Re: Suggestions for free/cheap/Open Source documentation for Web Site & PDF?

Subject: Re: Suggestions for free/cheap/Open Source documentation for Web Site & PDF?
From: Pro TechWriter <pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: Technical Writing Plus <doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net>
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:47:31 -0500

I like KompoZer for Web development. It's like Dreamweaver, but I think
better. KompoZer is easier to use than Dreamweaver, that's for sure. And it
makes compliant HTML.
KompoZer is available from SourceForge.net.

If you use that with Open Office, you should be good to go for Web and
PDFs.

PT

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 9:48 AM, Technical Writing Plus <doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net
> wrote:

> Jen, Perhaps you should look at OpenOffice.org. I do not know the
> specifics,
> but it might cover most of your requirements. It does produce pdf and it
> does have a scripting language, and it does give you the option of
> producing
> html and xml docs.
>
> It is much more user-friendly than Latex.
>
> Jim Jones chineseadjuster.webs.com
> stc-chicago-jim.blogspot.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> ...I've been out of the documentation loop for a few years and thought I'd
> query the group for more modern insight. I'm helping out a project where
> we'll be producing documentation that we'll need to output in both PDF and
> as nice-looking Web pages. I've batted around a few ideas - LaTeX (nice and
> build-system-happy, but LaTex2HTML is so ugly...plus we'll eventually want
> many people to update it and not everyone loves LaTeX), Apache Forrest (but
> it doesn't seem to be heavily maintained and doesn't work with JDK 1.6.
> This
> is, I guess, not a big deal, but resetting JAVA_HOME all the time is a
> pain).
>
> Requirements are really the following:
>
> - Text-based source for easy integration with source control.
> - Free, or close to it.
> - Single-sourceability: Should be able to code text for multiple output
> streams/audiences.
> - Multiple output formats supported, PDF and HTML at a minimum.
> - Can be built without user interaction (i.e., scriptable to run with
> automated builds).
> - Somewhat easily editable - Eclipse plugin support would be fantastic.
> - Pain threshold for initial configuration is medium (<2 hrs to set up,
> fine
> if it takes a little longer to make "pretty"). Pain threshold for
> maintenance/modification of styles/build system/internals post-initial
> setup
> is high, however.
>
> Any advice or suggestions? What's working for you in the land of free
> software? Is anyone successfully using Maven to produce user documentation?
> (Anyone using Forrest?) Any other out-of-the-box DocBook implementations
> that are easy to get up and running quickly? Or other suggestions and
> advice?..
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
> Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
> 2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
> http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
>
> Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
> authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
> once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control!
> http://www.helpandmanual.com/
>
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--
“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love....Pursue the
things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their
eyes off you.”

- Dr. Maya Angelou
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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References:
Suggestions for free/cheap/Open Source documentation for Web Site & PDF?: From: Jen H
RE: Suggestions for free/cheap/Open Source documentation for Web Site & PDF?: From: Technical Writing Plus

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