Choosing an XML Schema: DocBook or DITA?

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.

Hamilton, Richard. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Information Design>DocBook>DITA

The Content Wrangler

The Content Wrangler contains a variety of resources and information for technical communicators interested in single-sourcing, content management, structured authoring, XML and more. Registered users gain access to "members only" content, user profiles, and special offers from vendors, publishers and trade associations.

Abel, Scott. Content Wrangler, The (2004). Resources>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Blogs

DITA: Opportunities To Help Shape The Standard, Promote DITA Adoption, Develop Real-World Solutions

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.

Content Wrangler, The. Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA

Enabling Information Sharing Integrity

Most companies accept the rapid obsolescence of their documents as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Its not. When dynamic documents replace static documents, users can bring together disparate, distributed data and content and combine it in a single document that is always accurate and up-to-date.

Sorofman, Jake. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>XML>Collaboration

Five Reasons Freelancers Make More Money Writing White Papers

Are you looking to drum up some new business? Want to get more dollars from existing clients? Are you a starving writer? White paper expert Michael A. Stelzner provides the following reasons white papers could dramatically increase your writing revenue:

Stelzner, Michael A. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Freelance>Writing>White Papers

Gantt to Glory: Evolving from Project Management to Successful Web Operations

Is the sheer possession of a PMP intended to be the Holy Grail of successful web projects, known to fail at a startling rate, or simply a way to divorce oneself from whatever outcome may result from the web project?

Podnar, Kristina. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Planning

Paradigm Shifts are Never Pretty: Advice on Making the Move to XML Authoring

Most people are risk-averse, and profound changes such as the move to structured authoring require new skills and workflows. To ensure a successful transition, XML implementers need to assess their team members, identify allies, and build their implementation strategy around the staff members who embrace change.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>Project Management>XML

The Right and Wrong of Quark and Adobe Strategies

What distinguishes the underlying strategies of Adobe InDesign from QuarkXPress is the absence or presence of a content management system (CMS). And each company asserts that it’s following the less-traveled road. The problem is they’re both taking roads most traveled because of their respective stances towards integrated content management systems, and I’ll show you how after looking at their respective strategies.

Kuhnen, Eric. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Document Design>Software>Content Management

The Seven Challenges of Implementing a Content Management System

The term 'double-edged sword' may have been created with content management systems in mind. On one edge, they hold great promise for organizations in terms of their ability to create and manage content that is more accurate, less costly to produce, and more consistent in appearance and message. On the adjacent edge, they can present a myriad of challenges and barriers in their implementation and ultimate acceptance by the people using them - and purchasing them.

Trotter, Paul. Content Wrangler, The (2007). Articles>Content Management>Management

Seven Tips for Living with Technology

After living through more than a few technology acquisitions, variously as perpetrator, victim, and bystander, I’ve come across a few tips that can make the process a little easier.

Hamilton, Richard. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Technology>Assessment

Software-as-a-Service: Changing The Benefit Packages IT Organizations Offer

If you work in the information technology industry, for instance, especially in the software industry, chances are you are accustomed to having the same days off from work as everyone else: bank, religious, and national holidays—and, if you are creative about your planning—vacation days that you take before and after these holidays to create an extended break, usually coinciding with times others in your life are also away from work and school. But, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model will likely change all that. And, the changes don’t bode well for family vacations or extended holidays with your sweetheart.

Abel, Scott. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Careers>TC>Software>Online

Thinking Outside the (Tech Docs) Box: Structured Authoring as Competitive Advantage

There was a time when technical writing was seen as a cost center—a necessary function, but hardly a key lever for competitive advantage. This is quickly changing as globalization and hyper-competition put customers in control and organizations scramble for new and different ways to strengthen relationships.

Sorofman, Jake. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing

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

Effective Content Reuse: Storing Paragraphs, Not Topics, Is Key to Content Management Success

Most content management organizations promote the concept that in order to reuse content you must segment content into topics. This approach works well for technical information because with technical content you are describing concepts, asking people to perform tasks or follow steps, or providing reference material. Consequently, you can reasonably and easily create topics that represent concise ideas, and ultimately, small chunks of content. However, while people might comprehend the benefits that topic-oriented documentation provides, they generally don't grasp the downsides of such an approach.

Trotter, Paul. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>Methods

It's In The Mix: The Next Generation Of Open Source Publishing

The same principles behind music remixing are at the heart of a hugely important open source software documentation experiment, taking place on the web today. It’s called FLOSS Manuals, a content remixing project that provides its website visitors with the ability to read, write and remix documentation.

Abel, Scott. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Personalization

Information Architecture for My Office

To get a handle on the challenge in front of me, I created a complete item inventory of everything currently in my office. I used Microsoft Excel and created a spreadsheet.

Swope, Amber. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Information Design>Workplace

The Wisdom of Crowds Meets the Wisdom of Authors: How XML Enables the Semantic Web

Key to the Semantic Web is semantic markup, which lets users annotate their web pages with metadata -- HTML attributes that don't get displayed in the document. Semantic metadata describes what the pages are about, letting authors define things with authority and precision.

Wlodarczyk, Paul. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>XML

Economic Woes Signal Content Industry Job Losses: It Could Happen To You!

One thing this experience has taught me is that basically, most people, are good, concerned and genuinely want to help you in your time of need.

Hoffmann, Maxwell. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Careers>Unemployment

Content Reuse: Is It Harmful?

For a number of years it has been a matter of faith that the more content a technical documentation team reuses, the more efficient they are presumed to be. But, are you really more efficient? Let’s take a deeper look.

Hamilton, Richard. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management

DITA Metrics - Cost Metrics

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.

Lewis, Mark A. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>XML>DITA

Convergence Technical Communication: Strategies for Incorporating Web 2.0

"Convergence Technical Communication" (CTC) is technical communication that provides information in several forms, including Web 2.0 delivery mechanisms, to improve the user experience. Most of the content is generated by technical communicators; a portion by users. Web 2.0 makes it possible to create additional deliverables that enhance the user experience several different ways. First, it engages the different learning styles of our audience. Second, it improves user satisfaction with your product by creating communities of practice that allow users to participate in the conversation. Finally, any feedback and suggestions obtained can be used to improve the core deliverable set.

Bleiel, Nicky. Content Wrangler, The (2009). Articles>TC>Content Management>Social Networking

You Got Your Technology in My Typography!!!

What is it about XML, and the technical publishing solutions that storing content in XML enables, that makes non-technical, design-oriented people in publishing want to run for the hills while screaming “You just don’t get it!”, leaving the technical people in publishing in the dust, wondering why no one understands all the wonderful benefits that can be reaped through publishing automated by XML-enabled technologies.

Kaplansky, Jean. Content Wrangler, The (2009). Articles>Content Management>Typography>Visual Rhetoric

Alfresco Is Not A Picnic: The Problem With Metaphors And Content Management Systems

In the content management system I currently use, I’ve noticed no less than nine metaphors, which are meant serve as organizing principles, but they don’t. Granted, the particular tool I use isn’t really meant for gobs and gobs of editorial work, but nonetheless its organization and structure were likely created by a developer within arm’s reach of a bottle of tequila.

Bochman, Felice. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>Software

Endless Possibilities: Norm Walsh on the Changing Nature of Publishing

Why XML documents aren’t a good fit for relational databases, how university professors are creating custom text books for students, and find links to several innovative projects that are demonstrating the power of XML and its cousin XQuery.

Walsh, Norman and Scott Abel. Content Wrangler, The (2009). Articles>Interviews>Information Design>XML