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

WebWorks Publisher: Jumping into the Details  

Desprez illuminates some of the advanced features of Quadralay's WebWorks Publisher, a software package that allows single-sourcing from Adobe FrameMaker to online documents. For a discussion of WebWorks tailored to beginners, see Wendy G. Beren's article 'WebWorks Publisher: Can It Convert You?'

Desprez, Robert R. Intercom (2001). Articles>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 They're Saying About CMS and XML

Assuming the tools are now within the range of an average small to medium business and all the other costs associated with implementation are still there, what incentive is there for a business to want to change to CMS or XML?

Stuhlemmer, Barbara. ClearComm Information Design (2007). Articles>Content Management>XML

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

Whikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Quickness

The fact that a Workplace could be considered 'quick' is not properly linked with the easiness to find information or with the speedy level of the communications: in this context it is linked to the Wiki feature of assuring a real-time updating access to contents and resources (data, information or knowledge and physical resources).

Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2007). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis

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

The Why and How of Content Convergence and Integration

Content producers are about to live through interesting times, to adapt the popular saying, with the dawning of The Age of Content. Industry is discovering content as a commodity; the rules are changing, and fast. What have traditionally been seen as the lowliest form of commercial content within an enterprise, technical manuals, are starting to take their place alongside the other valued corporate assets.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. Writing Assistance (2007). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Technical Writing

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 Content Management Fails

The CMS idea is enticing. Empowered departments of a big enterprise, all publishing content directly to their customers through standard templates. The site continues to grow, but in a controlled way. And these business units have complete control of what is and isn’t online. Sounds good, but just try putting it into practice.

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

Why Content Management Projects Fail: Interview with Rahel Bailie

Many content management projects fail because organizations are either too focused on tools before properly researching their needs and processes, or because they underestimate the difficulty of migrating and restructuring their content to fit the new content management system. In this podcast, Rahel Bailie explains these pitfalls and what companies can do to avoid them, as well as how companies can climb out of problems they’re currently in. Rahel also talks about how technical communicators can influence business executives and other key stakeholders to make better decisions about content management.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. Tech Writer Voices (2008). Articles>Interviews>Content Management>Project Management

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

Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Collaboration

The true collaboration occurs when people have the possibility to co-work on the same sub-task, activating a mechanism of new knowledge creation. Collaboration is not so obvious if is not clearly supported: the risk is to exchange this 'together' learning process with a simple cooperation process, producing not new knowledge but only a simple addition of individual regress knowledge.

Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis

Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Flexibility

A flexible workplace is characterized by the capability of individuals to manage not only their work, time or resources, but also the possibility to influence and operate in an active way inside the community (from team to organizational level) and for these reasons to be part of the operational process.

Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Workflow>Wikis

Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Openness

Strictly linked with transparency concept, openness is at the base of the principle that people work better if they have access to the right information and possibility to assume that all over the organization. The simple access to other group member data or the possibility to know activities scheduled also in other groups are normal operations in a mature context such as is allowed to look to other team solutions or results in order to decide something for the own team.

Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis