TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Well, I wasn't sure about the target of the humour implied by your smilies
(your respondee, or your own comments) but...
> :: - With PDF, format is entirely controlled by the author.
>
> As with HTML...
[...]
> :: use PDF by all means, but offer HTML or other
> :: online-optimised format as well.
>
> Like PDF... ;) ...designed for online use. :)
HTML was not intended to provide control over the format. The author tags
the text, the browser controls the format. Much effort has been spent
overcoming this "limitation" where form is deemed to be more important than
content, and the solutions provided tend to be the ones that break browser
compatibility.
PDF was not designed for online use. It provided an on-screen representation
of a printed document -- you captured data that was going to be rasterised
by a PostScript printer, and instead "Distilled" it. It was not until Adobe
cottoned onto the importance of the Web that they decided to add additional
on-line features to stake a claim to a chunk of it (your smilies may
actually mean you agree with these two points!).
These are two opposing philosophies. They may be converging, but for most
practical purposes you need to choose which one fits your purpose best --
better still, which one fits your audience's purpose best.
You can force either to cover the ground best handled by the other. And I
could teach my cat to bark, if I had the time. Or a cat.
Use what works for you -- but test that it works for your readers...
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by Cub Lea, specialist in low-cost outsourced development
and documentation. Overload and time-sensitive jobs at exceptional
rates. Unique free gifts for all visitors to http://www.cublea.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
