Month: September 2010

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Adobe FrameMaker: Fix Inconsistent Color Definitions

by Barb Binder

When I produce a book in FrameMaker I usually begin by importing Word documents that have been sent to me from a variety of authors. These files will frequently contain colors that float into my FrameMaker template with the Word files, but I rarely notice them until I get around to updating my book. When I do click the Update button, I am frequently stopped short by a notice via the Book Error Log about inconsistent color definitions:

Notice about inconsistent color definitions

This message shows up when two or more files in a book have different definitions for the same color. For example, one file might have Gray defined as 40% black and another might define Gray as 30%. That's all it takes. You don't even need to be using the color in any of the files for FrameMaker to stop the update.

Here's how to fix Inconsistent Color Definitions should it happen to you:

  1. Open one file and carefully review the color definitions via View > Color > Definitions.
  2. Remove the colors you don't intend to use and double-check the definitions for those you intend to keep.
  3. Once you determine that you have a clean and accurate color list, save the file… and keep it open.
  4. Back in the book window, select all of the files in your book list and choose File > Import > Format to open the Import Formats dialog box.

    FrameMaker's Import Formats dialog box.

  5. Set Import from Document to the file with the clean color definitions (it has to be open to be available). Deselect All, then reselect Color Definitions before clicking on the Import button.

    FrameMaker replaces all color definitions in all of the book files with the definitions from the clean file. It also adds color definitions that might have been missing from some of the files in the book list.

  6. Update your book and hopefully the Inconsistent Color Definitions message will be gone.

The reason I say "hopefully" is that if there were color definitions in some of the other files that were not in the list you cleaned up, they will still be there, and could continue to cause problems. The nice thing about the Book Error Log is that it lists the problem files and colors so you will be able to quickly zero in on the right document(s). Just open those files and repeat the steps above.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

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About the author: Barb Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

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Technology Tips: Make Your Droid Battery Last Longer, Part II

by AJ George Follow us on Twitter

Sprint EVOLast week I covered a couple ways to ensure that you get as much life as possible out of your Droid's battery. This week I bring you a few more battery saving tips.

Monitor What's Using Your Battery

By choosing Settings > About Phone > Battery > Battery Use you can monitor what exactly is eating up your battery life. If your Display percentage is higher than your Android System percentage, you should definitely consider turning down your screen brightness. You can do this by using the Power Control widget mentioned last week or by selecting Settings > Display > Brightness. Disable Automatic brightness and slide the Brightness level as far down as you can while still being able to comfortably see what's on your screen. Disabling the Android Live Wallpaper (by simply selecting a static wallpaper) will also save some battery. Personally I enjoy watching grass sway in the breeze (and it only uses up 2% of my battery) so I leave it be.

Forget 4G (Sometimes)

The penny pincher in me never wants to disable my 4G since I am being forced to pay extra for it every month. But leaving it running gobbles up the battery. Often there is not even a 4G network available and your phone will drain the battery just searching for one. For this reason, I only use 4G when I want to optimize web surfing or download speeds. To turn off 4G, choose Settings > Wireless & networks and disable 4G. If you are running a 3G phone, abide by this same principle and use 2G instead (unless you really need the performance boost).

Cache Out

Many applications leave cached data on your phone that you don't necessarily need. One such app is the Task Killer mentioned last week. To clear these caches, choose Settings > Applications > Manage applications. Select each application listed and if there is a pushable Clear cache button in the Cache area, go ahead and push it to clear the cache.

More Battery Saving Tips

  • Going to full versions of websites on your phone will use up more battery. Most sites have a mobile version that can be accessed (typically by adding "m." or "mobile." to the front of the site name) that will use less of your battery to load.
  • When your phone is hot, it eats up more battery. Keep your phone out of direct sunlight and avoid using the phone if it is warm to the touch. Or, perhaps, you could show your phone you really care and put some clothes on it. Or maybe not.
  • I have not tried them, but I've heard good things about downloading the apps APNdroid and Locale to conserve battery life. APNdroid will turn off certain networks when you aren't using them. Locale allows you to specify how your phone's setting should be adjusted for different circumstances (like when you're sleeping or at work vs everyday use).

Do you have any other battery saving tips? Share them in the comments below.

Note: Image above courtesy www.sprint.com.

Click here for Part I of Tips to Make Your Droid Battery Last Longer.

