Structured Frame Training Resources

Report · Mar 07, 2008

Hi all,

I am evaluating training opportunities for structured Frame, and have looked through the forum to see what is available. I have found Bright Path Solutions, Scriptorium and Know How Pro. These all look like excellent programs, but I need to do a comprehensive analysis, so am wondering if there are any others. Also, if any of you have taken any of these classes, what your general recommendations/impressions were.

For instance, many of them break up the training into some sort of basic intro material, then EDD creation, Read/Write Rules, and so on -- in your experience, which would be the most helpful (this may be an impossible question as they are all critical of course) if the budget does not allow taking all of them?

Thanks for your ideas,

Shelley
Rogue Wave Software
roguewave.com

Report · Mar 07, 2008

I am familiar with both Bright Path and Scriptorium. Both have a lot of years in the FrameMaker world, both owners are authors of FrameMaker books, both have excellent employees and partners, both emphasize top quality service and support. Disclosure: both are clients of mine. I am not familiar with Know How Pro, but I may be embarrassed if I find out I know them by another name.

The material you need will be based on exactly what you are going to use structured FrameMaker for. Are you going to just do structured authoring or are you going to develop structured applications? EDD creation seems like it would be essential. If you are going to do XML import/export with FrameMaker, you will need to know about Read/Write rules.

I would contact companies offering training and give them an overview of your requirements. They should be able to give you some guidance about the training you need.

Rick Quatro
Carmen Publishing
585-659-8267
rick at frameexpert dot com

Report · Mar 07, 2008

To add to what Rick said, you may also try to ask who the instructors
are and then use your favourite search tool to find out more.

Regarding KnowHowPro, one of our knowledgeable forum regulars - Peter
Gold - is an instructor there.

Report · Mar 07, 2008

I told you I would be embarrassed. I know Peter as a knowledgeable and experienced Framer. I just didn't recognize his company name. Sorry Peter.

Rick Quatro

Report · Mar 07, 2008

Hi Shelley,

Just a quick point... you should have some kind of idea what your goals are before setting in, because while all these classes may be good for teaching the mechanics of the software, they really won't be good for teaching you how to really use the technology (at least "out-of-the-box"). That's not because the people involved aren't well-qualified, it's simply because structured Frame and structured content in general is a highly-extensible technology that you can take in any number of directions. Someone teaching you a class wouldn't really know which direction to go, unless maybe you had some idea of this direction ahead of time and could push the training in some particular direction.

You might also find that you don't need all the "pieces" you mention, or at least some can be streamlined while others are more important. Something that Rick was alluding to. So, there's lots of things to consider.

Russ

Report · Mar 09, 2008

Hi, Shelley:

Please provide more information about what you expect learning structured FrameMaker will do for your and your company.

Rick:

No need to be embarrassed.

Russ:

Excellent point about the need to define one's needs and goals before diving into the extensible world of structured FrameMaker.

Regards,

Peter

_______________________________
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

Report · Mar 10, 2008

Thanks all, these are all good points. I'll contact Peter et al individually on the details. Basically, we are moving from unstructured Frame to structured Frame and will be round-tripping. Currently, we use Webworks to generate intermediate (somewhat invalid) SGML, and we have a comprehensive set of Perl scripts that transform the SGML to HTML. These meet our needs pretty well and do a lot for us, so we're not really thinking of replacing the SGML to HTML part.

What we'd like to do is save as SGML and then bring it all back into Frame for editing. Further, this will mean that we'll no longer need Webworks.

We began researching this process a couple years ago, then our company was sold, and our priorities shifted. We are now again considering the move from unstructured to structured and maybe it will actually happen this time... :-)

Thanks,
Shelley

Report · Jun 24, 2008

Shelly:

Can you share what you learned from your "further research"? For example:

- What did you do right?
- What did you do wrong?
- What questions/things did you forget to ask yourself beforehand?

Can you tell us what helped you make a decision for one group vs.
another?

Thanks
Bob