http://tc.eserver.org/dir/DITA A listing of the most recently indexed works about DITA in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/DITA http://tc.eserver.org/35618.html http://tc.eserver.org/35618.html By reading this short tutorial, you'll get acquainted with the DITA 1.1 markup and after that, you'll be able to author your first DITA document right away. This short tutorial will not discuss the DITA ``philosophy'' or the advantages of the DITA vocabulary over other XML vocabularies (e.g. DocBook). http://tc.eserver.org/35619.html http://tc.eserver.org/35619.html XMLmind DITA Converter (ditac for short) allows to convert the most complex DITA 1.1 documents to production-quality XHTML 1.0, XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.1, JavaTM Help, HTML Help, Eclipse Help, PDF, PostScript®, RTF (can be opened in Word 2000+), WordprocessingML (can be opened in Word 2003+), Office Open XML (.docx, can be opened in Word 2007+), OpenOffice (.odt, can be opened in OpenOffice.org 2+). http://tc.eserver.org/35431.html http://tc.eserver.org/35431.html This presentation is for beginning to intermediate users of DITA. It's based on my experience with projects on which I'm project manager, information architect, and writer. http://tc.eserver.org/35432.html http://tc.eserver.org/35432.html Before DITA, we told readers how things worked. After DITA, we tell users how to use things. Before, we wrote information linearly. After, we write individual units as needed. http://tc.eserver.org/35433.html http://tc.eserver.org/35433.html DITA is useful for helping writers create small units of organized information that can be used in multiple contexts. Of course, the reader's problem then becomes locating the information they want in a quick, reasonable timeframe. Although DITA provides enough metadata to simplify searching, or even to present information the reader needs based on a profile, there are some media that cannot make use of those facilities. To bridge that gap, you can use the tried and true index. http://tc.eserver.org/35435.html http://tc.eserver.org/35435.html What does structured authoring mean to you? Structured authoring is a publishing workflow that lets you define and enforce consistent organization of information in documents, whether printed or online. What it means to me: defining a goal and assembling architected topics to help the reader achieve that goal. http://tc.eserver.org/35371.html http://tc.eserver.org/35371.html In technical writing, synonyms and variants should be used judiciously and often avoided altogether. The use of one term consistently to express a given concept is preferred so that communication is clear and so that translation costs are minimized. For this reason, when synonyms and variants do exist in popular usage, it is common practice in commercial environments to choose one of the terms as the “preferred term.” This indicator of preferred usage needs to be documented in glossaries. Due to the limitations of markup languages for creating glossaries, usually the so-called preferred term is identified simply by making it the headword in a glossary entry and providing a definition in this glossary entry. http://tc.eserver.org/35375.html http://tc.eserver.org/35375.html There are at least two broad categories of technology that managers often confuse. The first is technology that replaces a particular skill. For example, the cash register at a McDonalds has technology that relieves cashiers from doing math, so they can hire people who are not skilled in math. The second is technology that allows a skilled practitioner to be more productive. For example, the computer makes it possible to write and edit text much more easily than a typewriter, but it won’t make a bad writer better. http://tc.eserver.org/35225.html http://tc.eserver.org/35225.html Perhaps the true measure of a good idea is its persistence, even though folks are slow to pick up on it. SGML is a good example. It seemed like a great idea, but for a long time, had trouble getting traction in the general tool space. Then it started showing up at technical communication conferences wearing a name badge that said, “Hi, my name is DITA,” and suddenly, it’s a hit! http://tc.eserver.org/35081.html http://tc.eserver.org/35081.html The DITA OpenToolkit (DITA OT) provides a way to produce multiple outputs, including Portable Document Format (PDF) files; however, the technology for creating PDF files is limited, and modifying the formatting is challenging. This paper explains the alternatives and trade-offs for each method and helps demystify the decision process. http://tc.eserver.org/35039.html http://tc.eserver.org/35039.html A small documentation team working on a tight budget can now use the tool ecosystem enabled by the DITA standard to create the sophisticated content that previously required long and expensive projects. The author spent just nine person-weeks over three years to replace a custom XML system with a DITA system based on a combination of off-the-shelf software, authoring conventions, and custom scripts. http://tc.eserver.org/35041.html http://tc.eserver.org/35041.html With DITA implementations on the rise, and an entrenched DocBook community already in place, the resulting market interest has spurred interest in automated DocBook to DITA conversion. So I would expect offerings of automated DocBook to DITA conversion scripts to emerge in the next 6-10 months. This article addresses the real questions, "What should I expect from automated tools?" and "Will they work for me?" from the viewpoint of live experience with numerous DocBook to DITA conversions. The answers to these questions are not usually obvious. http://tc.eserver.org/35042.html http://tc.eserver.org/35042.html Structured writing requires an analysis of content and a reorganization into the smallest possible coherent topics. http://tc.eserver.org/35043.html http://tc.eserver.org/35043.html This top ten list is based on interviews conducted by TheContentWrangler.com with technical writers at more than 20 software companies—tech writers that are actually using DITA to create documentation today. http://tc.eserver.org/35044.html http://tc.eserver.org/35044.html Think DITA is just for procedural technical documents? Think