***

About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

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Adobe RoboHelp: Two Birds… One Stone. Combine Master Pages with CSS

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter

I'm a big fan of working as efficiently as possible. With that in mind, I teach students who attend my live, online RoboHelp classes how to create Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) on the first day of class. And then I teach how to create master pages on the second day. Of all the wonderful features you'll find in RoboHelp, CSS and Master Pages are arguably two of the most important things to learn and use if you want to work more efficiently in RoboHelp.

If you create a CSS you'll be able to quickly control the look and feel of all of the topics in your project. You can control such things as font formatting, background colors, background images and link colors.

By creating and applying master pages to topics, you can quickly add static objects to topics such as headers and footers (something you cannot do using CSS).

The process of applying either a CSS or a Master Page to a topic is nearly the same. Select a group of topics via the Topic List pod, show the Topic Properties and then visit either the General tab (where you can apply the Master Page) or the Appearance tab (where you can apply the CSS).

Of course, applying both the Master Page and the CSS to project topics does require visiting those two different tabs (General and Appearance), which just isn't very efficient. Looking to double-down? You can automatically have the Master Page apply your CSS to a topic at the same time that you apply the Master Page, thereby eliminating the need to visit multiple tabs.

  1. Show the Properties of a Master Page.

  2. On the Appearance tab, select your CSS from the list of available Style Sheets (you can also create a CSS on the fly by clicking the New button and copy a CSS in from any other project via the browser button).

    Applying a CSS to a Master Page

  3. Click the OK button.

    Any topics that were previously using your Master Page will now be using the CSS you selected. In the future, when you apply the Master Page to any topics, those topics will also get the CSS. Should you edit the Properties of the Master Page and change the assigned CSS, all topics using the Master Page will instantly be updated.

***

Looking to learn RoboHelp? I have a class coming up this month. Click here to learn more.

***

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Adobe Captivate: Analyze and Chart Quiz Data Without an LMS, Part II

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter

Last week I wrote about how Adobe Captivate 5 offers an alternate reporting method for posting quiz data instead of an expensive LMS: Acrobat.com and the free Adobe Captivate Quiz Results Analyzer.

To recap, you can set up Acrobat.com to receive your learner's posted quiz data. Once posted, you would then use the Adobe Captivate Quiz Results Analyzer to create reports and charts.

There's just one problem with Acrobat.com and it's, well, Acrobat.com. Each of your learners will need an Acrobat.com account. While free, creating the account and using Acrobat.com might prove impossible given the possibility of IT or corporate restrictions.

Strap yourself in… you just might fall out of your chair…

This week, let's investigate a second alternative reporting method… that's right… an alternate to the alternate. Believe it or not, you can also post quiz data to your own Web server and completely bypass both Acrobat.com and the need for an LMS.

Configure a Web Server, Set Up a Reporting Script and Post Quiz Data

  1. Create a Web server and include a reporting script (Adobe gives you one called InternalServerReporting.php).

    Setting up a server and using the reporting script isn't as difficult as it sounds. There is a helpful video and instructions on both setting up the Web server and installing the reporting script here.

  2. Once the server is set up, and you've got the reporting script in place, open or create a Captivate project that includes a quiz.
  3. Choose Quiz > Quiz Preferences.

  4. From the Quiz Reporting category, select Enable reporting for this project.

    Enable reporting option

  5. From the Learning Management System (LMS) area, select Internal Server.

    Internal Server Config button.

  6. Click the Configure button.

    The Configure Internal Server Settings dialog box opens.

  7. In the Server field, type the server address you set up earlier.
  8. Fill in the Company/Institute, Department, and Course fields.

    Reporting dialog box.

  9. Click the Save button.
  10. Click the OK button.
  11. Go to the Quiz Results slide in your project and you'll notice that a Post Results button has automatically been added.
  12. Publish the project and view the results.
  13. Take the quiz and when you get to the results slide, click the Post Results button to post the results to the server.

    Once the results are posted, you would use the Adobe Captivate Quiz Results Analyzer to create the reports (see last week's article to learn about that).

***

Looking to learn Captivate? We have a couple of options… we still offer two online classes for Captivate 4, Beginner and Advanced. Click here for details on the Beginner class. Click here for details on the Advanced class. We also have a 3-hour class devoted to Advanced Actions. Click here to learn more about that class. Lastly, we've got classes for the new Captivate 5. We are currently offering a Captivate 5 Essentials class (the Advanced class is under development).

***

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Technology Tips: Make Your Droid Battery Last Longer

by AJ George Follow us on Twitter

Sprint EVOI was ecstatic to trade in my archaic Palm 700 for a sexy new HTC Evo. I was even more excited when a friend of mine pointed out that my new toy had a kickstand (HOW HAD I NOT NOTICED THAT?!). My enthusiasm, however, was a bit dampened when I realized I'd traded in an old clunker (one that could barely hold a charge) for a shiny new speed monster–that still couldn't hold a charge.

