ORACLE TUTOR AUTHOR. Use Tutor Author to: Write a variety of process and courseware document types

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1 ORACLE TUTOR AUTHOR WITH AUTHOR, PROCEDURES PRACTICALLY WRITE THEMSELVES SAVES TIME: Toolbar lets you write and format quickly Automatic flowcharting Predefined templates for creating commonly used business documents Automatic hypertext linking Automatic HTML conversion PROVIDES STANDARDIZATION: Consistent format gives all documents same look and feel Predefined structure helps you organize information All documents can be easily linked For many of us, writing an effective procedure to document an activity in the workplace can be pretty daunting. Granted, you have first-hand knowledge of the activity. So nobody is better qualified than you to document it. But writing just isn't your thing. So where do you begin? How detailed should the procedure be? What format should you use? How do you put the procedure on the company network? Should you flowchart the activity? If so, which tools should you use? The questions abound. But fortunately, there's also one simple answer to all of them: Tutor Author. Because with Author, the structure for creating procedures and other types of documents is already in place. All you have to do is follow it. INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY: Documents are accurate, user-friendly and relevant Employees have immediate access to documentation What is Tutor Author? Author simplifies procedure writing by providing additional functionality to Microsoft Word. Proprietary toolbars and buttons are installed over Microsoft Word and allow you to do many documenting tasks with one click. Using Tutor Author, you can be up and writing procedures within minutes. And not just ordinary procedures, but procedures that are consistently organized and formatted, procedures that include flowcharts, and procedures in HTML format with hyperlinks to other Tutor Author documents. Use Tutor Author to: Write a variety of process and courseware document types Consistently format paragraphs in a procedure or other process document with hierarchical, logical, pre-defined styles Format text with one mouse click (no need to open Word dialog boxes) Renumber procedure tasks and directives Create a flowchart of a process or procedure (this feature allows you to keep your narrative text and flowchart graphic of the procedure in sync with one easy click of a toolbar button no more duplication of effort to update a procedure and its corresponding flowchart) Create an HTML version (includes drop down menus for quick access to the desired section of a document, hyperlinks to other documents, and hypersensitive flowcharts) 1

2 Import PowerPoint content into a Word document Convert HTML files into a Tutor formatted Word document. Tutor Author: Guides you through the writing process (helps you identify and organize critical information) Automatically determines the required distribution for a procedure Allows you to hyperlink documents by simply underlining text (no lengthy paths or server names) Provides a complete methodology the do's and don'ts of procedure writing Has a short learning curve, thanks to its Microsoft Word interface (if you know Word, you know Author) Author also provides: 1) a writing methodology that helps you identify and organize procedures and their corresponding support information, and 2) pre-defined document types that support the organization of this information. The Author Method A procedure is the documentation of an activity a step-by-step explanation of exactly what employees need to do to complete the activity. The Author method, or the way you work with Author, reflects a logical approach to creating a procedure: writing an introduction, writing a task segment, and generating a flowchart-which is a clear, graphic way to communicate the procedure. The introduction provides the context of the procedure. Here, you describe what the procedure covers (scope), the corporate or departmental rules that directly impact the activity (policy), who does what (responsibility), and other preparatory information. The task segment is the heart of the procedure. It describes the action: what triggers the activity, who performs each task, the tasks themselves, notes about the tasks, and so on. Author automatically renumbers tasks in a list when you add or delete tasks. The flowchart is a graphic representation of the procedure. After employees use a procedure, they may not need to refer back to all of the detail contained in the document. A concise flowchart communicates the important tasks to completing an activity, and it can be quickly read and understood. Author also provides help in writing and integrating other types of process documents-documents that support and complement your procedures. Author includes pre-defined templates for the following types of documents: Policies 2

3 Forms Education Overviews Instructions Coding Conventions Labs Navigation Instructions Reference Documents Job Descriptions Using Author Author adds features to an installed version of Microsoft Word to make writing procedures intuitive and quick. When you start Author, you choose from a list of Author document templates or from a list of existing template "skeletons" that you have already created. Figure: Create New Document dialog box The Author Window The template or existing document then opens in the main Author window, which is divided into two columns: A list of paragraph styles on the left A list of procedure information on the right, which is the document itself 3

