Errors in Customizing online manuals in FM 6

["Thomas Michanek" <thomas.michanek@xxxxxxxxx>]

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Errors in Customizing online manuals in FM 6
============================================
Background: The FrameMaker distribution includes a number of 
"Online Manuals" that are not delivered in print. In FM 5.x, these
were available directly from the main online help screen, but in
FM 6 they are only delivered as separate re-designed PDF files.
They are intended for print-out, not for online reading.

I have now reviewed the the online manual for customizing FM
products in FM 6, and I want to point out some of the deficiences.
The are few factual errors in the manual, but it's once again
clear that this manual has not been proof-read by Adobe.

First of all, the manual has changed its name. In 5.5, it was
called "Customizing FrameMaker Products" on *all* platforms.
In 6.0, the Windows version is simply called "Customizing" and
the UNIX version is called "Setting up Adobe FrameMaker" (the
jury is still out on the Mac version). Why is this a problem?
In the other online manuals, this manual is still referred to
as "Customizing FrameMaker Products" (without references to
sections or pages). Windows users will probably find the right
manual, but what about UNIX users? (are we surprised by this?)

In 5.5, there was an index to this manual, for all platforms.
The index is now completely missing from the manuals! Why?

Since chapters are no longer numbered, the cross-ref formats have
changed, and this has some implications. Examples:
* Periods are missing at the end of sentences, e.g.
  "For details, see 'Changing Resources' on page 10 The xresources..."
* Chapters are sometimes missing a page reference, e.g.
  "For more information on custom menus and character codes,
   see , 'Changing Menus and Commands.'"
  In 5.5, this ref was "see Chapter 5, 'Changing Menus and Commands.'"
  Note the comma that is still present in the cross-ref format...
  Needless to say, it's difficult to follow this reference in print!
* Some cross-refs have underlined characters left over from the online
  version in 5.5 (all other cross-refs are non-underlined).

Numbered lists are sometimes not restarted from 1 (page 74 for UNIX).

There are references left to features only found in the previous FM
hypertext documents. Quoting page 9 in the Windows version:
"If you do so, the WordCount document report and the online manuals'
Print Manual buttons won't work."
The Print Manual buttons were present in the 5.5 version, but were of
course deleted in the PDF version in 6.0.
There are also references to incorrect or outdated versions of software,
including using "5.5" for this FM version instead of "6.0".

There are other typographical mishaps, which contribute to the overall
feeling of a hastily edited manual without normal Quality Assurance.


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Thomas Michanek, [Michagon], Linkoping, Sweden
       FrameMaker/UNIX/MIF/scripting expert
EMAIL: mailto:Thomas.Michanek@telia.com
WWW:   http://go.to/framers , or go directly to:
       http://w1.133.telia.com/~u13304072/framers
       *  U P D A T E D   O N   J U N E   2 6  *
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