again. A new OASIS DITA sub-committee has been announced whose purpose it is to explore using the popular technical documentation standard known as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) outside technical documentation projects. http://tc.eserver.org/35045.html http://tc.eserver.org/35045.html The DITA Open Platform is a free, open-source project which goal is to provide an enterprise platform for the edition, management and processing of DITA documents. http://tc.eserver.org/35046.html http://tc.eserver.org/35046.html The DITA Open Toolkit can transform your DITA files into a wide variety of output types. When you first install it, it's easy to get the impression that you need to know Ant well to use it, but you can pack most of its available options into a single Java™ command line. http://tc.eserver.org/35012.html http://tc.eserver.org/35012.html One of DITA’s most attractive features is its support for incremental adoption: you can adopt DITA quickly and easily using a subset of its capabilities, and then add investment over time as your content strategy evolves and expands. However, this incremental continuum has also resulted in confusion, as communities at different stages of adoption claim radically different numbers for cost of migration and return on investment. The DITA Maturity Model addresses this confusion by dividing DITA adoption into six levels, each with its own required investment and associated return on investment. You can assess your own capabilities and goals relative to the model and choose the appropriate initial adoption level for your needs and schedule. http://tc.eserver.org/35013.html http://tc.eserver.org/35013.html How a multi-national, regulated medical device company planned its migration to a DITA CMS by identifying stakeholders and defining personas, establishing a high-level process and system requirements, developing a content model, and figuring out what to do with legacy documents. http://tc.eserver.org/35014.html http://tc.eserver.org/35014.html Focuses on an overall process identification methodology and its eight phases, and documents both the technical and business processes undertaken to successfully launch the new CMS/TMS system, called GEM (Globalization and English Management System). Includes what CaridianBCT learned from previous efforts and describes the various approaches and pilot phase that were adopted to support the new GEM system in future efforts. http://tc.eserver.org/35016.html http://tc.eserver.org/35016.html The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) provides maps for assembling topics into deliverables. By specializing the map elements, you can define a formal information architecture for your deliverables. This architecture provides guidance to authors on how to organize topics and lets processes recognize your organizing principles, resulting in a consistent, clear experience for your users. http://tc.eserver.org/34757.html http://tc.eserver.org/34757.html It is critical to address localization as part of the DITA adoption early as it may significantly impact your localization process with potential schedule and cost implications that could negate many benefits of XML. http://tc.eserver.org/34753.html http://tc.eserver.org/34753.html One technical communication team delivered answers to user questions in two clicks with a help file created in DITA XML, using structured writing, different tools and a new information architecture. Content was linked one-to-one with application elements. Hyperlinks in one area of each screen make user access easy. The communicators established a linking strategy, used natural language for guided navigation and developed a reuse strategy involving references instead of duplication of content. The result was delivery of an InfoCenter that's easy to maintain and to expand, which a portion of the team will be doing for the next 20+ years. http://tc.eserver.org/34718.html http://tc.eserver.org/34718.html Inline links and citations can be disruptive to the flow of information. Try to delete them because a topic is a discrete unit of information that is meaningful when it is displayed alone. http://tc.eserver.org/34719.html http://tc.eserver.org/34719.html Overview of best practices for using ditamaps and relationship tables to manage linking. http://tc.eserver.org/34720.html http://tc.eserver.org/34720.html While topic relationships can be stored in the topics themselves, as products evolve and user interfaces change, a topic that was required for release 1.0 of a product may no longer be needed in release 2.3. If related topics are maintained at the topic level, removing a topic that is no longer part of the system may involve modifying the related topics of a dozen different DITA files. http://tc.eserver.org/34721.html http://tc.eserver.org/34721.html Because keyref is so important and because it also has inherent, unavoidable complexity, I will be posting short examples of how keyref can be used to solve specific business problems. This is the first in an occasional series of such examples. This example shows one particular application of the keyref feature to a real-world problem faced by one of Really Strategies' clients. http://tc.eserver.org/34722.html http://tc.eserver.org/34722.html DITA maps provide a mechanism for ordering topics and creating a topic hierarchy. Because DITA maps consist of lists of references to topics, you can reorganize the content in a deliverable simply by changing the order of the topic references. You can create different maps referencing the same source topics to create two deliverables to meet different users' needs. http://tc.eserver.org/34723.html http://tc.eserver.org/34723.html This presentation describes how authoring DITA topics and managing those topics in a content management system (CMS) will contain translation costs while improving overall information quality. This is not a recommendation for any particular product. It is a guide to how one group built their candidate list and computes return on investment. http://tc.eserver.org/34541.html http://tc.eserver.org/34541.html This website is a sandbox to show how the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) and the Open Toolkit can be used to create multilingual websites. DITA