Month: August 2008

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So You Want to Run Your Own Business…

 
Part I of III: Advantages
 
With the economy tight, a lot of corporate workers are being turned into "consultants."  The first reaction is fear–no regular paycheck, no health insurance. The second reaction is often intense joy–no schedule, no meetings. Then confusion sets in. "Do I really want to run my own business? I know a lot about my topic, but… "
 
Good question. Not everyone who is an expert in a topic should run a business. There is a lot more to owning your business than doing the work you are good at.  You have to do administrative work, keep track of your spending, plan ahead, market yourself, keep track of your hours, bill clients, set limits, prepare taxes, and carry on with family responsibilities and commitments.

Let's take a look at the pros and cons of being a consultant. The pros first. We'll do the cons next time.

  1. It's yours to run as you please. No more micro-managers breathing on your every keystroke. You make the decisions, you live with the consequences, you learn from your mistakes. It's a huge responsibility, but if you are an entrepreneur, this is perfect.

    Experience tip: Start small to keep your business manageable. Grow it slowly to keep it under control, even if you have to have a part-time job at first.

  2. Your hours are yours. Early bird? Get up at 5 a.m. and be in your office at 5:05 a.m.  Night owl? Start at 9 and stay as late as you like. This is even better if you are working from home. 

    Experience tip: Your clients are the important part of this equation. You'll do better if you follow the client's schedule rather than your own.

  3. You can refuse to work with clients you don't want to work with. Half of being smart is knowing what you are dumb at and not doing it. A client wants you to do work you aren't good at? Turn it down. No one is forcing you anymore.

    Experience tip:  Ask questions up front; one person's opportunity is another's nightmare from hell. 


About the Author: Quinn McDonald is a writer and nationally-known speaker who has achieved the "Professional" designation from the National Speakers Association. Contact Quinn through her website, QuinnCreative.com.
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Adobe Captivate 3: Eliminating LMS Bookmarking

I recently had a student in my Captivate class ask if Captivate allowed for bookmarking (the ability for a user to return to a lesson at the exact spot where they left off). The answer is no. If a user closes the lesson and reopens it later, they'll find themselves back at the beginning of the lesson.
 
Unless… you upload your Captivate published SWFs into a Learning Management System (LMS). While Captivate does not provide bookmarking features that the user can control, Captivate is sending user feedback to the LMS. If the LMS supports bookmarking, the LMS will return the user to where they left off. Of course, the LMS must support bookmarking, which I've learned from experience is not necessarily the case.
 
Then the question came up: "What if I don't want Captivate to send the bookmarking information to my LMS. Can I disable this within Captivate?"
 
I responded with my own question: "If you could disable this communication between your LMS and Captivate, why would you. Why wouldn't you want your users to be able to resume the lesson where they left off?"
 
The answer: "I want my users to see the introductory screen every time they start the lesson. As it stands now, every time they return to the lesson, they see the last screen."
 
Personally, I'd leave things as they are and, on the last screen, add a button that says something like "Click here to take the lesson again" and branch the button back to the first slide in the project. However, since this person just wanted to stop the bookmarking all-together (and guessing that some of you might want to know how to do it to), I offer the following:
 
  1. Open a Captivate project that has been set up to post to an LMS
  2. Choose Quiz > Quiz Preferences
  3. Ensure Enable reporting for this project

  4. From the Advanced, LMS Customization Settings area at the bottom of the dialog box, click the Settings button

    The LMS Customization Settings dialog box appears. 

  5. Select Never send Resume Data

    LMS Customization Settings


    Note:     By selecting this option, your user's activity in the course will not be reported to your LMS. Details such as the session bookmark, progress and question attempted will not be sent to the LMS.

  6. Click OK
  7. Click OK
  8. Republish the project and upload the zipped assets to your LMS
  
Do you have a Captivate production problem that's making you pull your hair out? Email your problem and let others learn solutions from your experience.
 
 
Want to learn more about Captivate? Click here.
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Grammar Workshop: Imply versus Infer

 
 
Imply and infer are often confused because they have closely related meanings, they both start with i, and they both have 5 letters. They both have to do with giving or receiving vague, subtle, or merely hinted-at information.
 
Let's see if we can, as Wikipedia so often says, disambiguate them.  To imply is to give or hint at a meaning. To infer is to receive a meaning. 
 
To imply is to state–but vaguely. To infer is to pick up on the implied meaning.  Here are some example sentences:
  • The sign implies that there is fresh bread on sale. However, I infer from the fact that it is on sale that the bread may not be so fresh after all.
  • From the fact that you are selling all of your furniture, I infer that you are moving out of town. (I am getting the message.)
  • By handing me my hat, are you implying that you want me to go? (You are sending a message.)
 
 
About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Essentials of Access 2000" and "Editing with MS Word 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 7" to her credit. Jennie specializes in electronic editing. At the American Psychological Association, she was manager of electronic publishing and manager of technical editing and journal production. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer (Chauncey Group). She is a publishing professional with 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

Want help with a grammar issue? Email us your troubles and we'll turn Jennie loose!
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Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate 3 Question: Can I Control PowerPoint Animations?
 