A friend (the same one who opened my eyes to the kickstand, this guy is amazing!) heard me lament over my poor battery life and told me the mystical secrets of saving my Droid's battery.  Over the next couple weeks, I'll share some of his best tips.

Find Your Zombies

My friend advised me to lay off the "Advanced Task Killer" that the folks at the phone store had installed for me (to help improve my battery life). Apparently, only some apps should be "killed," and, in fact, killing some of  them actually eats up more of your battery because they'll restart again within moments.

Go ahead and run your Task Killer. Kill everything. Then check it again within a minute. See those apps that are running again? Those are the zombies. Without blowing them up (read: going into your settings and force quitting or removing them), they'll just keep coming back. So go ahead and deselect them so their lives can be spared upon your next killing spree.

Don't discontinue use of the Task Killer altogether though, as some things (like the camera, for example) may actually need the Task Killer to shut down.

Caution: If you use your phone as an alarm clock, do not kill the Clock application (even if it's not a zombie). If you do, and it is not restarted again before your alarm is supposed to go off, you will be in the unfortunate predicament of not having your alarm go off at all. Trust me on this one.

Add the Power Control Widget

Keeping things like GPS, Bluetooth and Auto Sync running when you don't need them will really eat away at your battery life. An easy way to keep them all in check is to add the Power Control widget to one of your home screens.

On the Evo this is done by swiping over to a screen with some empty real estate and pressing and holding down on the screen. From the Add to Home screen, choose Widget > Power Control. The Power Control widget is then added to your screen.

By simply touching the button for each application (which are, in this order on the power strip: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Auto Sync & Screen Brightness) you can toggle it on or off. In the case of Screen Brightness, you can quickly adjust it to three different levels.

Most of these applications will have no effect on your phone until you need something that directly accesses them (for example, if you use your phone for navigation you will need to turn GPS back on first). By turning Auto Sync off, your weather, Gmail and Facebook applications will not be automatically updated. For me this is not a problem and is worth the extra battery life I gain by leaving it off. If you would like to continue having these applications automatically updated, you should leave this on.

Note: Image above courtesy www.sprint.com.

 
Click here for Part II of Tips to Make Your Droid Battery Last Longer.

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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

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Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts

You can write step-by-step instructions like a pro, but now you have been asked to create voice-over narratives for e-Learning scripts. Suddenly you must break out of the concise and factual focus of instructional writing and create text that engages and motivates the learner.
 
In this interactive half-day class you will learn to define the appropriate voice and tone for a narrative text and take specific steps to create the engaging and personable writing style that voice-over narratives require.
During the class you will
  • Define your audience
  • Establish the appropriate voice, tone, and vocabulary for that audience
  • Learn the specific verbal techniques that create your intended voice and tone
  • Practice using appropriate sentence lengths and structures
  • Discuss how to skate the fine line between engaging and cheesy
  • Learn three specific writing styles that will directly engage the learner
  • Use realistic scenarios to contextualize the onscreen lesson
  • Practice writing narratives with our planned examples, or, if you choose, work with an actual project of your own
Choose between practicing with our planned examples, or working with an actual project of your own.
 
Instructor: Jennie Ruby
Click here to learn more or to sign up.
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Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts

This live, interactive writing course is designed for you. Think of it as an intensive retreat that will give the jump-start you need to create clear, concise step-by-step documentation that effectively educates and motivates adult learners.
 
Created in response to inquiries by IconLogic's audience (including former students), this course quickly gets your writing compass pointed in the most productive direction. Whether you're writing technical documentation, training curriculum and materials, or eLearning scripts, this intensive course delivers instruction and practical experience on critical topics including:
  • the writing process and structure
  • identifying and thinking like your audience
  • facilitating the conversation between SME's and the reader
  • promoting the "WOW" factor
  • keeping "the voice" active, accurate… and short
  • avoiding common grammar mistakes
  • identifying and eliminating deadwood
  • writing narratives that will "hook" your audience
  • writing step-by-step procedures that make the most of the learner's time and effort
This course is 100% interactive. Participants will use their word processor during class to write narratives and step-by-step documentation. At the completion of each lesson, all participants engage in lively discussion that further teaches and reinforces effective technical writing habits and techniques.

 
Instructor: Jennie Ruby

 
Click here to learn more or to sign up.