Illuminations

Volume 4, Issue 1
January-February 2001

In this issue:

New Year's Resolution?

Introducing Lorraine Elder: Director of Technical Training

Our Resolution: Schedule an Entire Year of Training

New Year's Resolution?

If your list of resolutions includes "Master FrameMaker," you're not alone. Perhaps a tiny bit geeky, but certainly not alone. To assist in your mastery, we've collected some handy FrameMaker tips:

1. To simultaneously save or close all open files, press and hold Shift, then select the File menu to display and select the Close All Open Files or Save All Open Files menu choice. This process also works to simultaneously open, close, or save all content files in a book. From the book window, press and hold Shift, then select the File menu to display and select the Open All Files in Book, Close All Files in Book, and Save All Files in Book menu choices.

2. To go from a cross-reference, TOC entry, or Index entry marker to its corresponding source text (even if its file isn't open) on a PC, make sure View, then Text Symbols is selected. Then press Ctrl-Alt and click on the marker. On a Mac, press Ctrl-Option and click on the marker.

3. To quickly delete tags from a Paragraph Catalog or Character Catalog on a PC, make sure the target catalog window is active. Press Alt-D to display the Delete Formats from Catalog dialog box. Then press Alt-E and hold to delete the tags and scroll down the length of the listed tags. Select Done to close the Delete Formats from Catalog dialog box.

4. To set the maximum number of succeeding lines that can break with a hyphen, first select Advanced from the Properties drop-down list in the Paragraph Designer. In the Advanced Properties sheet, in the Automatic Hyphenation section, edit the Max. # Adjacent field. This is a per-format process--for global consistency, you'll need to edit this setting for each paragraph tag format.

5. To have the Spelling Checker skip over code samples, set the Language for all code-specific paragraph tags to None, which doesn't get spell-checked. In the Default Font sheet of the Paragraph Designer, select None from the Language drop-down list.

6. To simultaneously move all conditional tags from one box (Show or Hide) to the other box in the Show/Hide Conditional Text dialog box, first select the Special menu, then Conditional Text to display the Conditional Text dialog box. Then select Show/Hide to display the Show/Hide Conditional Text dialog box. Then press Shift while selecting the ---> or <--- button. Finally, select Set.

7. To automate consistent white spacing above graphics, create a paragraph tag specifically for anchoring graphics. Insert the anchored frame on its own line, then apply the anchor-specific paragraph tag. Recommended Paragraph Designer settings for the anchor tag: zero Indents and zero Space Above/Below (Basic sheet), 2.0 Size (Default Font sheet), and Keep With Next Pgf (Pagination sheet) to keep the graphic with its caption (if your figure captions follow your graphics).

8. To quickly insert a variable, press Ctrl-0 (zero) to activate the variable field in the left side of the status bar. Then type the first letter of the target variable's name to display the variable. Note: If multiple variables start with the same letter, then type the first letter repeatedly to scroll thorough those variable options. Then press Enter (on a PC) or Return (on a Mac) to insert the selected variable.

Introducing Lorraine Elder, Director of Technical Training

We're pleased to announce our new Director of Technical Training, Lorraine Elder. Lorraine has a penchant for information architecture and revels in finding ways to present concepts quickly and clearly--very useful qualities in a trainer! In addition to conducting classes, she will develop new classes and training products.

Before joining us, Lorraine spent the past decade in the technical communications field in various capacities. She has worked not only as a trainer, but also as a technical editor and writer, graphic artist, user interface designer, web developer, and technical analyst. You can reach Lorraine at training@scriptorium.com or at 919-481-2701, extension 16. Welcome, Lorraine!

Our New Year's Resolution: Schedule an Entire Year of Training

We've actually done it: scheduled an entire year of public classes. The dates through May are firm; we may add or reschedule classes scheduled from June on, so check back with us if you're planning on those dates.

Visit our web site for more information on public classes, or to investigate private class options.

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