Acrolinx In Technical Communication Plus

eSeminar Hosted By Adobe and presented by Tom Aldous of Acrolinx

Link To Recorded Video

Date / Time – April 10, 2013 at NOON EST

I am looking forward to presenting this webinar sponsored by Adobe. So many people have asked me, “What is Acrolinx?”, “Can Content Optimization Be Automated”, “How Can I Get Reports On The Shape Of Our Content In Our Repository” and “Can I See a Demo Of The Technology?”.

On Wednesday April 10, 2013 I will be providing answers to all those questions in this fast paced webinar. Register now at http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=2184057&loc=en_us

Find Out How to Write XSLT Statements for XML to XML Transformations in a 5-part eSeminars Series

June 28, 2012 – July 19, 2012 – Recorded

I did an eSeminar with Nancy Harrison, Founder of Infobridge-Solutions, Inc yesterday. The topic was “Expand your Content Reuse Potential through Indirect Addressing: Using @keys-based addressing in DITA 1.2″. Here is the link to the recording.

Nancy came to the eSeminar armed with decades of extensive experience.

• Secretary and charter member of OASIS DITA Technical Committee
• Former member IBM DITA Architect’s Team
• Member of OASIS DocBook Technical Committee
• One of original DocBook DTD developers
• Frequent speaker at industry conferences
• Working with SGML/XML since 1992
• Technical consultant specializing in: Information architecture, XSL / XSL-FO style sheet design, Translation/globalization issues, Migration of unstructured data to structured formats

• DITA 1.2 makes implementing DITA without a Content Management System practical due to mapping reusable content with keys
• In Pre-DITA 1.2, if you were to move the source of a targeted reusable object, you would have to modify every piece of content that pointed to it. Now with keys you only have to modify the one ditamap the contents the link location.
• Conditional content changes are as easy as loading a new ditamap with the same keys defined to different locations. No more ditaval file or reltables …

• Upgrade your DITA 1.1 content to DITA 1.2 with a file / open / save
• How to create and manage keys
• How to use a key for both DITAMAPs and Topics
• Talked about “how to conref a range of sibling” and “topicsets” using DITA 1.2 / FrameMaker 10

June 28 to July 19, 2012  – Recorded Sessions

Part 1 › Thursday, June 28, 2012 – Link To Recording

One of the advantages of using XML as a source file format is that it’s application-independent. Some of the other advantages include easy reusability and language translation cost reductions. Very little has been written about XML to XML Transformations, although there are some books that outline how to do XML to HTML transformations. This series of eSeminars is intended to fill that gap.

Did you know that the one of the biggest advantages of XML is that you can transform your source content with very quick and easy-to-write XSLT statements? FrameMaker can apply an XSLT transform on ‘Open’ and ‘Save’. The possibilities are endless if you know the basics of “how to” write XSLT for XML to XML transforms. You can use attributes to automatically apply Conditional Tag processing instructions. You can build TOC’s at the top of each chapter without having to do it manually with cross references. And there are several other creative uses as well.

The problem used to be that you either had to have an XSLT developer on staff or outsource the requirement. With your imagination, creativity and the knowledge gathered through this webinar series – your possibilities are nearly endless, with staff who don’t have highly developed programming skills.

Join Tom Aldous, Director of Business Development and Evangelism for Adobe’s Tech Comm business, for an interactive and engaging webinar – the 1^st / 2^nd/ 3^rd / 4^th /5^th webinar in a 5-part series . Tom will start off with the basics as a foundation. And soon enough, Tom will be having you building your own XSL transforms to resolve complex and time-consuming issues, automate processes and multiply productivity.

I am working on pulling together a Free 5 part eSeminar series on “How To XSLT” for XML to XML transformations.

This is what I use to make FrameMaker / XML automagical. FrameMaker 10 allows you to apply an XSLT stylesheet on open and save. This is a very unique feature. Writing XSLT stylesheets is not hard for XML to XML processing. In fact, these XSLT stylesheets can be small in length, but very powerful.

Last year I did a 7 part eSeminar series on “Unstructured to XML”, this is the next step in the process. What do you think? What type of problems would you like to solve with XSLT? I am pulling together an outline now. My twitter handle is tmaldous. I also have a LinkedIn and Facebook profile. Let’s connect. Tell me what you would find useful.

Spread the news!

Tom

Our Adobe TechComm Product Evangelist, Max Hoffmann has pulled together a series of blogs and videos explaining the differences between FrameMaker 7.X and FrameMaker 10.

I highly recommend that you give them  a read / watch, if you currently use FrameMaker 7.X

YouTube videos:

1: FM10 vs FM7: Pods for Index Markers

http://www.youtube.com/v/2dOEpm6owII?version=3&hl=en_U

http://bit.ly/L7j0nj

2: FM10 vs FM7: UI and Custom Workspaces

http://www.youtube.com/v/7z7RdBJ5v_I?version=3&hl=en_US

http://bit.ly/L7jr0H

3 and 4: FM10 vs FM7: Table Catalogs and Find/Remove Format Overrides

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r98aSknl-Ro&list=UUE3l-ZlFjC8EHe1sOuHwn-A&index=2&feature=plcp

http://bit.ly/L7meqH

5: FM10 vs FM7: PDF review insert annotations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcnNcDwdlZM&list=UUE3l-ZlFjC8EHe1sOuHwn-A&index=4&feature=plcp

http://bit.ly/L7m9DD

BLOGS:

(New )  — Videos: 5 Compelling Reasons to Upgrade from FrameMaker 7.x to FrameMaker 10
http://adobe.ly/L7qfvg