is an OASIS standard. http://tc.eserver.org/34491.html http://tc.eserver.org/34491.html This paper outlines a course given by Adena Frazier of Suite Solutions--a course which is highly recommended for anyone who wants to get the most of the OT. This paper outlines the most important processes, but it leaves out many of the details, tips, and debugging notes that were included in the course. Note, too, that errors easily could have crept in, and some details are bound to change for later versions of the toolkit. (We used version 1.4.1) So it makes a lot of sense to take the course, even if you find the outline useful. http://tc.eserver.org/34486.html http://tc.eserver.org/34486.html When IBM decided to focus on topic-oriented documentation, it created the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), even though there was already a huge investment in DocBook. Moving to a new architecture was a decidedly non-trivial undertaking--both technically and politically--so it is worth an inquiry as to the reasons for making that move. http://tc.eserver.org/34468.html http://tc.eserver.org/34468.html In this column, I’ll review what user assistance architects mean by reuse and what its benefits can be. I’ll then describe some different scenarios for reuse and offer guidelines that user assistance architects and information developers can follow. My examples show how DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) can be an effective reuse framework. But the principles I discuss go beyond DITA, and you can apply them to any structured information framework or toolset. http://tc.eserver.org/34421.html http://tc.eserver.org/34421.html DITA enters a new phase this year with version 1.2. We'll learn about the big new features, such as keyref, and see them used in the latest DITA Open Toolkit. Attendees will know how to make use of new DITA 1.2 features using the DITA Open Toolkit. Attendees will understand key aspects of the new DITA 1.2 standard. http://tc.eserver.org/34422.html http://tc.eserver.org/34422.html How do you mitigate the risk of a major technology change such as DITA? This presentation shares lessons learned in the first DITA pilot project at IBM Internet Security Systems. How to pick the right opportunity for a user assistance pilot project. How to specify appropriate proof-of-concept requirements. How to use a wiki and collaborative walkthroughs to transfer knowledge and set standards. http://tc.eserver.org/34402.html http://tc.eserver.org/34402.html In this podcast, Mike Hamilton of Madcap Software talks about their phased approach to handling DITA with Flare. In Phase I, you’ll have the ability to import DITA topics and export to webhelp and other targets. In this sense, Flare functions as a transform engine. In Phase 2, you can use Flare for native DITA authoring. Phase 1 is on the cusp of release, but Phase II won’t be available until quarter one of next year. http://tc.eserver.org/34355.html http://tc.eserver.org/34355.html Specialization is the process by which new designs are created based on existing designs, allowing new kind of content to be processed using existing processing rules.Specialization allows you to define new kinds of information (new structural types or new domains of information), while reusing as much of existing design and code as possible, and minimizing or eliminating the costs of interchange, migration, and maintenance. http://tc.eserver.org/34356.html http://tc.eserver.org/34356.html Adobe FrameMaker 9 allows to use Ditaval based filtering of content while producing following output from a DITA Map. For using the Ditaval filtering with FrameMaker, first create a ditaval file specifying the filtering criteria and then select this ditaval file while producing the output. http://tc.eserver.org/34361.html http://tc.eserver.org/34361.html This tutorial uses the DITA Open Toolkit 1.4.2.1 and the corresponding PDF plugin release, and Wrycan's demo text. This assumes you have a working DITA environment and can run the default formatting with PDF plugin. http://tc.eserver.org/34362.html http://tc.eserver.org/34362.html The DITA-OT plugin transforms a map into a single file, suitable for publication, and automatically call the xmlrpc API of the blog to publish it. The DITA Wordpress plugin adds a css (a slightly modified version of the DITA-OT commonltr.css) to your Wordpress theme to properly render the standard domains. http://tc.eserver.org/34363.html http://tc.eserver.org/34363.html Claude Vedovini is the developer behind the DITA Open Platform. In Part 1, we talk about the DITA OP and other aspects of DITA in general. http://tc.eserver.org/34364.html http://tc.eserver.org/34364.html Our goal is to bring people together — think social network organized around XML, DITA, content management and related topics. This blog serves as a hub for white papers and URL resources, contains a calendar of XML-related events and conferences, tracks industry trends, and keeps members up-to-date as to “what’s new” on the site. http://tc.eserver.org/34365.html http://tc.eserver.org/34365.html Claude Vedovini, the developer behind the DITA Open Platform, offers some thoughts about trends on the Web such as cloud computing, the usefulness of social networks when starting a small business, and Amazon S3. http://tc.eserver.org/34331.html http://tc.eserver.org/34331.html This procedure is used to modify the DITA Open Toolkit build files to allow an external map file reference and alias strings to be added to the HTML Help Project file before building, as part of the transformation to Microsoft HTML Help (CHM) format. http://tc.eserver.org/34273.html http://tc.eserver.org/34273.html This article discusses main challenges that documentation team faces when it decides to use DITA as a source format for Eclipse Help documentation. It also explains how DITAworks documentation tool plans to address these challenges. http://tc.eserver.org/34274.html http://tc.eserver.org/34274.html This page contains information about how to use DITA for authoring Eclipse Help. http://tc.eserver.org/34275.html http://tc.eserver.org/34275.html Xquery is a powerful query language designed specifically for XML content. It can be used for querying, processing, manipulation, and transformation of xml