.  I would like to be asked at installation whether I want the program to start at startup. 

I see from Outertech's message (following yours) that this may be an installer problem that they'll look into.  Thanks VERY much, Outertech!!

-cyberdiva (May 11, 2010, 11:20 AM)

My, my!  aren't we picky!  Ha, just kidding...I'm one to talk with my very particular firefox integration requests

3932

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:24 PM »

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.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:14 PM »

I used a software called Chapter by Chapter to bring together many Word documents, without having to use MS Word's Master Documents. I never used it much but it coud be an option to look at.

-Armando (May 11, 2010, 11:54 AM)

I didn't know about either of these.  It sounds like chapter by chapter may be exactly what I'm looking for.  many thanks, Armando.

3934

General Software Discussion / Re: Help me with MS Word styles

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 10:56 AM »

I don't mean to be rude, but...

Instead of telling me HOW to do this stuff or where to find information about it, could someone please instead just give me some templates that already have a bunch of styles for headings, numbering, bullets, etc. already customized nicely?

With the millions of Word users, there have to be some good templates out there.  But I can't find any on Google.  People have written long instructions and articles about how to do it, and how to understand it correctly.  But can you just provide the end result please??  I really don't care if I understand it or not, I just want something that works and that someone has already put in the time to create.

I can't tell if the templates aren't available because people don't want to share their work, or if nobody has actually done it, yet they just like to explain how it can be done.  The latter is a common thing i run into in work situations where you are trying to get something done.  People talk and talk, yap yap yap, forever like they know everything about everything.  But when it comes to actually DOING something, they seem to have a hard time with it.

3935

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 10:41 AM »

Have you considered using Wikispace or better yet WetPaint for the content and then when completed, print to PDF or better still, export and compile to chm ?

-PPLandry (May 11, 2010, 10:00 AM)

I have not, but they look interesting.  The problem is I don't have much of a say in this.  Just by using "fancy" Word features like Styles is sort of pushing it.  I have to use Word documents.  Whatever I do, everyone has to think I did it all in Word without much extra stuff.

The other thing is that 90% of this has already been completed, in Word.  So it's not like I'm doing this from scratch.  I'm basically putting the finishing touches on it.  I probably should have mentioned that before.

3936

General Software Discussion / Re: Someone MUST make a new PowerMarks program.

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 09:52 AM »

We have Build 50 with further improvements....

-Outertech Support (May 11, 2010, 02:21 AM)

One improvement I keep hoping to see (but probably haven't bothered to ask for) is an option of whether or not Linkman launches at startup.  I try to include in my startup menu only those apps I know I'm going to need right away.  Everything else gets added when I need it.  Every time I install a new version of Linkman, WinPatrol alerts me that Linkman has inserted itself into the startup menu, and each time I respond that no, it is NOT OK.  Since Linkman includes options for things like desktop icons, why not add an option to start at startup?  It's no big deal, but Linkman is one of my very favorite apps, and I'd like it to be perfect  .

-cyberdiva (May 11, 2010, 09:24 AM)

Should already be working:

3937

Living Room / Re: Let me Google that for you

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 09:21 AM »

That's funny.

3938

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 09:19 AM »

Now If someone could just come up with a good way to convert a wiki into a decently formatted printed manual (with good typography) I'd feel far less of that pain.

-40hz (May 11, 2010, 09:17 AM)

I second that!  That would be a great tool, to take a wiki and print a nice manual with it.  That's awesome.

3939

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 08:49 AM »

We have Build 50 with further improvements to Firefox launching. Linkman is now able to launch into existing tab/new tab/new window, without touching prefs.js at all (browser.link.open_external etc).

-Outertech Support (May 11, 2010, 02:20 AM)

Nice!  Thanks for the fix.  I can confirm that it's working very well.

3940

General Software Discussion / Re: Someone MUST make a new PowerMarks program.

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 08:35 AM »

We have Build 50 with further improvements to Firefox launching. Linkman is now able to launch into existing tab/new tab/new window, without touching prefs.js at all (browser.link.open_external etc).

-Outertech Support (May 11, 2010, 02:21 AM)

I wanted to point out that the Firefox launching into existing tab is working well, once again.  Thanks Outertech.

3941

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:42 AM »

Thanks Pierre, i'll look into the Word add-ons.  40hz, I'll take a look at the versioning tools also.

3942

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 11, 2010, 12:39 AM »

Ah!  latex...i remember using that for my grad courses in stat/math.  it does offer more control over styling, that's for sure.  I would consider using it personally, but not at work.  It would bring up too many questions I have no desire to answer.

3943

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 10, 2010, 05:26 PM »

I'm on 2007  I've just tried it, and you are right...it doesn't let you save a whole block.  Which is freaking stupid.  I mean, how long has this program been around??!  Once a year or so, these styling issues piss the hell out of me about Word.  They come out with version after version after version, and have they once made the styling easier?  No.  The biggest thing they've done is add the styling buttons to the big ribbon now, but that's just one little improvement on the frontend.  In the backend, they still use the same pain in the ass procedure to create list styles.  None of options make any sense and they never work intuitively.  Such a freaking pain.

