Lion's Roar = 2004 No More

In July of 2011, Apple released its newest version of Mac OSX, nicknamed “Lion.” For WriteRAP users who use the WriteRAP toolbar while working on a Mac, this has some implications.

Currently, the WriteRAP toolbar only functions with Microsoft Word 2004 on the Mac. This is purely because WriteRAP makes extensive use of VBA. Microsoft decided to remove VBA support from the Word 2008 version and has restored VBA only partially for Word 2011.

However, because of a shift in the underlying functionality of Mac’s new operating system, Microsoft Word 2004 is not supported by this new version of OSX—this is an Apple decision. If you currently use Word 2004 and upgrade your Mac machine to OSX Lion, you will no longer have access to Word 2004. It won’t be recognized as a usable application.

This means that your WriteRAP toolbar will no longer be available. This does NOT mean that you can’t work with WriteRAP files!

Word 2008 and 2011 can be used in an "offline" workflow. In other words, it can be used outside the normal WriteRAP processes. This entails, of course, some caveats:

• The WriteRAP toolbar will not be available to the user.
• The user is much freer to apply incorrect styles, add styles, etc., that are normally restricted for most users.

However, a user can still:
• Attach the template
• Insert boilerplates using a workaround process (see below)
• Insert images from the local machine, but not from the Image Library
• Paste text in the target format, as in the WriteRAP ParaPaste function


If you find yourself in this position because of an upgrade to OSX Lion, please speak to your Pearson point of contact so that appropriate provisions can be made for your WriteRAP project and to find out if more training is needed.

Colors and Tier 5: What You Need to Know

There are few hard and fast rules about color in Tier 5, but there are project-by-project considerations you should take into account.

Tier 5 is best suited for Direct-to-PDF, but the purpose of your PDF has a bearing on the choices you make in determining your approach in WriteRAP. Will you send your PDF to a printer? Will you make it available only digitally? Do you expect it to be printed?

Our one rule (break at your own risk): A PDF file that is going to be professionally printed should not incorporate 4-color design. Word works in RGB, not CMYK and has no internal mechanism for good color separation to CMYK.

Spot colors might be manageable by your printer - at a cost, and only if the color application is uncomplicated and applies to distinct elements. When creating a Tier 5 2-color template that is intended to print, do ensure that your printer can work with the file.

A PDF file that will be made available digitally has no color restrictions, although you might consider the end user's role. If it is likely to be printed on an ink-jet printer somewhere, bear in mind that your colors will not be represented accurately.

If you prepare a template with color for digital-only delivery and later that design is selected for a print project, you will probably want to have your vendor convert the template to a one-color version.

WriteRAP files are flexible - your needs determine whether to use color and how. Contact the CMS team or superuser if you have questions about your file.

Archiving WriteRAP files

Do you need to archive WriteRAP files?

Probably.

There are three situations to consider:

• Tier 1 manuscript
• Tiers 2-4 WriteRAP production files
• Tier 5 composition files

1. For Tier 1, final WriteRAP files should be considered pre-production working files, which traditionally don't get archived in the Pearson repository. They can be archived on the WriteRAP server for later retrieval if needed.
2. In Tiers 2-4, these are production files and should be saved. They may represent the master content file, or they may be used for the next edition instead of a new extraction. We recommend that in addition to being archived on the WriteRAP server, that the entire WriteRAP project should be archived in the Pearson repository. The project administrator can go to the Edit Project page (WriteRAP Admin > Projects > ProjectName) and click on the Package button. A folder will be downloaded. Rename that folder "WriteRAP" and place in the Support folder in the completed archive.
3. In Tier 5, your final WriteRAP files are your composition files, and should be stored as such. In addition to archiving on the WriteRAP server, these should also be packaged and downloaded. Files should be correctly named and organized according to composition file standards. WriteRAP-specific files should remain in the Support folder in a folder specifically named "WriteRAP."

What Is the Difference Between the Template Manager and the Template Library?

This is a question that is often confusing for people – it may appear that we have two different places to store WriteRAP templates.


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In fact, the Template Library is the only place for storage. It is a separate site managed by our internal media group, where a Pearson user can search on a number of criteria to find a template. When you download the kit, you will get the template, boilerplates, stylemarked document, corresponding Quark or InDesign templates if they exist, authoring versions of the template if they exist, and so on. The Template Library is a searchable repository of WriteRAP templates and their associated files.

The Template Manager is the working part of WriteRAP that holds templates which are actively being used for titles.

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The Template Library is populated by the CMS QA department. On completion of a template, the business unit is emailed to sign off on the posting of a template, the relevant files are gathered, and new template kits are uploaded to the template library at two-week intervals. However, we don’t automatically update a template on the library with its modified version unless instructed by the Business Unit to consider the modified version as the master. We also don’t automatically post all modifications of a template. Please let CMS know if your modification is a new master or should be a new addition to the Library.

The Template Manager is populated by uploading a template, usually for a specific project, into the WriteRAP application itself. You can copy or download a template from there and use it for another project – for instance, modifications were made to a standard WriteRAP template, and those modifications are just what you need. However, boilerplates will have to be copied or created separately, a stylemarked document needs to be produced or copied, and if composition templates exist you won’t have them – you’ll probably end up paying your vendor for a new one (this is normal if your WriteRAP template is based on the previous edition and the composition will be in a new design). Still, sometimes it may be appropriate to go directly to the Template Manager – it may have the only instance of the specific modifications you need. Please note that at the time of this posting, the Tier 2 and Tier 3 Generic Manuscript templates are not available in the the Template Library and must be copied from the Template Manager. Their names are CD_T2_AUTH and CD_Tier3v2.

