Pick a Card

There are obvious benefits to single sourcing, the ones that roll off the tongue the minute single source is mentioned: multi-format publishing, consistency of information, quicker updates of common content, lowering translation costs and so on. But beyond all those, what else is there? In this guest blog post, Gordon McLean discusses just that.

McLean, Gordon. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Documentation

Producing Documentation and Reusing Information in XML, Part 1: Document Publishing Using XML

XML provides a way to identify data items and subcomponents within any structured data set, but has its roots in documentation development and production. Robust, open standards for XML document markup and a rich set of freely available tools for XML document parsing and format conversion make it easy to install and configure a complete documentation development and formatting environment on any UNIX® or Linux® system.

von Hagen, William. IBM (2009). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>DocBook

Producing Documentation and Reusing Information in XML, Part 2: Reuse Information in XML Documentation

Discover simple solutions to reuse information in XML documentation, such as how to use XInclude to include other documents at a given point in a document and how to use XPointer to include small document fragments from other documents or a similar pool of information in XML format. Also, get tips for structuring XML documentation to simplify information reuse, and learn how to maintain stand-alone documents that you can incorporate into larger documents.

von Hagen, William. IBM (2009). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>DocBook

Care to Write Army Doctrine? With ID, Log On

In July, in a sharp break from tradition, the Army began encouraging its personnel — from the privates to the generals — to go online and collaboratively rewrite seven of the field manuals that give instructions on all aspects of Army life. The program uses the same software behind the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and could potentially lead to hundreds of Army guides being “wikified.” The goal, say the officers behind the effort, is to tap more experience and advice from battle-tested soldiers rather than relying on the specialists within the Army’s array of colleges and research centers who have traditionally written the manuals.

Cohen, Noam. New York Times, The (2009). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Wikis

Community and Documentation  

This chapter explores the idea that a small group of people who have a sense of belonging in an online community may provide content much like a technical writer does. Regardless of their background, education, or training, more people are becoming providers of technical information on the web.

Gentle, Anne. XML Press (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Social Networking

Authoring with Eclipse

The topic of technical publishing is relatively new to the world of Eclipse. One can make the argument that technical publishing is just another collaborative development process involving several people with different backgrounds and skills. This article will show that the Eclipse platform is a viable platform for technical publishing by discussing how to write documents such as an article or a book within Eclipse. In fact, this article was written using Eclipse.

Aniszczyk, Chris and Lawrence Mandel. Eclipse (2005). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>XML

Getting Content Into and Out of Wikis

As wikis mature, we’re using them for more complex business cases such as technical documentation, business analysis and project management. It’s becoming more and more interesting, if not essential, for wikis to support the import and export of content to and from other formats. Most wikis allow you to convert their pages at least to PDF and HTML. But what of other formats, and what about tools for getting content into wikis as well as out of them?

Maddox, Sarah. ffeathers (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>Documentation

Wiki as Forum, FAQ, HTML Editor, XML Editor, or CMS?

A wiki can be a Frequently Asked Questions repository, much like the knowledge bases in their heyday in the late 80s. My favorite line from the blog entry has to be its closer: 'It's about a different way of thinking around how to interact with the community.' And that is what I have explored with my wiki presentation, about how to build community with a wiki and be an active member of that community. But what are other uses of the wiki?

Gentle, Anne. Just Write Click (2007). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis

Did Technical Documentation Play a Role in the White House's Decision to Move to Drupal?

The reasons for the White House's decision to run its Web site, whitehouse.gov, on the open source content management system Drupal are being discussed on various Web sites. Alongside Drupal's functionality, flexibility and openness, some are suggesting that Drupal's documentation was also a key factor for deciding to use this system.

Pratt, Ellis. Cherryleaf (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Government

Managing Documentation Projects: Keeping the Plates Spinning

A product is only as good as its information. With good information, customers can use the product--be it a piece of software, a hand-held electronic device, or a supersonic aircraft--and are more likely to hold a good opinion of its manufacturer. Without good information, no matter how good the product is, customers will be frustrated and will probably look elsewhere. It's not a stretch to say that the documentation project manager is instrumental in determining whether a product succeeds.

Kunz, Lawrence D. SDI Global Solutions (2009). Articles>Documentation>Project Management

A Few Surprises in Using a Wiki for Documentation

Recently I’ve been working on a simple calendar project that uses a wiki for documentation. Although I’ve heard a lot about using wikis for documentation, and have even used them in the past, I ran into a few surprises this time.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis

Managing a Documentation Project Successfully: More Jelly and Ice Cream

This video on simplifying business, using the metaphor of organising a children’s party, made me smile and consider how successful documentation projects are managed. The presenter is suggesting managers need to, in complex systems, give up rigid control from above. Instead, they should watch for organisational patterns, encouraging the good and discouraging the bad.

Pratt, Ellis. Cherryleaf (2009). Articles>Management>Documentation>Project Management

Documentation Collaboration Service

Collaboration happens when multiple people work simultaneously towards a common goal. Collaboration software are tools which try to make working together easier and more productive. There are hundreds of methodologies and approaches out there to collaboration. We want to bring the focus on one particular dimension: open vs. structured collaboration.

Live Tech Docs (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Open Source

What Information Developers Can Learn from Software Developers 

The shift in information development from a narrative to a modular writing style reflects the established shift towards modularization of source code. What can information developers learn from software developers? What are the challenges and benefits of the modular approach?

Higgins, Paul. TC World (2009). Articles>Information Design>Content Management>Documentation