4 Figure: Procedure Skeleton You write and edit the procedure information in the right-hand section and assign a style to each paragraph using the Author menu or toolbar. The styles intuitively describe the elements that make up the document: Preface - An explanation of what triggers an activity Actor - An employee (job title) who performs a task Task - A single action performed by an employee Note - Additional information about a task System Reference - A software application reference, which appears where software is used to complete a task Directive - A "pointer" that lets a writer describe different paths or jumps within a procedure The Author Toolbar The Author toolbar lets you quickly assign styles or information types, promote and demote task levels, set conditions, and other tasks. Figure: Author toolbars All the shortcut buttons correspond to commands accessible in Word's Author menu. Automatic Flowcharting Flowcharts are essential tools for communicating procedures quickly. Choosing 4

5 Flowchart in the Author menu automatically creates a flowchart of the procedure you are working on and adds the graphic at the end of the document. Figure: Flowchart automatically generated from text in Tutor Author procedure. The flowcharting function offers several important benefits: Automatic - Manually drawing flowcharts is time consuming and redundant. And changes to a procedure can require completely redrawing the flowchart. With Author, any change to the procedure text will appear in the flowchart-in seconds. Analyzes logic - The flowcharting function verifies that task numbers within a procedure have not been skipped or duplicated, that statements within a procedure do not reference nonexistent tasks, and that the flow of a procedure does not bypass requisite tasks. Abbreviated (high-level) view of a process--author flowcharts reflect only tasks and directives. They only show "who" and "what to do" along with the flow of work based on certain conditions. Detailed explanations and instructions are omitted. With the user-maintainable abbreviation table, a flowchart can condense as many as 10 pages of a text-based procedure into a single, graphic page. 5

6 Matches text exactly - ISO registrars and other quality-program auditors routinely applaud the fact that any flowchart produced by Author's software will match the procedure text exactly. This is often not the case when a flowchart has been drawn by hand, even using a software tool-too often, some information is omitted or added. Automatic Web Pages With Author, it is just as easy to put procedures online as it is to print them. Clicking the HTML button creates an HTML version of your procedure for posting on a company intranet or the Web. Within your document, you can include a reference to another online procedure by enclosing the reference in brackets and underlining-author will automatically generate a hyperlink. Author also automatically converts URLs into hyperlinks. For example, if you type "Visit our site Author will make "Visit our site" an active link to the URL. Figure: HTML version of procedure created with Tutor Author 6

7 KNOW MORE, DO MORE, SPEND LESS CUT YOUR PROCESS DOCUMENTATION COSTS BY UP TO 85% WITH ORACLE TUTOR Whether you're rolling out Oracle Applications to experienced users or training new hires, Oracle Tutor provides a solution that brings together Oracle's process knowledge base with your company's own policies and procedures. Create and document custom business procedures for the tasks your users perform in a fraction of the time it would take to develop them from scratch. Develop courses tailored to your company's specific needs. Update procedures online and use the Web to distribute reference materials only to the users who need them. Guide your employees through all relevant business scenarios with Oracle Tutor's graphical decision-support procedure representation Jumpstart your process documentation effort Using Author, you can be up and writing procedures within minutes. And not just ordinary procedures, but procedures that are consistently organized and formatted. Procedures that include flowcharts. Procedures in HTML format with hyperlinks to other Author documents. System Requirements System Requirements for Oracle Tutor are on the last pages of the main Tutor Data Sheet. RELATED PRODUCTS: User Productivity Kit (UPK) Internal Controls Manager (ICM) Learning Management RELATED SERVICES Oracle University Tutor Implementation Engagements: Orientation Workshop Procedure Editing Workshop Author & Publisher Training Courseware Editing and Creation Copyright 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor is it subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document, and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission. PT#TutorDS11/09 Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 7