FrameMaker 2017: User Experience Improvements

Some significant improvements in the 2017 release of FrameMaker are quite subtle. Here’s a list of changes in how things display in FrameMaker:

• View Commands (Rulers, etc.) are now session level commands (turned on or off for all open documents)
• The History pod is appropriately renamed the Undo History pod. It’s now under the View menu.
• The Console is now redesigned, fitting vertically and less obtrusively
• Sub pods like Variable Add and Edit are now dialogs
• Most dialogs now open in center of screen
• Many lists of items like Insert Symbol or Find/Change items now alpha sort
• Cross-Reference, Marker, and Variables pods now open in bottom right corner of Fm window

When working with structured documents, the

• Element Boundaries
• Element Boundaries (as Tags)
• Element Banner Text

commands are also session level commands

Mini TOC now auto-updates when  saving or printing a document

Spellcheck red squiggle only appears after you’ve completed typing a word by adding a space or period.

<Console window>View > Pods > Console 2/3 down

Previously the  Console was the window that displayed whenever FrameMaker encountered an error opening a file. Now this window is  a pod. If you need to launch it, go to View > Pods > Console

Of course, the previous methods of updating are still available.

and, If you’ve enabled  the auto spell check feature, FrameMaker, will display the red squiggly line only after you have typed a  complete word, not during the process of typing it in,