Structured Content: What's in it for Writers?

Everyone has heard (or experienced) stories of CMS or knowledge management initiatives that did not work because content contributors refused to use the tools deployed or were unwilling or unable to supply content in the format required. The conclusion often reached is that writers cannot give up their WYSIWYG tools and that any attempt to make them do so is doomed to failure. On the other hand there are always those who will reply with stories of systems where writers have successfully adapted to the use of XML or SGML, and the CMS is working well. All that is required to duplicate this success, they maintain, is that writers must be forced and/or trained to use the new tools.

Baker, Mark. CMSwatch (2002). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Writing

Structured Document Processors: Customizing Software to Control Document Development Processes  

Structured document processors (SDPS) enable companies to make document production more efficient and accurate, while improving reliability of documents that must be updated frequently or written to very strict format standards. Achieving these goals requires elaborate and highly technical customization of the SDP. This paper emphasizes the importance of collaboration in customizing SDPS to particular document development processes. Three case histories illustrate the spectrum of ways industry is using SDPS for writing, showing three different approaches to customizing SDPS.

Norman, Rose L. and Daryl A. Grider. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Content Management>Documentation

Structuring Your Documents for Maximum Reuse  

A major topic among information development managers these days is single sourcing--writing information once and using it many times. Structured documents are critical for single sourcing. So, let's explore: what we mean by structuring documents; why structuring is useful; some of the concerns that writers have about structuring documents.

Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. Center for Information-Development Management (2005). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>XML

Task Support, Reference, Instruction, or Collaboration? Factors in Determining Electronic Learning and Support Options    

With so many forms of performance support available, one of the challenges for technical communicators and performance technologists is choosing the right form to meet the performer's need for assistance in a given situation. This article is intended to summarize and classify these resources and to aid professionals in determining when and how to employ them. First, it describes the theory of situated learning, which underlies the selection of a form for supporting performance. Then it suggests how to apply this concept to the selection of forms. Last, it offers some suggestions for forms to use in a given situation.

Gery, Gloria J. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Content Management>EPSS

Tech Writer Looking to Boost Skills

on't discount your tech writing skills; they are useful to almost any CMS project.

Byrne, Tony. CMSworks (2004). Articles>Content Management

Ten Practical Techniques for Single-Sourcing with FrameMaker  

A PowerPoint slide show about using FrameMaker for single-source document creation and management.

WritersUA (2002). Presentations>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Adobe FrameMaker

Ten Problems With Single Sourcing  

Though there have been numerous conference papers, articles, and books devoted to the topic of single sourcing, there have been fewer works about potential problems that should be identified before adopting a single-source documentation strategy. This study looks at ten specific problems (including issues of training, productivity, and morale) that can arise during the implementation of a mature single-sourcing model of documentation management. This list of problems, while not comprehensive, does provide some points of reference and a framework within which technical communicators can consider the implications of adopting a single-sourcing documentation model.

Yeats, Dave and Heather Hull. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Assessment

Ten Things to Know About Selecting a Content Management System

Will Snow, Engineering Manager for Sun Microsystems' Web portals for Java[TM] and Solaris[TM] application developers, is bullish on content management. Here is Snow's list of the ten things he learned about selecting a content management system.

Ort, Ed. Sun Microsystems (2000). Articles>Content Management>TC

The Rockley Report

The Rockley Report is a quarterly journal with information about content management topics. The Rockley Report provides knowledge to help you make the case for, plan, and execute content management initiatives.

Rockley Group, The (2004). Journals>Knowledge Management>Content Management>Newsletters

Time for Content to Become More Scientific

I'm all for formulaic writing. I love hierarchies and classification. I'm all for measuring content. There is a 'right' way to write content. Sure, it may not be the 'perfect' way, it may not be the way Shakespeare or Joyce would have written it, but it'll do. It'll get results and deliver value. A production line can be set up where this content can be mass produced, tested, and measured.

McGovern, Gerry. User Interface Engineering (2007). Articles>Content Management>Writing>Professionalism

Tips for Online Content Businesses in 2001

The online content industry has experienced its first real shakeout. Good! It toppled many high-profile online content venues and left others reeling, scrambling, and retrenching -- but it was absolutely necessary. 2001 should be an especially exciting and interesting year for the online content industry. The need for quality online content continues to expand with the Internet's popularity. However, the online content industry doesn't work like traditional media. Also, it has become painfully obvious that you really must have a solid business model to succeed in this field. Time to stop clinging to outdated assumptions about media, and to take a hard look at how online media really works. As food for thought, here are Amy's top tips for online content businesses in 2001.

Gahran, Amy. Contentious (2001). Design>Content Management>Editorials

To Structure or Not to Structure

Behind all the questions about how to model something is a bigger question: do you model it at all? When is it obvious to structure some content, and when do you just throw it into the 'WYSIWYG pile'?