Part 1 of blog series on reasons to upgrade from FrameMaker 7.x to FrameMaker 10
http://adobe.ly/HgMwGZ

Part 2 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Workspaces and a Friendlier UI
http://adobe.ly/HgXTl0

Part 3 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Track changes and Import PDF comments
http://adobe.ly/HWpofv

Part 4 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Catalogs and Format Overrides
http://adobe.ly/HiygPX  ß yellow highlight blog have video

Part 5 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Where were you in 2002?
http://adobe.ly/Ik80kI

(Part 6) Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Summary of 10-part blog series
http://adobe.ly/IDoaYj

Part 7 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Bookbuilding
http://adobe.ly/I5iHso

Part 8 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: XML and Structured Editing
http://adobe.ly/I1mpot

Part 9 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: Real support for DITA
http://adobe.ly/JceCoc

Part 10 Reasons to upgrade from FM7.x to FM10: The world has changed in 10 years and so should your content

http://adobe.ly/JceNzW

Have you heard of TESTDRIVE?

If you go to http://www.adobe.com/products/technicalcommunicationsuite/try.html you can try all of the Technical Communication Suite 3.5′s Point Products through a web browser on the internet.

Did you want to try FrameMaker 10, RoboHelp 9, Acrobat X, PhotoShop CS 5.5 or Captivate 5.5 but did not want to install the application on to your system? You can now, right through your web browser.

I uploaded a “how to” video to YouTube at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6E-pS-Z7rM

Enjoy and spread the word.

Is FrameMaker a “real” XML editor and publishing solution?

As many of you know, prior to coming to work for Adobe as Technical Communication Suite, FrameMaker and RoboHelp Product Evangelist, I was Managing Partner of International Training and Consulting Company Integrated Technologies, Inc. for two decades.

I jumped on the structured authoring bandwagon early on. We had a very strong customer base made up of marquee names like Solomon Smith Barney, Bellcore, Moodies Investor Services, Lucent and so on. Our clients usually lead the way. Bellcore, now called Telcordia introduced me to the SGML standard format. They requested that our Company teach them FrameMaker Builder and later FrameMaker + SGML.

I saw the benefits of structured / SGML authoring right away. Guided authoring, separating formatting from content and DTD structure validation. We helped large enterprises convert their legacy content to SGML and later XML. At that time I was application independent as an organization, but I found myself constantly supporting Structured FrameMaker implementations. Sure there were occasions when I was asked to support other XML editors, but the client paid more and the users usually required much more hand holding and training.

Let’s get to the subject of, “Is FrameMaker a real XML editor and publishing solution?”

I see the following as absolute must haves for an XML editor:

1. Create and edit XML files. The ability to create a new XML file, open an existing XML file, modify it and save it.

2. The XML file should be validated against a DTD or schema on open and save. You should be able to validate the content being created against the structure definition to guarantee that your content will be validate upon save.

3. A “real” XML editor should support major standards and custom structures as defined by the user.

4. XML standards should be supported without any configuration out of the box. Generic Templates should be provided without extra cost.

5. View the element structure both inside the document window and a structured tree view window separating content from structure.

6. The ability to automatically run a XSLT style sheet on open and save, if you choose to.

The above are must haves! If you care about Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), then the following are also important:

1. The author should be able to become productive with minimal training as they are using a familiar interface even when doing XML authoring

2. All WYSIWYG XML authoring applications require some customization, if it is going to reflect the Corporation look and feel, even if we are talking about authoring XML using an existing standard. This customization should be easily learned or cheaply outsourced to a consultant.

3. You should be able to leverage the XML Author Templates for use in publishing paper and PDF. No additional configuration and cost. Furthermore, you should be able to publish to multiple formats and devices

4. Integration with major Content Management Systems at no additional cost.

5. Easy to do reviews with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with minimal to no extra cost

The list can go on and on. So, how does FrameMaker fare on these criteria? FrameMaker meets and exceeds all of the above mentioned areas and more.

So can you create XML content with FrameMaker? Yes and it’s easier with FrameMaker than any other editor.

Can you publish XML content with FrameMaker? Yes, we support print and PDF XML publishing with a couple of clicks of a button. We can also publish XML to EPUB (tablets and smart phones), HTMLHelp, AdobeAIR, CHM files, EclipseHelp, JavaHelp and more with the Technical Communication Suites 3.5, which includes FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9.

Can any other XML editor author the same content FrameMaker created? Of course, as long as they support the standard or custom structure being used.

Can you easily collaborate with authors and SMEs on XML content creation? Yes, we integrate with most of the leading content management systems out there. We also provide a low cost and easy-to-use review workflow in the PDF based review.

and publish an XML documents and topics with FrameMaker 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO5xRs9fTig

Also, if you are interested in trying a fully functioning copy of FrameMaker 10 for 30 days or try it in a web browser, you will want to go here.

http://www.adobe.com/products/framemaker/try.html

Also, if you want to calculate the Return on Investment of moving to an XML workflow, you will want to try our new XML ROI Calculator at http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=roicalc

Switch from MadCap Flare, Author-it, or Doc-To-Help Enterprise or Doc-To-Help for Word and save 40% off Adobe RoboHelp 9!

Time frame:Recorded https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?loc=en%5Fus&id=1944518&event=register%5Fno%5Fsession

Join me, Adobe Technical Communication Evangelist, for an interactive and informative webinar, where Tom will discuss the top benefits of switching to Adobe RoboHelp 9 from MadCap Flare, Author-it, or Doc-To-Help. Also find out about the great resources that Adobe has made available to ‘enable’ the switching process and help maintain business continuity through the transition phase.