content. This presentation demonstrates how Xquery can be used to add to the feature set of the Dita Open Toolkit by introducing automatic glossary processing. http://tc.eserver.org/34261.html http://tc.eserver.org/34261.html Using Adobe FrameMaker 9, one can save a DITA Map in various formats depending on one’s requirements. It could be intermediary output, like – FrameMaker Book/Document; or it can be final output, like – Print/PDF. http://tc.eserver.org/34150.html http://tc.eserver.org/34150.html Since adaptation and reuse are core ideas of DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture), perhaps we'll be forgiven if we adapt and reuse old Beatles standards to explain the newest XML standards (hey, maybe it's the only way to make XML sound catchy). DITA is an IBM gift to the technical documentation community that was approved as a standard this spring by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), the hosts for many XML interchange standards such as ebXML. Ever since, tech writers have been buzzing about an easier way to get into structured topic-based writing with DITA XML and asking XML Editor vendors to add support for DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/33968.html http://tc.eserver.org/33968.html More than a decade ago DocBook became the standard for the few brave souls forging ahead in XML publications. DocBook offered a cheaper and more efficient way to publish to multiple formats. Single-sourcing became a reality for hardware and software companies. However, in recent years, many in technical documentation publications have proclaimed DITA as the standard for XML documentation. DITA offered architecture in which to create and publish structured content. Are these two seemingly rival standards really that different? This article from Teresa Mulvihill answers this question with comparative examples, and allows you, the audience, to decide for yourselves. http://tc.eserver.org/33969.html http://tc.eserver.org/33969.html In an interview with Diane Wieland, Ann Rockley and Steve Manning of The Rockley Group discuss some new ideas related to XML and DITA conversion. They share their thoughts on dynamic personalized content delivery and component content management, which is the topic of an upcoming CMS Watch report that Rockley is co-authoring. http://tc.eserver.org/33727.html http://tc.eserver.org/33727.html It’s hard to go to a content management or publishing technology conference these days without there being a presentation on DITA — the Darwinian Information Typing Architecture. For the uninitiated, DITA is an XML architecture for authoring and publishing topic-based content, typically technical documentation. The brainchild of IBM, where it is used internally for many documentation projects, DITA is now an open-source standard under the aegis of OASIS. http://tc.eserver.org/33728.html http://tc.eserver.org/33728.html DITA supports the proper construction of specialized DTDs from any higher-level DTD or schema. The base DTD is ditabase DTD, which contains an archetype topic structure and three additional peer topics that are typed specializations from the basic topic: concept, task, and reftopic. The principles of specialization and inheritance resemble the principle of variation in species proposed by Charles Darwin. So the name reminds us of the key extensibility mechanism inherent in the architecture. http://tc.eserver.org/33729.html http://tc.eserver.org/33729.html Why DITA XML? Open standard and built-in with OpenTopic. Very specific schema. Helps clarify documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/33730.html http://tc.eserver.org/33730.html DITA is an architecture for creating topic-oriented, information-typed content that can be reused and single-sourced in a variety of ways. It is also an architecture for creating new information types and describing new information domains, allowing groups to create very specific, targeted document type definitions using a process called specialization, while at the same time reusing common output transforms and design rules. We discuss several methods that can be used to extend DITA's basic topic types. http://tc.eserver.org/33731.html http://tc.eserver.org/33731.html DITA is natural. Do XML/DITA conversion research now. Wiki is especially good for iterative writing. Structured wiki authoring in coming. http://tc.eserver.org/33733.html http://tc.eserver.org/33733.html What are your thoughts on whether wikis could be used for end-user technical documentation? I'd imagine that a more structured wiki based on DITA content (which may have already been created for end-users) might work well for technical documentation. Have you seen any good examples? I'd love to see a well-done example. http://tc.eserver.org/33735.html http://tc.eserver.org/33735.html DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) is an XML-based information architecture. DITA doesn’t reinvent the wheel – rather, it sets standards for known structuring requirements. One very attractive aspect of this architecture is its clear alignment to a structuring method that has proved itself for years in online documentation. The basis of this method is the division of the content into modules called TOPICS. Today, this structuring method is considered the ideal approach for the organisation of comprehensive contents. As with everything new, there are many questions about DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/33738.html http://tc.eserver.org/33738.html The process of creating and maintaining product documentation is, like most other business processes, under pressure to reduce costs, reduce cycle times, and support companies as they compete on a more global scale; in general, the need to do more with less. How are companies to address these conflicting needs? The purpose of this white paper is to identify specific processes that can be enhanced to yield meaningful efficiencies and several strategies for attaining such improvements. http://tc.eserver.org/33739.html http://tc.eserver.org/33739.html The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based, end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information. This paper describes how DITA-based documentation was implemented at CEDROM-SNi, one of