And, of course, all the default, out of the box styles, are useless.  Huge double and triple spaces everywhere, indentations equally obnoxious (like 1 inch between the bullet and first character).  it's so stupid, I hate it so much.  Then there's that scary/funny article 40hz posted in the powerpoint thread, which shows how obnoxious thos default list styles look in a presentation.

I still can't believe nobody has made some plugin or template, or SOMETHING, that makes this whole process much easier.  Cmon, people, send me some list styles or something.

Geez...I am so pissed about this.  MS Word is one of the most widely used programs available...microsoft has made a fortune on it, they have a billion programmers working on it, all the money in the world...and do they EVER make any useful improvements like this?  No way!  They add ribbons, they add buttons, they add a bunch of tiny little fancy features that most users will never think of using.  yet, do they ever pay attention to the MAJOR things that people are clicking on 99% of the time?  No.  ARRRRGHGHGH.

3944

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 10, 2010, 05:11 PM »

Ugh...a couple of years ago, I made a thread here about how to use Word's styling features.  It's such a pain in the flippin ass.  Nothing is intuitive, nothing works the way you imagine, nothing is easy.

Can I do this:
I'll make a unordered list outline.  I'll format it manually just the way I want with all my own spacing, indentations, bullet styles, font sizes...get everything exactly the way I want.

After I do that, is it possible to save that clump of text as a "style" and later, highlight a bunch of text, click on my new style I just saved, and, boom, have it work flawlessly?  This better be possible, or else I'll be compelled to drop some F bombs about MS Word.

3945

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 10, 2010, 04:38 PM »

The other thing is can I have a bunch of sections inside one document, each with their own page numbering scheme, and an overall TOC that can follow all of it?

3946

General Software Discussion / Re: Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 10, 2010, 04:36 PM »

Thanks Oshyan.  I've never really played with Word's styling tools.  At least not enough to know exactly what it's capable of.  i have a feeling it's a lot more powerful than what most people think.

Do you think it would be better to have several files, or one large file?  I'm going to go with one large file, and section it up inside the file using word's meta features for bookmarking or specifying start/finish of individual sections.  I'm talking out of my ass...I don't know if Word can actually do that, but I would be shocked if it couldn't.

3947

General Software Discussion / Instruction manual creation recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on May 10, 2010, 04:25 PM »

DC, please offer any advice you have on this subject:

I need to create an instruction manual document at work.  Everything I have is in MS Word right now.  There are several files (for each section), but it's really one document that will combine all the sections.  I am the one who is handling all the files.  Meaning, it's not some collaborated effort or anything, so I don't need some kind of software that will allow real-time simultaneous editing with a bunch of people.  However, I would like to keep track of the changes that are made (I don't plan on using anything other than MS Word's tracking tools).

People (supervisors, other people) will want to see the files every once in a while, so I don't want to do it in anything other than Word, since that would complicate things with the mostly non-poweruser crowd here.

So, my question is, what is the best way to handle this situation?  All I can think of is to carefully organize all the files, keep track of the changes in MS Word.  The only additional thing i would do is use some kind of task management software (InfoQube, most likely) to keep track of the status of all the tasks.  For example, if I am waiting for someone to submit something, or if I have a question about something that can't be answered right now...all these things need to be managed carefully, so nothing gets missed.

The other thing is an easy way to keep the styles consistent.  Titles, headers, footers, indentations, page numbering, table of contents, etc.  This reminds of the other thread about "Powerpoint sucks" thread by JavaJones.  It would be nice to have everything as integrated as possible.  For example, if I add a page somewhere, the TOC gets automatically updated, along with all the other affected page numbers.  Stuff like that.  The hard part is that I would like to keep this all in Word.

i was initially thinking that it would be nice to use a program like Help + Manual for something like this.  Then I can treat the content like webpages, and use css or something to control the styling.  But i have to keep it in Word, so that's out.

The other thing I was thinking about is mouser's Form Letter Machine.  I've spoken to him privately about it in the past, how it can be used as something just like I'm describing here.  But I don't think anything like that exists right now.

So if anyone has any ideas, please let me know.  As javajones said, be as creative and outside the box as you can!

3948

Living Room / Re: A really cool modern visual illusion

« Last post by superboyac on May 07, 2010, 03:33 PM »

Fascinating!  I remember having fun with a similar kind of illusion from when I was a kid.  I think it has something to do with how we're used to thinking of light hitting objects from the upper-left hand side.  In my recent explorations into drawing and shading, I've learned that the default way to shade is to assume the light is coming from the upper left.

3949

Living Room / Re: The conflict of interest that is Google

« Last post by superboyac on May 05, 2010, 12:17 PM »

Wow, they make over $20 billion from advertising??  I would LOVE to see the breakdown of that and learn how it all works.

3950

Screenshot Captor / Re: LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - ScreenshotCaptor -2.81.01 - May 4th, 2010

« Last post by superboyac on May 05, 2010, 08:42 AM »

Nice!