Making Word Templates Work

Word can be a bear to work with. People complain all the time about its glitches, gizmos, and other time-consuming peculiarities. So I had this thought as I worked to develop a template for PDFs to be read online. Why don't I try to do a template that not only maximizes online readability, but also gets around Word's problems? I wanted to work with a template that was so easy to use, Word wouldn't have a chance to screw up the template or the document. The project worked, and I don't dread working with Word anymore. Now it's another tool that you can actually use to be productive.

The beginning of my story is suggested in the first paragraph above: my desire to develop a template so simple to use and maintain that Word couldn’t screw it up. It turns out that a template like that also produces easy to read documents.

The boundary line between print and online publications has become pretty fuzzy. Writers recognize that the same or similar templates can be used for both. PDFs, for example, are intended for both online and print publication, so templates intended for PDF documents cross the boundary at conception. It’s true that a lot of PDF documents are headed primarily for one or the other, but that shouldn’t trouble us.

I keep saying to myself that this is not a sexy topic, but everyone recognizes how important templates are. The other day I found myself comparing the templates we use to an oil refinery. The crude oil that goes into a refinery is thick, sludgy, and unusable by anyone. Out the other end comes a much refined product called gasoline that everyone finds extremely useful. Templates are the same way. So many companies have all this disorganized material around that’s not so useful to anyone. You look at it on the page and your interest in finding valuable information there withers. We use templates to refine crude information that no one can use. With the proper tools built into the template, we can refine the information and make it inviting. People like to search it because they can get answers quickly.

So I don't think it's that productive to dwell overmuch on the online vs. print distinction. I’ve considered whether I should say much about the template I use in RoboHelp when I’m doing a help system, as opposed to the Word template that started these thoughts. But it just doesn’t seem that important to me whether the destination document is paper, PDF, or HTML. Yes, those destinations are different, but a lot of the principles regarding good templates are the same. That is, we should think about what makes a template good in various contexts. The comparisons are helpful, and you, I expect, will have a lot to say about those comparisons as you think about your own work.

TechWrite's Tips & Analysis - October 2006

Hi Everyone,

I chaired a meeting of the Consultants Network steering committee a couple of nights ago. During the conversation before the business portion of the meeting, I started a sentence with, "I feel like a traitor, but..." Then I continued to report that I had purchased a Mac over the summer. Now why should I open the sentence that way? It would make an interesting analysis. In the meantime, I'm still learning all the neat tools I can use on this machine, including a text editor called Taco HTML Edit. I want to simplify the publication process for Tips and Analysis, and Taco HTML can help with that. If you use a Mac, you should try it.

On to our meeting announcements for this month and next. The immediate event, on Wednesday, October 18, is Mike Hamilton's presentation on Flare for STC Boston. Help system developers have all been highly interested in Flare since RoboHelp's future became uncertain. Wednesday's presentation at The MathWorks in Natick is a chance to learn what's happening in the world of help authoring tools, and to learn about the latest technology on the market. Check the STC Boston program page for all the details.

Here are several other meetings of interest coming up in the next few weeks. Check the links for details, or contact me directly for more information. As always, if you have a meeting to announce, let me know and I can add it to the list in the next issue.

Wednesday, October 25, "Innovation and Leadership in Today's Multi-Generational Workforce," Sharon Wulf, Ph.D.

Wednesday, October 25, "Figuring Out What to Learn," Cheryl Landes.

Wednesday, November 1, "Incorporating Automated Testing in Your Web Accessibility Strategy," Dana Louise Simberkoff.

Thursday, November 2, "Making Word Templates Work," Steven Jong and Steven Greffenius. For a short article that preview's this topic, visit TechWrite's weblog.

Saturday, November 18, "Flare in a Day," Neil Perlin. Hear Mike Hamilton's presentation tonight, then become expert with Flare at Neil Perlin's hands-on workshop. Mark this one on your calendar.

That's enough for today. Please write to stay in touch.

Righter Publications

Righter Publications

Berwick Heights Software

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Tom Maglione's Technical Resume

Tom Maglione's Technical Resume

I seek technical responsibility for projects where I can use my knowledge and experience with hardware and software and their trade-offs to design and implement real-time embedded systems for solving interesting and typically unique and difficult engineering problem applications. I seek out and resolve the most difficult engineering problems because of the great satisfaction I receive when solving the most challenging issues.

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