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The Template Library is not available outside the Pearson firewall. Please download the kit and provide it to your vendor.

The Template Manager is available to WriteRAP users with Administrator-level access, which does include all vendors. If you are asking the vendor to pick up a template from here, you must provide them with the name exactly as it appears in the Template Manager. One way to ensure you and the vendor have the right template is to provide a screenshot of the Template Manager screen to the vendor and CMS.



We strongly encourage you to use the Template Library, with its complete kits, whenever possible. And help us keep it up to date – let us know if you want your modified template added to the Library.

Thanks,
The CMS WriteRAP Team

14 April 2011 Release

On 14 April 2011, an updated version of WriteRAP was released on the US servers. Below summarizes the updates:

Admin

• Added ability to select a group of documents and change the template for all of them to another template.
• Added the ability to create multiple New Documents with a single attempt.
• Added multiple projects archiving and retrieval functionality.

User

• Added a "select all" option on the Multiple Upload/Sign-In and Multiple Sign-Out/Download dialog boxes.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that enabled users to upload a preview copy of a signed-out file. With this fix, the preview document will not be recognized as a WriteRAP document; hence, an attempt to upload a preview document fails.
• Fixed a bug that threw off a WriteRAP document's version numbers. Version numbers were always one version behind because no version was assigned to documents at the time of creation.

Toolbar Update

• For new Windows toolbar installations, a streamlined install that creates the necessary folders and places the WriteRAP template in the Word startup folder. The installation no longer accesses the Windows Registry.

The New Document Download I/O Error

We are seeing an occasional problem showing up when a user signs out and downloads a document. It shows up as a Document Download I/O error (see below). We're looking into the causes in order to solve it, but in the mean time there is a workaround.

The sequence is this:

1. The user uses the Download button to download and sign out a document.
2. The document gets signed out, then the error occurs on download.

What to do:

The user should sign the document back in and then try the download again. This seems to work effectively.

If the user keeps trying the download without signing the document back in, it will continue to fail.

MS Word 2008/2011: Work with WriteRAP Templates Offline

We are often asked about users with Microsoft 2008 and 2010, and whether or not these Word versions are compatible with WriteRAP.

First and foremost, you should understand that WriteRAP makes extensive use of VBA. Microsoft decided to remove VBA support from the Word 2008 version and has restored VBA only partially for Word 2011.

Word 2008 and 2011 can be used in an "offline" workflow, by which I mean it can be used outside the normal WriteRAP processes. This entails, of course, several caveats:

• The WriteRAP toolbar will not be available to the user.
• The user is much freer to apply incorrect styles, add styles, etc., that are normally restricted for most users.

However, a user can still

• Attach the template
• Insert boilerplates using a workaround process
• Insert images from the local machine, but not from the Image Library
• Paste text in the target format, as in the WriteRAP ParaPaste function

The point is that if you have an author working in Word 2008, you are not up a creek without a paddle. An option still exists. However, please speak to your CMS rep or super user to get the full details and discuss thoroughly the implications and definitely bring it up at the launch meeting.

Vendors are expected to have a supported version of Word for their WriteRAP work.

Attaching a TemplateThe template you are most likely to need is the toolbar style menu which may be supplied with your project.

1. Go to Tools > Templates and Add-ins.
2. Go to Global Templates and Add-ins (the middle section, not the top).
3. Click Add and browse for your template. Highlight it and click Open.
4. The toolbar appears. When you re-open the document, you may need to go to Tools > Templates and Add-ins and check the checkbox next to the toolbar file to reactivate it.
   

Inserting Boilerplates

If it is determined that the user will need to place boilerplates without having access to the WriteRAP toolbar, the set of boilerplates will need to be supplied to the user.

1. Place the supplied boilerplates on your computer.
2. In Word, to insert the boilerplate, click Insert > File.
3. Navigate to the boilerplate location.
4. Select the desired boilerplate and click Insert. The Link to File checkbox should be unchecked.

Inserting an Image

Image library images will not be available to users without the WriteRAP toolbar. Images from the local machine can be inserted using native Word functionality.

1. Click Insert > Picture > From File... .
2. Browse for the image you want to insert.
3. Select the desired image and click Insert. The Link to File checkbox should be unchecked.
4. Remember to supply the high-resolution version to your Project Manager.

Pasting Text and Have it Take on the Target Format

The WriteRAP toolbar offers the ParaPaste option, which allows the user to paste in content and have it take on the format of the target area, as when populating a boilerplate. Use Word's Paste Special as Unformatted Text option to achieve this. This function automatically formats all the pasted text with the style of the paragraph where your curser is placed.

1. Select the paragraph(s) to insert into the WriteRAP document. Click Edit > Cut or Copy.
2. In the WriteRAP document, place your cursor in a blank line of text or within a paragraph to insert the cut/copied paragraph(s).
3. Click Edit > Paste Special. The Paste Special dialogue box appears.
4. The Paste Special dialog box appears. Select the Unformatted Text option and click the button. The cut/copied text inserts with the inherited style of the paragraph/blank line where your cursor was placed.