Canada's leading on-line news content aggregators. The project delivers documentation as diverse as user training materials and Web Services reference guides targeted to programmers. We focus on the benefits, how tos, and lessons learned. Technical documentation has its own unique challenges. Its deliverables range from simple reference guides and educational material to complex, multilingual procedure manuals. Critical success factors of a documentation project are numerous and diverse – usability, deadlines, cost, language, delivery media (paper, online) – all of which have their own purpose and challenges. This paper discusses these issues and provides a framework for future DITA projects. http://tc.eserver.org/33693.html http://tc.eserver.org/33693.html One of the more popular posts on this blog is titled DITA is not the answer and, whilst things are certainly moving forward, it’s a little sad that it is still valid. A recent comment on that post suggested that it’s not just DITA that is lacking, it’s the working realities of single source that is flawed. http://tc.eserver.org/33682.html http://tc.eserver.org/33682.html DITA provides the ability to chunk information, to deliver selected topics in a variety of compilations and output to various formats. It allows the passing back and forth of this content among authors regardless of tools. My hesitation with DITA has only been that it’s too early to adopt. But I believe the turning point has come. http://tc.eserver.org/33683.html http://tc.eserver.org/33683.html As an independent consultant working mainly with small businesses I find that my clients are reluctant to commit to DITA for a number of reasons. As DITA authoring tools become more user-friendly and more readily available some of these barriers will begin to fade. But in general terms, the more DITA tools that become available, and the easier they become to use, the better for everyone. http://tc.eserver.org/33395.html http://tc.eserver.org/33395.html I'm starting to wonder whether the adoption rate of DITA and the DITA Open Toolkit is going to diverge. Widespread adoption of DITA leads to a a sort of herd effect with safety in numbers. Not so for the Open Toolkit. http://tc.eserver.org/33183.html http://tc.eserver.org/33183.html You’ve read all the papers on ROI for XML and you get it. You’ve already concluded that moving to DITA will save you tons of time and money. But management says prove it. This paper helps you determine the cost portion of the ROI calculation. What are my costs now? What will my new costs be with DITA? And what is the difference—my savings? This white paper is the first in the DITA Metrics series. The series will discuss cost metrics, reuse metrics, and a reuse strategy. This paper describes one model for calculating the cost of a DITA project. After doing some content analysis on your own documentation, you can customize this cost model to suit your documentation project. In the end, you should be able to speak the financial language of managers and prove to them in dollar signs the value of moving to DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/32792.html http://tc.eserver.org/32792.html Introduces readers to the major DITA tools for editing, content and translation management, and publishing. http://tc.eserver.org/32793.html http://tc.eserver.org/32793.html How will DITA conversion affect your work? Sigman shares what she's learned from her own survey of technical communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/32794.html http://tc.eserver.org/32794.html DITA is known for the rigidity of its structure, but technical communicators have opportunities to adapt it to their content through specialization, a term that refers to the customization of DITA structures. http://tc.eserver.org/32795.html http://tc.eserver.org/32795.html The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) has formed a new committee for encouraging the use of DITA in all areas of business. Readers can learn how to work with their organization to make the sharing of DITA content possible. http://tc.eserver.org/32797.html http://tc.eserver.org/32797.html Many people see DITA architecture as a shortcut to avoiding content modeling. O'Keefe warns readers against this mistake. http://tc.eserver.org/32365.html http://tc.eserver.org/32365.html DITA provides a powerful means of linking using relationship tables. The benefit of using a relationship table is the ability to create and maintain links in one place with the map rather than in the topics. Links can be created both between topics of the same information type and between topics of different information types that are not directly related through parent/child relationships. Therefore, the best practice for linking in DITA is to use a relationship table within a map. http://tc.eserver.org/32366.html http://tc.eserver.org/32366.html The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) provides a way for documentation authors and architects to create collections of typed topics that can be easily assembled into various delivery contexts. Topic specialization is the process by which authors and architects can define topic types, while maintaining compatibility with existing style sheets, transforms, and processes. The new topic types are defined as an extension, or delta, relative to an existing topic type, thereby reducing the work necessary to define and maintain the new type. http://tc.eserver.org/32367.html http://tc.eserver.org/32367.html The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) has emerged as a standard topic-oriented document architecture. DITA holds many advantages over information authored directly in HTML, including better reuse, easily changed presentation styles, and easy single sourcing. This article, the first of two parts, explains how to get a quick start with DITA using HTML topics that are already available. It shows you how to use the provided XSLT transform to do the migration, and examines what is needed to ensure quality results. http://tc.eserver.org/32368.html http://tc.eserver.org/32368.html The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based format for structuring and authoring technical content. This article explores advantages DITA provides for producing HTML