Gadgetopia (2008). Articles>Content Management>Information Design

Tools and Technology: A Work-Flow Paradigm for Single-Source Publishing  

Today's organizations must consider the effect that new tools and technologies are having on work flow. Web technology has raised the importance of information. This change in the customer/supplier market is allowing the company with the best information to have an edge. It is our responsibility as communicators to find better, faster, and cheaper ways to distribute information. An effective work flow can accomplish this. In the most common work-flow scenarios, Web technology is placed on the back end of the production schedule. All of these scenarios are flawed in different ways. Solving Web work-flow problems requires a paradigm shift.

Christner-Vorhes, Jamie and Bill Pollak. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Workflow

Tools for Developing One Document for Both World Wide Web and Paper  

Printing from the Web is an unsolved, and often unrecognized, problem. Readers need hard copy for many documents they use online, but the Print command from a browser often does not meet their need. Other solutions are for the author to deliver printed documents, to deliver PostScriptJiles, and to deliver PDFJiles. In the nearfuture, Cascading Style Sheets may make the Print commandfrom the browser produce a more usable printed copy. For all of these solutions, the author needs a single source for the online and printed documents and converters for the output forms.

Jackson, Ken and Sonya E. Keene. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Top Ten Mistakes in Content Management Implementation  

Implementing and working with a CMS can be a challenge. The author provides some common reasons why CM implementations fail so you can try to avoid such mistakes.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. Intercom (2007). Articles>Content Management>Project Management

Top Ten Mistakes When Selecting a CMS

Selecting a content management system (CMS) can be a complex task, and organizations often run into pitfalls with processes, politics, and understanding the CMS environment. James Robertson outlines a common-sense approach to avoiding the most common mistakes.

Robertson, James. IdealWare (2007). Articles>Content Management>Assessment

Top Ten Tips for a Successful Content Management Proof-of-Concept

Are you looking to buy a single-source content management system and want to take it for a test drive? Great idea! Choose your favorite system and do a proof-of-concept. Here are ten tips to prepare for a proof-of-concept and ensure its success.

Mescan, Suzanne. Content Wrangler, The (2007). Articles>Content Management>Project Management

Total Cost of Adoption: A Framework for Evaluating Content Management Solutions  

Total Cost of Adoption is the missing link to forecasting and maximizing return on investment.

Holst, Sebastian. Gilbane Report (2004). Articles>Content Management>Assessment

Transform a Single Source Into Many Designs  

When one layout just isn’t enough, you can easily tag your Adobe® InDesign® document and export the content to an XML file. Different InDesign templates and Adobe GoLive® dynamic Web pages can then import the XML file and repurpose the content. Say goodbye to copy-and-paste and hello to the future of publishing!

Adobe. Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Adobe InDesign

The Trend Towards Distributed Content Management

There continues to be a lot of discussion about the difference between, and relative merits of, individual content management applications, especially web content management (WCM), and enterprise content management (ECM). Sometimes the debate focuses on a difference of breadth of content types, or of reach across an organization, and sometimes the discussion looks more at the depth of content complexity or reach into content supply applications.

Waldt, Dale. Gilbane Report (2004). Articles>Content Management

The Two Faces of Intranet Success

There are two fundamental aspects that must be satisfied if an intranet is to succeed: the intranet must meet staff needs; sufficient content and functionality must be created to meet these needs. These are the 'two faces' of the intranet, one looking towards staff and organisational needs, the other at the infrastructure and processes needed to meet it.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Content Management>Intranets

Understanding Content Management

If you have previously heard about content management (CM) it is most likely because you are connected to a large Web development project. Today that is where most of the interest and activity are. When the Web moved past small informally designed sites and into large, rapidly changing sites, the need for strong management tools became pressing. Product companies moved in to address this need and called their offerings content management systems (CMS). If your only problem is to create and maintain a large website, you have reason enough to desire the strict structure and formal procedures of a CMS. Such a system helps you get and stay organized so that your site can grow and change quickly while maintaining high quality. The Web, however, is simply one of many outlets for information that organizations need to manage. And when the amount of information sharing between these outlets grows, the desire for an organized approach becomes an absolute need.

Boiko, Bob. ASIST (2001). Articles>Content Management

Understanding the CMS Marketplace

An important first step is to gain an understanding of the CMS marketplace. This briefing outlines a few of the practical ways of doing so.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

The (Unfulfilled) Promise of Content Management Systems  

Be realistic about your needs. Use the right system for your needs. Err on the side of a smaller system. Accept the consistency/flexibility tradeoff. Devote extra time to information architecture. Build a modular design with reusable content. Standardize process and design elements as much as possible. Don't neglect the content in favor of (sexier?) IA and technology.

Lombardi, Victor. AIfIA (2002). Articles>Content Management