I just read your post regarding Importing PPT into Captivate 3. I have created animations in PPT, for example, click to display an image, or a block of text that I want to retain in Captivate. The problem is that the animations all come over fine, but I cannot figure out how to stop them from automatically displaying. I want the user to be able to click to display content on the slide.
 
Answer:
 
Not possible with this version. Once the slide appears, it plays till it's finished. The best you can do is have a slide with a button prior to the one with the animation. Once clicked, the button will take users to the PowerPoint animation slide.

Adobe Captivate 3 Question: Why Don't Animations Work in my Previews? 

I've added an animation to a slide. The animation is fine in the published project, but doesn't work when I preview the slide. Any ideas?
 

Answer:

 
When previewing slides with animation, avoid previewing just the slide since you won't see the animation correctly (as you've discovered). Instead, preview 5 slides at a time via the Preview button.
 
Adobe Captivate Question: Can I Receive Quiz Results as an Email?
 
I am trying to use the Quiz function to record users' experiences and feedback. I want to know if there is a way to get Captivate to report the actual responses via email?
 
 
Answer:
 
Yes, you can set the Quiz Preferences to send the results as an email (either as an attachment or within the body of the email).

Got a question you'd like answered? Email me.
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Links of the Week

RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR is Live
 
RoboHelp Packager for Adobe AIR is Live now, after 5 months of public Beta.  You can now download the RoboHelp Packager for FREE from Adobe's site. For more information about Adobe AIR, click here.
 
Adobe Customization Wizard 9
 
Adobe Customization Wizard 9 is a free downloadable utility designed to help IT professionals take greater control of enterprise-wide deployments of Adobe Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9. With it you can customize the Acrobat installer and application features prior to deployment.
 
Providing a graphical interface to the Windows Installer for Acrobat, the Customization Wizard enables IT administrators to:
  • Modify the installer via a transform file (MST file) without altering the original package (MSI file)
  • Customize the look and feel of Acrobat or Reader before deployment to meet the unique needs of your user base
Click here for more information about the Customization Wizard.
Adobe FrameMaker 8.0 Developer Kit
 
The Adobe FrameMaker Developer Kit (FDK) is a set of C libraries and header files that allow you to write Application Programmer Interface (API) clients or plug-ins using the C or C++ programming language. Using the FDK, an API client can perform interactive user tasks and more. It gives programmers direct access to all the objects in a FrameMaker session or document. This includes graphics, text, markers, paragraphs, formats, and more.
 
To learn more about the FDK, or to download the kit, click here.
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Reader Feedback

RoboHelp 7 Keyboard Shortcuts
 
Hi Kevin,
 
In your last Skills & Drills newsletter, one of the Questions of the Week asked for a list of RH7 shortcut keys. One does exist:
  1. Choose Help > Contents & Index
  2. On the Search tab, search for Shortcut keys
  3. Click the link Use Design Editor shortcut keys
Hope this helps.
 
 
Editor's Note: Thanks Randi. Believe it or not, we had looked in the Help System for shortcuts but just didn't see them.
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Adobe RoboHelp 7 eLearning Course Now Available

We are proud to announce that our RoboHelp 7 eLearning course is now available.
  • 40 lessons!
  • All 100% interactive!
  • Unlimited access for 1 full year.
Topics covered:
 
Create a New Project | Pods and Toolbars | Environments | Retitle and Rename a Project | Creating New Topics | Generating | Create Project Folders | Auto-Create A TOC | Cascading Style Sheets | Custom Style Sheets | Font Sets | Inline Styles | Spell Check | Multi-File Find and Replace | Compliant WebHelp | FlashHelp | Custom Toolbars | Links | Bookmarks | Importing PDFs | Popups | Custom Sized Popups | Text-Only Popups | Link View | Inserting Images | Background Images | Image Maps | Sound | Create Conditional Build Tags | Attach Conditions To Layouts | Multiple TOCs | User Defined Variables | Snippets | Smart Index Wizard | Add Remove Index Keywords | Reports | Printed Docs and PDFs | Skins
 
Price: $85.00

Click here to test drive a few of the lessons.
 
Click here to register for the course. 
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Reader Feedback

Feedback on Microphones

 
Last week I ran an article about the best microphones to use when you record narrations for your Captivate lessons. Here are some of the comments generated by that article:
 
From Richard Brimson, IT Trainer, Division of Information Technology, Charles Sturt University

We use the PodCaster. It's very good!

 
 
From Michael A. Cindrich, RN, Manager, Training Department, Software Products Group, Artromick International Inc.

In reading through your latest newsletter, I wanted to share with you an acoustic box one of my trainers (Joe Capucini) made. If you count the mic, stand, pop filter and acoustic box, we did everything for $150.00 with great results.
 
Acoustic Box 1

Acoustic Box 2
 
The box itself cost less than $20.00 and was made using an old speaker box and acoustic foam bought from Amazon.com.