content -- including easy global changes, portability through standards, superior linking and Web management, conditional processing, content and design reuse, and better writing through focused content. DITA consolidates all of the benefits in a consistent, overall information architecture that can evolve and grow along with your product information needs and delivery modes, and with the evolution of standard tools for delivering XML as the presentation mechanism. http://tc.eserver.org/32369.html http://tc.eserver.org/32369.html The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) holds many advantages over information authored directly in HTML, including better reuse, easily changed presentation styles, and easy single sourcing. In Part 2 of this two-part series on how to quickly migrate HTML topics to DITA, the author explains the details of migration, and shows you how to override parts of this process for ideal results. http://tc.eserver.org/32227.html http://tc.eserver.org/32227.html In the past few years, we have implemented both DITA-based and custom XML solutions for our customers. Given the right set of circumstances, DITA provides an excellent foundation for structured content. But I seem to be in significant disagreement with DITA advocates about how often the "right set of circumstances" is present. http://tc.eserver.org/32180.html http://tc.eserver.org/32180.html As techcom professionals, we have been talking about authoring in XML for a very long time. At first, it was a lot of hype about a format that required major programming skills and had zero tools’ support, but that is now changing. Today, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of tools that support XML and a standard called DITA that is in constant development to support content publishing for different industries. As a result, more and more companies seem to be embracing this content format.If you are a writer or techcom manager who is encouraging your company to make this change, then what do you need to know to prepare? http://tc.eserver.org/32183.html http://tc.eserver.org/32183.html Success in a global marketplace requires translating content into multiple languages. Moving to a topic-based XML architecture, such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), can help you control the translation process and save money. http://tc.eserver.org/32090.html http://tc.eserver.org/32090.html Here’s a reading list for DITA materials when you’re just getting started. I’ve been fielding some questions via email and IM about DITA lately, and pulled this blog post out of my drafts. I hope it’s helpful. http://tc.eserver.org/32091.html http://tc.eserver.org/32091.html A brief overview for a couple of fellow Austin writers who have asked me recently how and where to get started with DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/32098.html http://tc.eserver.org/32098.html The need for us to customize BSM solutions by integrating different software solutions, combined with the maturation of tools for XML-based authoring, make this an ideal time to implement a new information development strategy. After researching materials about content management and studying success stories from companies who have implemented structured authoring, we launched a pilot project. http://tc.eserver.org/32083.html http://tc.eserver.org/32083.html Microsoft has a lot of information on their sites about these products. Unfortunately, I can never find it. I usually only know it’s there when I stumble on it months after I really needed to know it. The steepest part of the learning curve is at the start. Likewise with another program I use occasionally—DITA. DITA is an xml schema used for writing documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/32086.html http://tc.eserver.org/32086.html First of all, understand that you don’t have to learn it. Every year more and more toolds come out that help place a layer between you and the native XML. In a few years time you will hardly even realise there is XML underneath. http://tc.eserver.org/32087.html http://tc.eserver.org/32087.html XML is the future. You hear it at every conference you go to, in every magazine you pick up, in every article you read on-line. For technical writers, right now that future comes down to two products—DocBook or DITA. But what exactly are they, and which one should you choose? They are schemas for creating XML. http://tc.eserver.org/32037.html http://tc.eserver.org/32037.html Both the DITA and the DocBook specification are quite alive and well in organizations, and each is evolving into its own distinct application niches, with DITA looking to be turning into the default standard for large scale enterprises, while DocBook works more effectively at the small to intermediate level. What’s perhaps more interesting is the Microsoft Word, even with support for XML as provided by OOXML, is not making as much of an inroad in the structured document market, in great part because it is fairly difficult to constrain people’s use of the word-processing program to a limited, finite subset of potential styles. http://tc.eserver.org/31890.html http://tc.eserver.org/31890.html When you start working with DITA, there are some things that you may feel you need for traditional reasons that you won't find in DITA. Before you try to modify or specialize DITA, it may be worthwhile to rethink some technical writing practices that are outdated and not recommended today. http://tc.eserver.org/31754.html http://tc.eserver.org/31754.html A searchable knowledge base of specifications for DITA users. http://tc.eserver.org/31752.html http://tc.eserver.org/31752.html You will better understand how DITA can support your organization and how it can scale to meet your enterprise content needs by first understanding the basics of DITA standardization. http://tc.eserver.org/31755.html http://tc.eserver.org/31755.html This area provides access to my DITA specialization tutorial and other DITA specialization-related information and materials. http://tc.eserver.org/31749.html http://tc.eserver.org/31749.html Single sourcing is good, I’m sure most of us can agree on that, but I’ve recently been wondering if perhaps DITA isn’t quite good enough? http://tc.eserver.org/31743.html