Conditional Text

Empower user’s authoring capabilities

IFN Conditional Text enables you to maintain one set of documents where minor variations would have required maintaining multiple versions. For example, a data sheet that varies for several products or releases may be maintained as one document. Text that is conditional for a particular product or release is marked with conditional tags. Then, view and publish different versions of the document by displaying only the relevant text and hiding that which is not relevant.

This solution is ideal for:

• Data sheets
• Release notes
• Installation manuals
• Documents customized for different customers
• Saving translation costs
• Single source documents to be converted to online help

Features

• Faster document development: Write text common to several document versions only once.
• Easier document maintenance: Information can be updated once in a document that is used for several different variations.
• Reduced engineering effort for proofreading: Content will be proofread by technical staff only once, even if used in many variations to deliver product-specific and release-specific documents.
• Reduced translation costs: Content that is consistent over many different variations of the document will be translated once. Only text that varies will be translated.

Conditional Text Implementation is Fast and Easy

• Conditional Text for Word functionality is easily operated by personnel who are familiar with Microsoft Word. The interface uses special buttons displayed on a toolbar in Microsoft Word.
• Conditional Text for Word requires no special server support.
• Conditional Text for Word supports all Microsoft Word versions, including Microsoft Word 2007.
• Conditional Text for Word requires no IT or MIS support.

How Conditional Text Works

Conditional text is text that differs from one version of a document to another. Unconditional text is common to all versions of the document.
You can make any unit of text conditional, from one character to entire sections. For example, graphics, list items, index entries, tables, table rows, cross-references, footnotes, and table rows can be conditional. You make an item conditional by applying condition tags.
Text may be conditional in the body of the document, footnote text, headers/footers, and call-out text.

Two versions of a data sheet

Conditional text can be used to create two data sheets in one document. The text and graphics common to both data sheets are unconditional. The text and graphics that appear in only one data sheet are assigned a condition tag that identifies the data sheet. A. Unconditional graphics and text. B. The title and first paragraph contain both conditional and unconditional information. You can change the appearance of conditional text so that it's easy to identify by using condition indicators – highlighting with various colors.

You can view and print conditional text in several ways. For example, you can view all versions of the document or hide selected versions, or you can show or hide condition indicators. Then you can publish a version of the document to include any combination of conditions.

Easy steps to efficient documentation

Create New Conditional Tags

To create a conditional tag, open the "Manage Tags" dialog box and click "Add new tag". A dialog box will prompt you to enter a name for the conditional tag and the highlight color to indicate that text is marked with this condition tag:

Apply conditional tags to text

To apply conditional tags to text in your document, select the text in the document, and click "Mark Selection". A dialog box will appear allowing you to choose which conditional tags apply to the selected text. In the following example, the selected text is specific to Product A, and should only be displayed in the online help.

Display and hide conditional text

To show a version of the document with only certain conditions displayed, click "Show/Hide Conditional Text". A dialog box will appear allowing you to choose which conditions to display and which to hide. In the following example, a version of the document is being prepared for print, so developer comments and text that are only appropriate for online help is hidden.

Publish conditional documents

To produce a version of the document with only certain conditions displayed and all other text removed, click "Publish Document". A dialog box will appear allowing you to choose which conditions to include and which to remove. In the following example, a new document version is being produced for Product A to be translated; developer comments and text that is only specific to Product B is hidden.

User Friendly and Simple to Use

• Create custom tags that define product variations or versions, different document audiences, or any other condition you may need.
• Mark any part of the document according to the pre-defined tags.
• Filter the document according to each tag, or any combination of tags, to get customized and user-targeted content.

Who Uses Conditional Text?

• Technical Writers
• Lawyers and Legal Document Authors
• Marketing Communicators
• Other Professional Content Authors

Advanced Authoring Capabilities

• Manage multiple content versions or variations in one document
• Enable creation of “flexible” templates
• Ensure document standardization and consistency
• Define colors for each tag
• Publish filtered documents into separate new files

Download Free Trial Version

Click here to download a free trial version. The trial version is fully functional; however, you will be unable to copy conditional tags between documents. This function is only available in the licensed version.