SmartDocs Frequently Asked Questions
This page contains many of the commonly asked questions about SmartDocs.
Click on the appropriate link below to skip directly to a section of interest.
Content Reuse
What is an unmanaged content reuse environment?
Unmanaged content reuse is an authoring environment in which no formal tools
or processes are in place to reuse content. Organizations lacking a content
reuse strategy often see content authors resort to unmanaged content reuse in
order to recycle already authored content.
Is unmanaged content reuse efficient and/or reliable?
Not usually. Relying solely on unmanaged content reuse techniques (for example,
manually searching through documents, copy-and-paste, search-and-replace) to reuse
content normally leads to a variety of common content related issues:
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Inefficient authoring.
Content authors waste time searching for reusable content and may author the
same piece of content multiple times.
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Inconsistent content.
Redundant authoring may result in content that contains inconsistent or conflicting text.
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Outdated content.
Reused content becomes stale and outdated because authors are not proactively
notified of changes to the source content.
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Manual updates.
Instances of reused content must be manually located and updated to reflect any
changes to the source content.
What is a managed content reuse environment?
A managed content reuse environment is an authoring environment which facilitates content
reuse by providing your authors with a set of powerful and easy-to-use content reuse tools.
Why is managed content reuse important?
A managed content reuse environment can reduce or eliminate the issues resulting from
unmanaged content reuse. By implementing a managed content reuse environment your organization
can enhance the productivity of your content authors, produce more reliable and consistent
documentation, and reduce total content management costs.
Do I have to implement an XML authoring solution to take advantage of managed content reuse?
No. Although an XML based authoring solution can be the right solution for some organizations,
it is not a requirement in order to take advantage of managed content reuse.
General SmartDocs Questions
What is SmartDocs?
SmartDocs is an add-in for Microsoft Word that provides your content authors with a common set
of content reuse tools to make authoring in your organization more efficient and more reliable.
You say SmartDocs "integrates seamlessly" into Microsoft Word.
What does that mean? And why is this a good thing?
The SmartDocs user interface integrates itself directly into Microsoft Word – in short,
SmartDocs appears as if it's natively "baked-in" to the Microsoft Word authoring environment.
Because SmartDocs looks and behaves like a natural extension of Microsoft Word, costs
associated with user acceptance and training are greatly reduced.
How does SmartDocs facilitate content reuse?
SmartDocs enables your authors to take advantage of content reuse using a variety of
different techniques. For example:
- Reusable text
- Conditional text
- Reusable snippets
- Document assembly
- Change notification and automatic updates
You can learn more about each of these content reuse strategies by
taking a tour of SmartDocs.
How can I see a live demo or purchase SmartDocs?
Start by contacting us. We'll set-up
some time with you so you can learn more about SmartDocs and we can learn more about you
and your authoring environment. From there, we'll work with you to set-up a live demo of
SmartDocs and can provide you with an evaluation copy of the software.
SmartDocs Compatibility
My organization has thousands of legacy Microsoft Word documents.
Can I use SmartDocs with these documents?
Yes. SmartDocs is 100 percent compatible with any document that can be opened in Microsoft Word.
What if all of my content authors do not have SmartDocs installed?
Can they still collaborate on documents that were authored using SmartDocs?
Yes. SmartDocs and non-SmartDocs users can share the same documents with no fear of
incompatibilities or lost content.
Can I open documents created using SmartDocs in older versions of Microsoft Word?
Yes. Documents created or modified using SmartDocs are 100 percent compatible with both
non-SmartDocs users and older versions of Microsoft Word.
Can we continue to store our documents in our Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS)?
Yes. With SmartDocs, you can continue to store your documents in the same place you store
them today, whether that be your local computer, a network file share, a vendor purchased EDMS,
or a home grown EDMS.
SmartDocs Requirements
What versions of Microsoft Word does SmartDocs support?
SmartDocs supports both Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007. For the best user experience, we recommend using
SmartDocs with Word 2007, although SmartDocs is fully functional with Word 2003.
Does SmartDocs support Windows Vista?
Yes. SmartDocs is compatible with any version of Windows that has a supported version of
Microsoft Word installed.
Does SmartDocs require a server infrastructure?
SmartDocs Standard Edition is completely client based and thus does not require any server infrastructure.
SmartDocs Enterprise Edition, which expands on the features available in Standard Edition, does require the
use of one or more SharePoint 2007 sites to centralize the storage of your reusable content. SmartDocs Enterprise
Edition uses SharePoint 2007 out-of-the-box, meaning no customizations and/or installations need to be
applied to your SharePoint server.
In addition, for users of SmartDocs Enterprise Edition, you can choose take advantage of our secure offsite
hosting option. If you utilize this option, you pay a simple recurring subscription fee and we in turn
host and maintain your SmartDocs SharePoint server infrastructure.