Information Management Training

At The Content Era, we believe in that time tested Chinese proverb that states, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." This line of thinking can certainly pertain to various facets of our everyday lives. That said, with the right amount of knowledge and confidence to succeed, anyone can thrive in the world of technical communications.

In addition to turnkey solutions, The Content Era offers comprehensive training to ensure that our clients can properly maintain their documentation now and in the future. We provide this training through either individual classes or through a series of learning tracks, both of which are available through the web or delivered on-site. Two of our most concentrated tracks detail the use of FrameMaker and XML.

Our FrameMaker track includes, but is not limited to:

  • Basic FrameMaker
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills needed to use Adobe FrameMaker 11 effectively. You will recieve hands-on experience working with techniques in unstructured authoring, and be taught the skills necessary to allow you to take advantage of long document support that includes book management features, sophisticated tables, and rich formatting options.
  • Advanced FrameMaker
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills necessary to use Adobe FrameMaker 11 to a more advanced degree, along with the know-how to create your own unstructured templates.
  • Structured FrameMaker/Building EDDs
    • This class will walk you through the planning and design stages of creating a structured template, or Element Definition Document (EDD). You will learn about document analysis and its critical role in the EDD creation process, and then you will create your own EDD and be taught how to add new elements to it. You will also be shown how to define container elements, add elements that control footnotes, cross references, and graphics, and taught how to implement general rules, inclusions/exclusions, automatic insertion of children elements, and general formatting.
  • SGML/XML Importing and Exporting
    • The course will give you the skills necessary to prepare a FrameMaker 11 application capable of importing and exporting SGML and XML. You will learn through examples showcasing default import and export behavior, and then learn how to develop read/write rules to redefine this behavior. The course also details the importing and exporting of elements, attributes, and attribute values. By the end you will know how to handle entities of all types, and how to prepare the FrameMaker 11 application you need.
  • Structured Applications
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills to build structured applications, which control the ability to roundtrip in FrameMaker. Topics include, but are not limited to, setting up EDDs and DTDs, creating read/write rules, and controlling table conversions.
  • Template Design
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills necessary to build an unstructured FrameMaker template by adding master pages, paragraph and character tags, table tags, and other formats to a default FrameMaker document.
  • Authoring Structured Documents
    • Enjoy WYSIWYG authoring in either a familiar word processing, style-tagging mode or a fully structured environment optimized for the editing and production of valid XML. Long document support includes book management features, sophisticated templates, and rich formatting options. Experience built-in support for high-quality printing, the latest Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) standards, and integration of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).
  • Publishing
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills to master the many powerful features of FrameMaker 11 when publishing. This comprehensive guide explains the basics, such as creating a new document, and advanced topics, such as converting to XML.
  • Web Techniques
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills to control output and the way you view projects generated by FrameMaker. You will learn about the various templates available such as HTML, Dynamic HTML, XML + CSS, and XML + XSL. Mapping FrameMaker styles to RoboHelp 10 will be explored.

Our RoboHelp track includes, but is not limited to:

  • Robohelp Training Essentials

    • This course provides you with the concepts and skills create and maintain effective user assistance in Robohelp 10. This course will cover RoboHelp features including but not limited to the new support for multiple screen sizes and device types, fundamentals of Screen Profiles, Screen Layouts, and the new multi-screen HTML5 output. No previous experience in using Robohelp? No problem! Our trainers customize each course based on the users experience and requirements

Our XML track includes, but is not limited to:

  • XML Training Essentials

    • This course introduces the eXtensible Markup Language, or XML, including basic grammar and XML validation using DTDs or an XML Schema. Students will learn to read and to handwrite well-formed XML documents, and then proceed to modeling concepts. They will first learn the basic DTD language, and then study namespaces and schemas. Finally, the course will close with a chapter on important XML-related technology such as XSLT.

      This comprehensive course provides a full tour of the most prevalent XML standards, and introductory to intermediate training in each of the following: XML, XML Schema, XSLT, and XSL-FO. This is a great fit for students who are planning to work extensively with XML in the near future, as it provides a solid foundation in how to manage XML information, define XML models (using XML Schema), transform XML information to text, HTML, or other XML formats (using XSLT), and to create print-ready PDFs (using XSLFO).

  • XML and Structured Authoring
    • This course is an introduction to XML, and explains how XML can fit into a technical publishing environment. Writing structured documents requires all contributors to look at content differently. This course explains how structure changes the publishing workflow, along with the advantages and disadvantages of these changes.
  • XSD/DTD Design
    • This is a hands-on course that introduces you to the basics of DTD design. You will learn to structure a DTD with readability in mind. You will also learn how to create a well-formed and valid document that meets the specifications laid down in the DTD or schema structure, and follows the rules for element and attribute names to make sure it contains all essential declarations, and has properly nested elements.
  • XSLT Preparation
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills to define and document the steps to be taken to gather, prepare, convert, and load converted content into a new system. You will learn how to define a conversion approach which will enable a smooth transition from as existing file format to a new one.
  • XSL Transformations
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills to develop in-depth knowledge and skills in transforming XML documents using eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, or XSLT. Students work through extensive hands-on exercises in transformations from XML to plain text, HTML, and XML, with good grounding in XPath along the way. Intermediate and advanced techniques are also covered, including variables and parameters, callable templates, sorting and grouping, tail recursion, working with multiple documents, and XSLT extensions.
  • CMS Planning
    • This class provides you with the concepts and skills to understand CMS Planning methodology. You will learn the steps necessary to ensure a smooth transition to a Content Management System. Steps such as, researching and analyzing stakeholders needs, business goals, technical objectives, and technology constraints.
  • XSLT Publishing
    • This course covers the practical business basics for the use of XSLT for publishing. Students will learn what transformation is, what XSLT can mean for editorial and production, what is easy to accomplish using XSLT, and the preparations needed to use XSLT.

Don't see a topic you're interested in learning about? Please inquire. We would be honored to help you in the right direction.