http://tc.eserver.org/31743.html Want to get involved in the formation of one of the most important XML standards impacting content professionals? You can. And, you should. The folks at OASIS—the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards—have made it easy for just about anyone to participate. http://tc.eserver.org/31750.html http://tc.eserver.org/31750.html Planning your conversion is always helpful, and should be part of your overall content strategy review. http://tc.eserver.org/31703.html http://tc.eserver.org/31703.html Success in a global marketplace requires translating content into multiple languages. Moving to a topic-based XML architecture, such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), can help you control the translation process and save money. http://tc.eserver.org/31649.html http://tc.eserver.org/31649.html Translation of documentation has traditionally been a major expense in the globalization process, especially if translations are required for multiple languages. The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based architecture for creating topic-based and information-typed content. It provides a number of features that, in addition to supporting high-quality information delivery, allows for more efficient and reliable localization of information. This article provides both an introduction to DITA and a discussion of DITA features that enhance document globalization. http://tc.eserver.org/31487.html http://tc.eserver.org/31487.html In 2006, Business Objects faced a major challenge. How to migrate over 50,000 pages of unstructured non-topic based documentation it had acquired through rapid growth and acquisitions. The answer was to use DITA to standardize content creation, management, translation and publishing processes company-wide. In this short podcast, David Holmes talks about how he and his team migrated 50,000 unstructured pages to DITA. (DITA is an XML architecture that allows you to better single source your content.) http://tc.eserver.org/31357.html http://tc.eserver.org/31357.html Is your company making the move from Information Mapping to DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture)? The author compares and contrasts the two methods and shares insight on how to ease the pain of switching from one to the other. http://tc.eserver.org/31171.html http://tc.eserver.org/31171.html In this podcast, Marlene Martineau of New Dawn Technologies explains why they adopted DITA, how they adopted it, the benefits they're experiencing, and the reasons why she'll never go back. http://tc.eserver.org/31158.html http://tc.eserver.org/31158.html I went to the Content Management Strategies/DITA North America 2008 conference (put on by CIDM), which took place in Santa Clara last week. While I went to support our co-founder's speech on DocBook versus DITA, I also used this opportunity to catch up with software vendors and single-source users. Here's my top #10 take-away list. http://tc.eserver.org/31159.html http://tc.eserver.org/31159.html Thanks to my Google News Alert service, I recently discovered some on-demand XML Editors supporing DITA. While Salesforce democratized software on-demand in the CRM market, I am still perplexed on the future of on-demand pure play software. So let's see first what makes on-demand software, also known as Saas (Software as a Service), so attractive nowadays. I see five compelling reasons. http://tc.eserver.org/31156.html http://tc.eserver.org/31156.html DocBook and DITA both have their places. They're both excellent for single sourcing. DocBook is better for what I call monolithic single sourcing, while DITA is better suited for discrete single sourcing. http://tc.eserver.org/31157.html http://tc.eserver.org/31157.html If you follow the latest trends or have been to a conference recently, you may find the idea of choosing an XML schema puzzling. Isn't the question really, 'How should I customize DITA to do what I want'? While there are many good reasons to choose DITA, it's not the only schema in town. http://tc.eserver.org/31124.html http://tc.eserver.org/31124.html I have seen a couple of blog postings lately that underscore the statement that DITA is not for everyone or for every situation. http://tc.eserver.org/31108.html http://tc.eserver.org/31108.html A blog post that presents a few thoughts on using technologies like DITA to author documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/30230.html http://tc.eserver.org/30230.html It is entirely possible to deliver custom, on-demand documentation that is precisely suited to a user's needs. It can be done today, using web-interface strategies and the right document format. This post shows how such a system could be implemented with the DITA format, and shows why it would be an ideal document-delivery system for programmers. http://tc.eserver.org/30231.html http://tc.eserver.org/30231.html Some folks here are taking a very strong look at DITA. I'm certainly one of them. But we also have a huge legacy of documents in Solbook format (Sun's subset of DocBook). There are tools for editing such documents, and tools for processing them. and there are many people who are comfortable with those tools. So DITA isn't going to replace the world, just yet. But DITA makes extensive reuse possible. It's a format with a serious future, because "reuse" is a very big deal. It lets you single-source your information content so have one place to make an edit. That sort of thing becomes important when you have multiple revisions of a product, and/or multiple variations. It becomes important when different tools and different products use the same information in different ways. It can drastically improve quality, ensure uniformity of presentation. Finally, structured formats like DITA and DocBook create the kind of consistently-tagged information that allows for useful automation. http://tc.eserver.org/30232.html http://tc.eserver.org/30232.html This whitepaper defines a new publishing paradigm, which we will call dynamic content delivery. Dynamic delivery changes the rules, putting the reader in charge of what content is important and how it should be packaged. It transforms publishing to an audience of many to publishing to an audience of one. http://tc.eserver.org/30229.html http://tc.eserver.org/30229.