WebWorks Publisher Users eGroup

The online discussion group for WebWorks Publisher users. This eGroup is an extension of wwpusers.com. Though this service primarily serves as a community listserv, there are also other tools available for you to use.

Yahoo. Organizations>Content Management>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

What Every Technical Communicator Should Know About Metadata  

Technical Communicators who begin working with content management systems, knowledge bases, portals, data warehouses, or information retrieval systems discover they are expected to know how to work with metadata. Metadata is “data about data.” It can describe data or content (databases, data modeling, data access and reporting, data movement, data stewardship, data quality);organizations (business rules, process stewardship, data users, project management); content management and information retrieval (document properties, revision and change control, reference and navigation, document standards); and business intelligence (decision support, competitive intelligence). Metadata management can positively impact productivity and the quality of web and documentation projects.

Thomas, Gwen P. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Content Management>Metadata

What is the Purpose of a CMS Tender?

There are a number of processes used to select and purchase a content management system (CMS). Many of these involve the creation of a tender document. Beyond this core goal, it is worth reviewing what the purpose of a CMS tender is.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Content Management>Legal>Contracts

What is Wiki?

Wiki is a category of web server software that allows users to contribute content. Collaboration is the key to Wiki, which is designed as a powerful system for online communities to build web pages and web sites. Unlike blogs and forums, all users are allowed to contribute and edit existing content. Wiki is derived from the Hawaiian term "wiki wiki" meaning "quick". The concept behind a Wiki is that collaboration on projects will move it along quicker.

Small Business Software (2007). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Wikis

What's a CMS Lite?

What are we to think when so many products are being marketed these days as a CMS? For starters, content management seems to have won the day over many management software paradigms in the last decade or so. Companies that once did document management, knowledge management, information management, or--dare we remember--data management, all herald their products today as content management software.

Doyle, Bob. EContent (2005). Articles>Content Management

What's in a Word...

What is the real difference between a Content Management Framework and a Content Management System?

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

What's the Best Content Management System? It Depends...

There are a dizzying number of systems on the market that are or can be referred to as Content Management Systems. Determining which content management system is right for you starts with an understanding of the different types of systems and the range of functionality available. Analyzing your needs is critical to selecting the right system.

Manning, Steve. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

What's to Become of the Tech Pubs Department? Technical Communication and Content Management  

As technical publications groups are finding themselves thrust upon the main stage of the global economy, they face new demands such as reconstituting themselves internally and resituating themselves in their wider organizations. Read on for ideas about how to incorporate content management (CM) into the process.

Boiko, Bob. Intercom (2007). Careers>TC>Management>Content Management

When You Need to Localize and Categorize

Internationalization -- or 'I18N', a very geeky abbreviation referring to the number of letters left out -- is commonly defined as a set of practices intended to make software more 'localizable' by introducing layers of abstraction in the code and the data of an application. That way, it is easier to later modify the language, currency, date, and number format according to the requirements of a specific locale.

Donner, Christian. CMSwatch (2006). Articles>Content Management>Localization

Where is the Knowledge in a Content Management System?

This column aims to answer the question: where is the knowledge in a content management system (CMS)? In doing so, light will be shed upon the long-term value of a CMS in capturing organisational knowledge, and the role a CMS has to play in a broader knowledge strategy. Interestingly, the knowledge is not in the content itself. Instead, it's in the processes and practices that surround a content management system. By recognising the importance of these supporting activities, the greatest benefits can be gained from implementing the CMS, and the goals of the broader knowledge strategy can be met.

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

Which Hosted Wiki Is Right for You?

A look at three hosted wiki services that are free or relatively cheap to use and provide easy tools to set up your wiki within minutes.

Nesbitt, Scott. InformIT (2006). Articles>Web Design>Content Management

Who is in Control?: The Logic Underlying the Intelligent Technologies Used in Performance Support    

Performance support (also called EPSS, for electronic performance support system) emerged from the instructional design and training communities because corporate enterprise systems were difficult for people to use, and the training needed to make them productive was expensive and time consuming. A good definition is that 'EPSS (Electronic Performance Support Systems) are systems that provide employees with the information, advice and learning experiences they need to get up to speed as quickly as possible and with the minimum of support from other people' (Raybould 1996). One of the issues in designing performance support is managing information overload. Two approaches are the use of agents and the presentation of information in visual form (called information visualization). The former looks for ways that computer programs can do work for users, sorting through data on their behalf; the latter looks for ways to present information so that users can directly access it through direct manipulation. You can do both, but the selection of each has an impact on the interaction style and the degree to which users can directly control the system. It is therefore an issue that any performance support system designer should consider carefully. This is a logical extension of the goal of easy-to-use programs, adding the requirement that the user interface be actively informative and helpful.

