WriteRAP Regular Maintenance Schedule

To provide an ongoing maintenance and support of the WriteRAP server, we are setting up a consistent maintenance window. This will be at 00:00 AM (midnight) to 01:00 AM EST on Saturdays. The server may or may not be available at that time depending on the need for maintenance.

Please note that emergency maintenance notifications may not be possible because of their immediate nature. Non-emergency server downtime outside of the planned maintenance schedule will be communicated 10 days in advance of the downtime.

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MAINTENANCE WINDOW
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Saturday 00:00 AM to 01:00 AM EST (During Daylight Savings Time, this is 00:00 AM to 01:00 AM EDT)

If you have any questions about planned or emergency maintenance, please do not hesitate to contact your WriteRAP support team.

WriteRAP Downtime: 26 January 2011 10-11 EST

On Wednesday, 26 January 2011, the WriteRAP server will be down briefly from 10-11 EST to do some final tweaks to the hardware server cut over from the past weekend.

New Server

Over the weekend, the WriteRAP team switched from one set of hardware to another, newer hardware setup. The new hardware enables auto-switching from one server to another should the primary fail. Additionally, we implemented a large number of patches to the server and have eliminated the Download I/O error that occurred on large file sizes.

The new server address is the same as the old: http://writerap.pearson.com.

If you in the past, accessed WriteRAP using an IP address (http://165...), please switch your bookmarks and access point using http://writerap.pearson.com.

Thanks!

UPDATED: WriteRAP Downtime: 22 January 2011: Midnight to 10 AM EST

Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 12:00AM (Midnight) US EST to 10:00AM US EST

Please be advised that there will be a temporary interruption in WriteRAP services on Saturday, January 22, 2011 from 12:00AM EST (Midnight) to 10:00AM US EST so that maintenance can be performed on the system. This is a routine, planned maintenance event.

During the hours stated, regardless of means or method, local or remote, you will not be able to interact with your WriteRAP account. Any needed files can be download before 11:00 PM EST Friday January 21, 2011 and uploaded after 10:00 AM EST Saturday January 22, 2011. You are not required to upload and sign in local files during the outage.

No data or document statuses will be lost during or as a result of this maintenance exercise.

Please contact your local Help Desk organization with all questions.

Thank you,
WriteRAP Team

What's the Real Story with Word's Comments and WriteRAP?

Word's Comment and Tracked Changes functions are widely used and relied-upon in our editorial processes, and they can be used in WriteRAP the same as in any Word document. We use them particularly because (as of Word 2002) they allow us to insert comments and track our changes without affecting the flow of the text.

However, there is a limitation to both these tools that we tend to overlook but which becomes apparent when used in a high-fidelity WriteRAP Word document: they do not entirely avoid reflow. When a comment or tracked change balloon is inserted in a document, Word creates a fake extended page margin to allow extra space to fit the balloon in... but it also expects to use space within the actual page margin.

When the page margin is already generous, we don't notice that this has happened, but it does happen, every time. And if the page margin is not generous -- if the design is "tight" -- then leaving comments and tracked changes visible will cause text reflow. The reflow clears itself up when the view is changed to show only final text (without the balloons), but if the balloons are showin', the text is reflowin'.

So while the use of track changes and comments is encouraged, just be aware of the this consequence.

WriteRAP 1.4 Released 12/9/2010

WriteRAP version 1.4 has been released on the USA WriteRAP server today, 9 December 2010. Most of the enhancements are ones that will benefit administrators and super-users of the system, though a few will improve life for all users:

1. There was a bug in the handling of projects whose project admins/project managers had been removed from the WriteRAP system. The bug is fixed in this release.
2. Documents in WriteRAP are added to a parsing queue upon sign-in; the documents are parsed to ensure that they are not corrupted. But documents in archived projects do not need to be parsed. This release removes those documents from the parsing queue.
3. Similarly, documents that have no template assigned do not need to be parsed. This release also removes those documents from the parsing queue.
4. Temporary folders and files build up on the WriteRAP server just as they do on any computer. This release removes them automatically.
5. Some actions that are available for documents in active projects should not be available in archived projects. In this release, those actions are disabled in archived projects.
6. Upon export of document(s), the user can now choose to have all documents that are being exported placed under administrative lock automatically.
7. This release fixes a bug and a usability issue concerning workflow status -- the status can now be set and will be properly maintained until it is explicitly changed.
8. WriteRAP system administrators can now update notices on the welcome page using a web-based interface, rather than by logging on to the WriteRAP server itself.
9. Users can now choose to sign-out and download multiple documents simultaneously; likewise, they can upload and sign-in multiple documents simultaneously.
10. WriteRAP administrators sometimes work with the Template Manager window, which lists a large number of templates. Previously, any action an administrator took in this window would cause the view on the window to return to the very top of the full list of templates, requiring the administrator to re-navigate to the point of interest in the list; this release leaves the view unchanged, thus making it easier to work in the list.
11. In this release, administrators can quickly toggle between a project page and that project's document list page.
12. A report of documents that failed to parse is now available in the reports page.
    

There is no update to the WriteRAP toolbar at this time.

What About that Image Library Thingie?

WriteRAP provides a variety of tools and efficiencies to streamline the authoring process. One of these is the Image Library, and in this post we'll clarify what this tool is, what it does, and what it doesn't do.

The Image Library is a project-based repository on the WriteRAP server that can store jpegs or gifs for use within a WriteRAP document. It contains one folder for each chapter and a folder for common art for the project. These folders are autogenerated when a project is created or a document is added to a project.

The BatchXPort Pro extraction process automatically generates jpegs that can be uploaded to the Image Library by your vendor.

These images can be placed by the user using the Image Library button on the WriteRAP toolbar, although an online connection is required. An image placed using the image library will retain its name when the file is exported, whereas the native Word picture insertion mechanism will strip the name from the image file.

Do you need an Image Library?

Well, probably not. Other than this potentially useful image name in the export, WriteRAP offers conveniences, but an Image Library is not a required part of the WriteRAP process.

• It can offer the convenience of viewing art in pages, and significantly add to the visual environment. It could allow an author to provide low-resolution art to be placed by the vendor or development editor.
• Using a low-res image will allow editing of captions in context.
• For technical books and books relying on screen shots, the availability of the art can be crucial to the authoring/editing process.
• The author can mark broad changes to art within the WriteRAP manuscript. However, detailed art development is still probably best handled with a separate art manuscript.

Cautions:

• A lot of art will increase file size. There is still a risk of server error, document corruption and slow upload/download times if files become ungainly.
• For the foreseeable future, WriteRAP neither helps nor hurts art program management. It is not currently integrated with other systems, and the timing of manuscript development in WriteRAP often does not coincide with art program development.
• It is important to realize, also, that a vendor may place art without using the image library, and have other methods for getting art references into the XML code for paging.
• Some cost is incurred by using the Image Library.

Using the Image Library is a project-by-project decision, and one you should discuss with your team to determine if there is a potential benefit.