Adding a new Word file to a project

[amberlink]

I'm struggling with this one. I want to add a new Word file to an existing project.

I go to FIle > Import Project > Import MS Word Documents (why isn't this under my Project menu? This was a little odd to figure out)

I get to the third step after the file has been scanned and click next to add it to my existing project and I see the following message:

"The folder XXXXXX\XXXXX User Guide already exists. Please enter another project name or pick another folder."

IF I WANTED to pick another project name why would I be adding it to THIS project?

This is very frustrating. Does Flare not allow you to add files to a project once it's been created? Am I doing something wrong?

Help.

Anyone.

Greatly appreciated.

[KevinDAmery]

Yes, there is. Open the Project Organizer, right click on Imports and choose Add Word Import File. You can then import any number of Word documents into an existing project.

[LTinker68]

You can import multiple Word docs into one project. You can either select multiple Word files and import them using one MS Word import file, or you can create an import file for each Word file. It doesn't matter if you import the Word files immediately after creating the project or if you create the project, work for it in months, then choose to import Word files.

I did just run into a problem testing where I imported a Word file, made some changes to the Flare topic it created, then chose the option to not preserve the Flare version of the topic because it was no longer the same as the Word file. When I tried to reimport, it hanged the Flare app. Well, it may not have been an actual hang so much as I ran out of patience with it.

So have you previously tried to import into this project? Or is this a brand new import file in the project?

[Ryan Cerniglia]

I go to FIle > Import Project > Import MS Word Documents

This link is for creating a new project, using a Word document as the base.

(why isn't this under my Project menu? This was a little odd to figure out)

It's in Project menu, just go to Import File, then select Add MS Word Import File

Hope that helps!

[tbean]

Hello -- this is from a newbie who has spent far too much time figuring out how to add an additional Word file to an existing project.

I've read a number of postings on this topic, so I don't think I'm alone. I've pored over the Getting Started PDF and read the help ... a lot. (I'm using 3.1, by the way.)

A topic in the help system and in the GS PDF named "How to import additional files into an existing project" would have been very nice. You know, make it nice and explicit for those of us who crave specificity. :P

Is the term "import file" is common these days? I'm returning to the biz after several years away and am not familiar with it, though I used to be quite the techiest of tw's. At any rate, it sure puzzled me. The light bulb moment was realizing that "word import file" (apparently) means "the thing where you enter and maintain the settings that govern how you want a set of Word files or an individual Word file to be imported into this project". aha!

So I set up my import rules that are stored in this FLIMP thing (aka "Add a Word Import File" step, mentioned in many other posts), then -- while I'm in the FLIMP pane -- I click the helpful "Add files... " button and browse around to find the files I want to add.

If I want to maintain different sets of rules to use within my project, I just set up different FLIMPs, right?

[KevinDAmery]

If I want to maintain different sets of rules to use within my project, I just set up different FLIMPs, right?

You got it.

Oh, and welcome to the forums

[launcher1]

I followed someone's steps (below) that I saw in this forum to do this, but I was not able to see the .docx files listed in the folder where they resided - I can only see the flimp file. What's up with that?
1. Open the Project (it opens in Project Organizer)
2. Right click on Imports in the navigation bar and choose Add Word Import File.
3. You can then import any number of Word documents into an existing project.

I have to say, I have given up on the help file as it is too hard to find anything.

[launcher1]

I figured it out - those earlier steps were over-simplified and not quite right. Now I have a project with 2 documents in it Whoopee.

On to the next problem...

[amberlink]

I'm going to try your advice.

One thing I've realized, like WWP, if you have source Word files that for example, have page breaks with the incorrect style associated with them as a lot of Word users seem to do, such as:

Insert > Page Break at the end of a Heading style, the page break itself is the heading style that was just created. In other words, the Page Break is Heading 1 if the page break was created at the end of a Heading 1.

Problem is, in properly formed XML in WWP, I used to get lots of empty topics or just crazy stuff. Seems Flare has the same issue. The source files need to be very clean. In RoboHelp for example, this kind of thing was handled very well and wasn't an issue.

Some things that worked out of the box since RH was so Word-centric, seem to not work all that well in Flare. However, if you look at the application itself, Flare is doing what it's SUPPOSED to be doing, if you put in distorted files IN to flare, you get out distorted output. Coming from the Word world that's a hard concept to understand since Word hides so many flaws.

[launcher1]

Amberlink:
I spent several years in another job, importing very clean Word documents into RoboHelp, with a very easy input-output result. So I know what is required. However, although Flare purports to offer EasySynch to help with using Word as source, it makes it so complicated to produce anything that I a constantly frutstrated and yearn for RoboHelp.

For example, adding a second Word document was a no-brainer but many people seem puzzled about doing this with Flare. Graphics are unreliable too.

Maybe I just have to face the fact that I am up against a big learning curve

[amberlink]

launcher1, could you elaborate as to the comment on "graphics are unreliable too"

I'm trying to get as many gotchas up front so that I'm not taken by surprise when I'm in crunch time and have to put out documents.

[launcher1]

amberlink:
Text in graphics is often illegible, where it was clear in the input document. this will be something I need to address.

launcher1

[jessemds]

OK. Sorry to resurrect an old topic. I've been losing sleep over importing word docs. I think I may understand more now but hopefully someone can verify that I am on the right track.

First go to Project> Import File> Add MS Word Import File. That creates a .flimp file, or a file that specifies the import parameters. Then choose my file(s) and then import the files.

To import any additional word documents, it seems like I need to create another .flimp. Is that so? I would think I would be able to utilze the .flimp that I already setup but it seems like it only gives me the option to REIMPORT files.

Thanks,

Jesse

[KevinDAmery]

You can create a new flimp file, or you can use the Add files button again to add more files to the existing flimp. The advantage to adding files to the existing flimp is you don't have to set everything else up again: the disadvantage is that, as you say, it will try to reimport *all* of the listed files.

(As an aside, the reason for this is so that people can maintain their content in Word then just import it to Flare to generate help--reimporting the Word source would allow you to update the Flare files to match the latest version of the Word docs. It's not the way to go if you want to import into Flare once then maintain the content from there on in Flare.)

[LTinker68]

You could just copy the existing import file and rename the copy, then go into the copy and select a different file. I've never tired it, but it should work. Assuming that the new file has the same styles as the first file so that the style mapping matches what you had set previously.