 

 

From "retrogrrl,"  a reader on my BLOG:

 
I recently investigated the same topic and ended up purchasing the Blue Snowball microphone, which has its own stand. I find the audio quality to be excellent for my purposes (recording voice for use in Articulate, Captivate and Codebaby) and the USB Plug and Play capability is easy; I don't need to consider using other equipment. I am also using the Harland Hogan method for sound proofing, having created my own 'portabooth' out of a collapsible storage cube and some acoustic foam. The Snowball now has a sibling which is smaller and more portable–the snowflake.
 
 
Feedback on CD Replication vs. Duplicaton
 
I ran an article about the strengths and weaknesses of duplicating CDs vs. Replication.
 
From Liquid Bubble Duplication via my BLOG:
 
Nice post. I would like to add a few major differences between CD Duplication And Replication
  1. While replication refers to the process of making CDs or DVDs from glass stampers, duplication refers to making CDs or DVDs by burning data onto easily available recordable media.
  2. Replication process can be done only under temperature and dust controlled environment. But, duplication can be carried out in any normal environment such as in the office or at home with the help of CD burners and popular software.
  3. Typically, a replication process is considered for runs larger than 1,000 copies, while duplication is usually done for limited or urgent jobs.
  4. The discs produced via replication are also of higher quality than the process of duplication.
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Grammar Workshop: One Word or Two? Confusing compounds

 
Have you ever read a document and seen the same words sometimes separate and sometimes combined? Or even sometimes with a hyphen? Some examples are the expressions cut off, cut out, clean up, follow up, and follow through. You might see these handled different ways, like this:
  • They decided to cut off his funding.
  • Did you apply by the cutoff date?
  • When is the cutoff?
How can all of these be correct? The answer is in the dictionary–and in the way the word is used in the sentence. In the first example, cut off is a verb. Webster's lists cut off as two words when it is used as a verb. In the second example, cutoff is an adjective being used to describe date, and in the third, cutoff is being used as a noun. Webster's lists cutoff as the correct spelling when it is used as a noun or adjective.
 
Similar distinctions are true for clean up, follow up, and cut out, but be careful–they don't all follow the same pattern.
 
For example:
  • During a general cleanup [noun], you must clean up [verb] the mess.
  • You can cut up [verb] a fish, but when you are done you have a cut-up [adjective] fish.
  • However, nobody likes a cutup [noun].
  • You can follow up [verb] a class by doing some reading, but during the follow-up [noun] don't forget to make some follow-up [adjective] notes.
  • If you follow through [verb] on your commitments, you will be commended for having good follow-through [noun].
These examples are from Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, but style guides may have different rules. If the adjective form is not in the dictionary, it should be hyphenated. Your best bet is to always look these up, in other words, to do a lookup, or make yourself a look-up list.
 
 
About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Essentials of Access 2000" and "Editing with MS Word 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 7" to her credit. Jennie specializes in electronic editing. At the American Psychological Association, she was manager of electronic publishing and manager of technical editing and journal production. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer (Chauncey Group). She is a publishing professional with 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

Want help with a grammar issue? Email us your troubles and we'll turn Jennie loose!
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Integrating Adobe’s Technical Communication Suite: Style Settings

Style Settings: Mapping Content and Controlling Pagination

by Kevin A. Siegel

Two weeks ago, I introduced you to the Adobe Technical Communication Suite and the integration process. Last week, we talked about Content Settings. This week, Style Settings.
 
The Style Settings allow you to control two very important aspects of FrameMaker integration: how FrameMaker formats map to RoboHelp styles; and how FrameMaker content is split into RoboHelp topics.
 
Style Mapping
  1. On RoboHelp's Project Manager, right-click the reference to the FrameMaker book, and choose Properties

    The FrameMaker Document Settings dialog box opens.

  2. Select the Style Settings tab
  3. Click the Edit button to the right of Style Mappings

    The RoboHelp Style Mappings dialog box opens. You will use this dialog box to control which styles the FrameMaker content uses when it appears in your RoboHelp project.

  4. Select a format from the FrameMaker column at the left and then select a RoboHelp style from the Available Styles at the right
  5. Click the Map button

    In the image below, RoboHelp has been told to apply the Normal style to any FrameMaker content that was using the Body format; Heading1 was mapped to Heading1, Heading2 to Heading2 and Bulleted to Normal.

    Styles mapped in the TechCom suite

    You can exclude content from being imported by selecting the format from the FrameMaker column
    clicking the No Output button (in the image above, notice that the SideHead format has not been assigned a RoboHelp format and will not be imported into RoboHelp).

  6. Click OK to return to the FrameMaker Document Settings dialog box

Pagination Settings

The Pagination Settings allow you to control how FrameMaker content is split into new topics in RoboHelp.
  • On the Style Settings tab, select the formats you would like to split into new topics (in the image below, Heading1 and Heading2 were selected)

    Splitting FrameMaker content into RoboHelp topics

  • Click OK
  • On the Project Manager, right-click FrameMaker book reference and choose Update

    The FrameMaker content is reimported into RoboHelp. 

 

Want to learn more about integrating the Technical Communication Suite? Click here.