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/30120.html http://tc.eserver.org/30120.html To streamline the product documentation process, many technical publication teams are moving to Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). Learn best practices for applying this information model, and hands-on techniques for improved content creation and publishing with JustSystems XMetaL. http://tc.eserver.org/29971.html http://tc.eserver.org/29971.html Can DITA be used as a Help authoring technology? Superficially, of course it can! The DITA Open Toolkit includes an HTML Help transformer, an Eclipse Help transformer, and an HTML transformer (which can also generate some sort of Table of Contents). So isn't it obvious then? DITA is perfect for Help authoring. Or is it? Looking a bit deeper, it's not so obvious. Can I include context-hooks in my content? Can I specify a popup link? Can I build a modular Help system? If I can't, then DITA is probably not suitable for Help. http://tc.eserver.org/29972.html http://tc.eserver.org/29972.html Two of the oft-quoted benefits of DITA, the Darwin Information Typing Architecture, are 'single-sourcing' and 'content re-use'. These benefits do not only apply to the commonly-accepted definition of technical documents, but to many other forms of documents from outside the technical communicator's realm. http://tc.eserver.org/29635.html http://tc.eserver.org/29635.html By organizing information around the goals that users are trying to accomplish, you can provide task-based information that truly addresses user needs. This article walks through the steps for creating more useful information navigation by implementing information development best practices with examples in the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). http://tc.eserver.org/29461.html http://tc.eserver.org/29461.html Is DITA right for your organization? This article provides a starting point for your own research on DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/29458.html http://tc.eserver.org/29458.html The XMetaL-DITA group was founded to educate XMetaL users in working with the DITA standard. http://tc.eserver.org/29391.html http://tc.eserver.org/29391.html DITA Users is a membership organization that includes: individuals learning DITA; organizations moving to single-source authoring and multi-channel publishing; vendors of XML Editors and XML Content Management Systems. http://tc.eserver.org/29401.html http://tc.eserver.org/29401.html A gathering place for information about DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/29399.html http://tc.eserver.org/29399.html DITA is quickly becoming the dominant XML schema for topic-oriented authoring. DITA is a highly practical way of moving to XML authoring in general and granular content reuse in particular. DITA distinguishes itself from predecessor standards by explicitly rejecting the book paradigm in favour of a topic-oriented model. http://tc.eserver.org/29398.html http://tc.eserver.org/29398.html Lone-DITA's goal is to provide resources for solo Technical Writers, or those who are part of a small documentation team, who want to implement DITA at their organization. http://tc.eserver.org/29402.html http://tc.eserver.org/29402.html This article explores ideas related to subsetting and customizing the DITA specification without the addition of new elements. Instead, we explore taking default rules and adapting them to meet the needs of specific writing and publishing environments. Introductory information about the DITA specification and the difference between subsetting and specialization is provided. http://tc.eserver.org/29287.html http://tc.eserver.org/29287.html If you line DocBook and DITA up, I think DITA can point to four technical differences that are arguably features in its favor. http://tc.eserver.org/29285.html http://tc.eserver.org/29285.html DITA maps are documents that collect and organize references to DITA topics to indicate the relationships among the topics. They can also serve as outlines or tables of contents for DITA deliverables and as build manifests for DITA projects. http://tc.eserver.org/29286.html http://tc.eserver.org/29286.html The DITA Open Toolkit is an implementation of the OASIS DITA Technical Committee's specification for Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) DTDs and Schemas. The Toolkit transforms DITA content (maps and topics) into deliverable formats. http://tc.eserver.org/28776.html http://tc.eserver.org/28776.html This paper, the second of a series, closes the loop by examining implementation issues from a technical perspective. It explores best practices within the five key steps of a successful transition. http://tc.eserver.org/28777.html http://tc.eserver.org/28777.html This two-part series explores why DITA has created such a buzz in the content management arena, particularly among technical documentation teams--and how you can prepare for long-term DITA success. http://tc.eserver.org/28773.html http://tc.eserver.org/28773.html Product documentation is expensive--often, much more expensive than it needs to be. With DITA promising savings of 50% in product documentation preparation costs, and 80% in translation costs, managers need to know what DITA is and if it can work for their organization. This white paper distills the information that managers need to know about DITA. http://tc.eserver.org/28750.html http://tc.eserver.org/28750.html To tame the API beast, a successful description must: be accurate and complete (of course); take the perspective of the programmer who's going to use the class. http://tc.eserver.org/28230.html http://tc.eserver.org/28230.html Writing, compiling, and maintaining documentation is a necessary evil. While moving to DITA might not improve the quality of your documentation, it can streamline the process of creating and managing those documents. http://tc.eserver.org/28181.html http://tc.eserver.org/28181.html We seem to be heading in the right direction. The danger is that we keep talking to one another rather than evangelizing to a broader community. http://tc.eserver.org/28086.html http://tc.eserver.org/28086.html Makes the case for DITA and provides a compare-and-contrast of DITA and DocBook.