Quesenbery, Whitney. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Content Management>Workflow>EPSS

Why Content Management Fails

Of just under 100 companies, only 27 percent of companies surveyed planned to continue using their Web content management systems as they do now. So why do these CMS projects almost always fail?

Veen, Jeffrey. Adaptive Path (2004). Articles>Content Management>Assessment

Why Every Small Website Needs a Content Management System

While the web design house did a great job, you don't want to have to go back to them for every change.

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

Why Single-Source when you can Multi-Source?

Single-sourcing allows authors to re-use content in different deliverables. This article explores using XML and a CMS (content management system) to take a different approach--multi-sourcing.

KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Why Start with Analysis and Design?

One of the most common mistakes that we see is a company picking the tool first, then trying to make their content management requirements fit the functionality of the tool. However, analysis of why projects fail identifies that one of the main reasons for failure is lack of analysis and design. This article draws on recent literature to identify the main reasons for why content management projects fail and provides some possible solutions.

Rockley, Ann. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Wikis Are Coming: An In-Depth Exploration of Using Wikis in Documentation

In this podcast, Katriel Reichman, a technical writer at Method M in Jerusalem, Israel, talks in-depth about how to use wikis for documentation.

Reichman, Katriel and Tom H. Johnson. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Presentations>Documentation>Content Management>Podcasts

Wikis, Docs, and the Reuse Proposition

The Darwin Informaton Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based document format that was designed from the ground up for reuse. It rocks. Content Managment Systms (CMSes) are designed to hold XML data. So in theory, a CMS system that lets you edit like a Wiki would be everything you need. But getting a system like that to work is a pretty tricky proposition.

Armstrong, Eric. Sun Microsystems (2007). Articles>Content Management>XML>DITA

Words Drive Action: An Interview with Gerry McGovern

Gerry McGovern is a world-renowned content-management expert and author of the books, 'Content Critical' and 'The Web Content Style Guide'. User Interface Engineering's Christine Perfetti and Josh Porter recently talked with Gerry about the importance of an editorial perspective in a web development process. Here is what Gerry had to say about his experiences.

Perfetti, Christine and Josh Porter. User Interface Engineering (2002). Articles>Content Management>Web Design

A Writer's Guide to XML Content Management  

A discussion of how XML changes what you do as a writer.

Hackos, JoAnn T. and Tina Hedlund. ComTech Services (2000). Articles>Content Management>XML>Writing

XML and Content Management Systems

This article explores the role of XML in the context of content management systems, focusing specifically on the business issues.

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

XML and Single-Sourcing with FrameMaker, Word, InDesign, XMLSpy, and More!  

Getting software to cooperate reduces the amount of editing you need to do, and creates better documents.

Aschwanden, Bernard. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

XML Repositories: An Idea Whose Time has Finally Come

This white paper discusses the role of an XML repository into today’s enterprise infrastructure. Virtually every database and repository provide some degree of XML support; however, there are important distinctions between support for XML as a data type and the role of a repository whose architecture and operations are optimized to support the broad family of XML recommendations and standards. Specifically, this white paper will explore: The nature and extent of XML use across the enterprise, cost and quality of service implications of an infrastructure with, and without, an XML repository, the evolution of XML repositories from both a technology and a market segment perspective, criteria to determine when an XML repository would add significant value to an existing infrastructure, and capability and packaging recommendations for XML repository functionality that can be used to evaluate specific offerings.

Holst, Sebastian. Gilbane Report (2004). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>XML

XML Solves Tech Publishing Problems

If you are a technical writer or manager of a documentation group you have probably encountered or been faced with solving problems like: single-sourcing, collaborative authoring, cross-platform editing, multi-channel publishing, improving information quality and consistency, enhancing functionality of electronic output, negating technology lock-in, and even reducing costs without reducing team head count. This article explores how the use of XML technologies within your authoring system can help you achieve each of these objectives.

InWords TechDoc Solutions (2003). Articles>Content Management>XML

XML Syndication Set to Explode - Are You Ready For Big Change?

Since version 1.0 of XML was released by the W3C in early 1998, its use has been growing by leaps and bounds. Content managers and software packages were early adopters and enterprises are increasingly implementing XML-based systems. A number of events are now converging which will make available an unprecedented number of XML documents on the internet. The implications are numerous and will have trendendous impact on many of the fundamental dynamics of the Internet as we know it today.

Ismail, Salim. Rockley Bulletin (2006). Articles>Content Management>XML