Resource Spotlight: Adobe Tech Comm Newsletter
The Adobe Tech Comm Newsletter is a monthly email that summarizes the most recent resources on Adobe’s Tech Comm Central: http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/.
Tech Comm Central provides information on Adobe products such as FrameMaker and RoboHelp and also on many important technical writing concepts (structured content, agile, DITA, etc. The newsletter lists:
- News items—including notes on conferences and events, campaign microsites, and announcements on educational partnerships
- Webinars and Videos—primarily on FrameMaker and RoboHelp
- Blogs—from both Adobe personnel and guest bloggers
- White papers
A few announcements from the November/December newsletter:
http://online.adobemailers.com/2014/tech_comm_newsletter/december/online.html
NEW: FrameMaker User’s Guide: Sliced, Diced, and Enhanced
Friday, December 5 2014 @ 2:26 PM, By Maxwell Hoffmann
[An update from Nandini Gupta and Peter G.A. Barraud] – Over the years, many of you from the FrameMaker community shared rich feedback on the content and structure of the FrameMaker user’s guide. We’ve been listening and we’ve spent several busy months acting on the feedback to create an improved user’s guide that meets your content requirements better.
So, what exactly has changed? As we analyzed your feedback, some key themes emerged:
- Content organization: We made a conscious attempt to minimize scattering of information and keep content around related features together. For example, information about using structured authoring features forms two neat chapters in the new user’s guide. This information was spread across several chapters in the earlier user’s guide.
- Workflow-based approach: The new user’s guide makes it easier for you to just get things done. We’ve tried to step into your shoes and figure out what information you’d need and in what order.
- Responsive content experience: On your desktop, the new FrameMaker user’s guide opens in a little content viewer app of its own. When you access the content on a smaller screen, it is displayed in a responsive layout, ensuring a seamless content experience.
- Visual treatment: As you glance through the new user’s guide, expect to see visuals and illustrations that help demystify a complex concept or task.
- Discoverability: You turn to the user’s guide trying to find answers to questions that are blocking your everyday work. That’s why we kept titles in the new user’s guide crisp and the content search-friendly.
- Resource ecosystem: We want the new user’s guide to be more than just your first stop for information on everything FrameMaker. We want it to be also the launchpad that propels you to other, often advanced, sources of information on the web. Hop right over to the appendix at the end to view a list of select FrameMaker resources.
Here are the links to the new guide:
HTML: http://adobe.ly/1Dokcld
Blogs of the Month
- Digital Learning: Individual Adaptive Construction or Connected Social Interaction?
- Guest Blog: A Quick Guide to Mobile Publishing with FrameMaker 12
- Guest Blog: XML Authoring Made Easy, It’s not Just for Geeks anymore¦
- Publishing XML from FrameMaker 12 to a ‘State-of-the-Art’HTML5 eReader
- Digital Learning : Eye Popping Trends Revealed in guest Webinar and Survey
- Human Bionics: More Freedom or Electronic Slavery?
- How to Place Rich Media in FrameMaker in under 5 minutes?
- Adobe Captivate: Highlights of eSeminar on Interactive Video
- Best Practices When Creating Interactive Video Tutorials
– See more at: http://online.adobemailers.com/2014/tech_comm_lading/december/index.html#blog
Webinars and Videos
Webinar Recordings of the Month
- Conquering Globalized Content with Acrolinx and FrameMaker 12
- Transition from MS Word to DITA and FrameMaker XML Author 12, using Stilo Migrate
- Sess 4: Next-Generation Review & Collaboration Work-flows in Tech Comm
- Bernard Sess 4) XML Authoring Made Easy, OR It’s Not Just For Geeks Anymore
- How to Choose the Right Component Content Management System for You
- Managing Information Overload With RoboHelp 11
See more at: http://online.adobemailers.com/2014/tech_comm_lading/december/index.html#blog
Highlights of Upcoming Webinars
- Jan 8: Meet FrameMaker XML Author 12!
- Jan 13: Adding Sizzle to your RoboHelp Projects
- Jan 14 & 21: FrameMaker: How to Write Your Own Extendscripts, 2-part series
- Jan 23: Keeping it Clean: Ways to Streamline Content in RoboHelp
- Jan 28: Become a “Black Belt” with FrameMaker Cross-References
See more at: http://online.adobemailers.com/2014/tech_comm_lading/december/index.html#blog
New Videos on Adobe TV
- FrameMaker 12.03 Auto-Insert Table Continuation in new Table
- FrameMaker Tables: Resize Column Options Part 1
- FrameMaker Tables: Resize Column Options Part 2
- FrameMaker Tables: Keep Rows Together via Table Row Format
See more at: http://online.adobemailers.com/2014/tech_comm_lading/december/index.html#blog
White Papers
- “FrameMaker 12 vs. Word 2012 For Technical Documentation” by Maxwell Hoffmann
- “FrameMaker 12 vs. InDesign CS6 For Technical Documentation” by Maxwell Hoffmann
- “Database Publishing with Adobe FrameMaker” by Tammy Halter
- “Ten Reasons to Structure Your Content” by Scott P. Abel and Emma C. Hamer
- “Towards an Agile Authoring Methodology” by Ellis Pratt
- “Changing Paradigms in Technology and Communication” by Ray Gallon and Neus Lorenzo
- “Crossing Boundaries: Implications for the Content Industries” by Ray Gallon and Neus Lorenzo
- “Separation of Content and Form” by Tony Self
An archive of 2013-2014 newsletters can be found at:
http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2014/03/adobetcs-calendar-collection-monthly-resource-roundup.html
To get on the e-mail list to receive notification of upcoming resource calendars and special events, send an email with “mail list” in the subject line, addressed to: mhoffman@adobe.com
PLEASE NOTE: To sign up for webinars or to view webinar recordings or videos you must create a (free) membership ID and password.
