[austechwriter] Re: Software for managing documentation projects
- From: Stewart Walker <helpfulau@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 16:48:30 -0700 (PDT)
Hi again
Mike, an interesting tool you should check out is
Designer's Edge...
http://www.allencomm.com/products/authoring_design/designer/
This is more intended for instructional designers who
are creating technology based training, but a lot of
it could also map into a tool for doc projects.
Apparently Designer's Edge is customisable, so maybe
you could buy it and then customise it for doc
projects.
According to the site an evaluation version is
available.
Does anyone have any experience with Designer's Edge
that they'd like to share?
Cheers
Stewart
--- Stewart Walker <helpfulau@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Mike
>
> I don't know of anything like this but the idea of
> developing one has crossed my mind too, but I've
> never
> done anything about it.
>
> A couple of points for you to consider...
>
> 1. As a consultant, I'd prefer a web-based app so I
> can easily use it while at a client's site. I agree
> that you might end up with a more limited
> interaction
> model with a web-based app, but I can live with that
> if I don't have to install the app.
>
> 2. You'd probably find some useful ideas in Joanne
> Hackos's book 'Managing Documentation Projects'.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Stewart
>
> --- Mike Buckler <mbuckler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone use any purpose built software for
> > managing doco projects?
> > I'm not thinking of a generic tool like Microsoft
> > Project, but
> > something more targeted towards the specific needs
> > of tech writers -
> > something to be used during the course of a
> project,
> > not just at the start.
> >
> > Recently I did some work for a client that
> involved
> > simultaneously
> > working on five documents for three projects
> spread
> > over a six week
> > period. It was difficult to keep track on the
> number
> > of hours spent on
> > each document and the phone/email/verbal
> > correspondence between myself
> > and the dozen or so stakeholders involved. Keeping
> a
> > journal helped to
> > some degree, but it didn't allow me to
> automatically
> > break down the
> > hours by document/project or automatically
> generate
> > status reports at
> > the end of each week.
> >
> > If no such doco project management program exists,
> > would anyone be
> > interested in using a program if I created one,
> and
> > more importantly
> > be prepared to _pay_ for it? (this is not going to
> > be a freeware / open
> > source project).
> >
> > The high level goals are to create something that:
> > a) Allows information from stakeholders to be
> easily
> > captured and time
> > stamped.
> > b) The captured information can be associated with
> > one or more
> > documents/projects.
> > c) Time tracking on a per document basis.
> > d) Automatic generation of status reports.
> > e) Anything else that you can think of...........
> >
> > Like all software projects, the goals are a bit
> > vague at the moment,
> > but it's only the beginning and I've only been
> > thinking about this
> > for a day or so.
> >
> > If I do go ahead, there are a few certainties due
> to
> > the tools at hand
> > and my depth of programming knowledge.
> > + It will be a conventional Windows GUI client
> with
> > the emphasis on
> > rapid keyboard navigation.
> > + The database back end will probably be an
> embedded
> > version of the
> > Firebird database due to the zero licensing cost
> and
> > ease of
> > deployment (no database driver deployment issues).
> > - It will not be a web application because the
> > browser interface is
> > not designed for rapid data entry or rapid data
> > lookup.
> > - It will not run under Linux (except perhaps
> under
> > Wine).
> > - There will not be a native Mac version.
> > - The database back end will not use Access, the
> > MSDE, SQL Server or
> > Oracle due to database driver deployment issues.
> > - User settings will not be stored in the
> registry.
> >
> > For those that are interested, Firebird is a "zero
> > administration", zero cost
> > industrial strength SQL database derived from the
> > commercial Interbase
> > database sold by Borland. Firebird scales to GB so
> > there is potential
> > for storing documents as well as metadata.
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Mike Buckler
> >
> > **************************************************
> > To post a message to austechwriter, send the
> message
> > to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to
> > austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
> "subscribe"
> > in the Subject field.
> >
> > To unsubscribe, send a message to
> > austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
> > "unsubscribe" in the Subject field.
> >
> > To search the austechwriter archives, go to
> > www.freelist.org/archives/austechwriter
> >
> > To contact the list administrator, send a message
> to
> > austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > **************************************************
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
> http://sbc.yahoo.com
> **************************************************
> To post a message to austechwriter, send the message
> to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to
> austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe"
> in the Subject field.
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to
> austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
> "unsubscribe" in the Subject field.
>
> To search the austechwriter archives, go to
> www.freelist.org/archives/austechwriter
>
> To contact the list administrator, send a message to
> austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> **************************************************
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
http://sbc.yahoo.com
**************************************************
To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to
austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to
austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field.
To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
"unsubscribe" in the Subject field.
To search the austechwriter archives, go to
www.freelist.org/archives/austechwriter
To contact the list administrator, send a message to
austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************
Other related posts:
