I’ve mentioned DITA a few times on this blog, and my DITA is not the answer post is still attracting attention. As I’ve said, I think the DITA standard is an excellent one for software documentation and the DITA movement is slowly catching up to the hype. I’ve never given up on DITA and had always planned to use it as the basis for the next stage of our content development, and as it happens the switch to a full DITA/CMS based solution may be closer than I had anticipated.

We have been considering how best to publish up to date information in keeping with patches and minor releases, and if we can tidy up and publish useful information from our internal Wikis and support system. The nature of the product we work with means there are a lot of different usage patterns, not all of which we would document as they fall outwith typical (common) usage.

So, how to publish formal product documentation, in-line with three versions of the product, in PDF for ‘printed’ manuals, JavaHelp to be added to our product, and HTML to be published to a live website alongside other technical content (ideally maintained in the same system as the product documentation). Storing the content as XML chunks also allows us to further re-use the content programmatically (which can be tied into our product in a smarter, dynamic, fashion).

The obvious answer is single source using DITA to structure the content, storing the content as XML to give us the greatest potential avenues for re-use. Nothing particularly startling there I know, but it’s a switch from the direction we had been considering. So I’ve been catching up on what’s new in DITA-land and have to admit I’m a little disappointed.

We already have FrameMaker and Webworks in-house, although both are a couple of versions old, and thinking we might keep using those applications I’ve been hunting about to see if I can find a solution that offers a coherent, end-to-end, story. There are several CMS solutions which require an editor, editing solutions which require a CMS, and a few products that straddle both CMS and editing but then require publishing engines.

I understand that it would take a collaboration between vendors to be able to offer a simple, seamless solution

In addition to that there does seem to be a tendency for any DITA focused solution to remain the remit of the overly technical. Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy delving into XML code, hacking elements, or running command line scripts to get things done. But surely I shouldn’t have to resort such things? Now, I’m sure there are many vendors who will tell me that I don’t need to worry, but I’ve seen several demos and all of them miss a part of the FULL story.

Come on then vendors, stick your necks out. If you are a CMS provider, then recommend an editor. If you sell editing software then talk nice to a CMS vendor and start promoting each other (yeah Adobe, I’m looking at you!).

And yes, I’ll happily admit that maybe I’m just not looking closely enough. If only there was some sort of technical community website that I could join, perhaps with a group or two on DITA? That’d be great.

Ohhh wait. There is! (not the most subtle plug in the world, was it? I think the new Content Wrangler communities could be a big hit, do check them out).

Have a got the wrong end of the stick, are there really gaps in the market in this area at present or is it just my imagination? I guess I’ll be running a fair few evaluations over the coming few weeks and, of course, I’ll post my thoughts and findings here.

Having been off ill for a couple of weeks, almost completely off-line for that time, I’m still catching up with work and my blog reading. The beauty of monitoring RSS feeds is that all I need to do is check through my unread items list in Google Reader and, finally, it’s approaching zero.

Over on the right you can download a file which contains links to all the RSS feeds I monitor (it’s an OPML file and most RSS feed reading applications will be able to import it). That said I am always on the lookout for more good quality blogs in the area of technical communications, design, information development and anything else that may be of interest. If you have any favourites you think I, and everyone else, would enjoy, please let me know by leaving a comment.

There is another reason for this, namely that I’m about to start writing a monthly summary of what is going on in the technical communications blogosphere. And that’s the last time I’ll be using that horrible word.

Having been ill for a couple of weeks I’m just catching up with my reading list and there have been some fascinating posts and articles to read. Quite a few of them struck a chord and I’ll need to give them some more thought before I tackle them myself but all in all it’s a pleasure to be able to read such insightful posts from some very smart people. Ain’t blogs wonderful.

The agile technical writer
An excellent write up of the typical processes followed by a technical writing team in an Agile environment. It’s good to read this kind of thing, as it matches roughly what we do so… we must be doing it right?

In a similar vein I’ve recently written up an article for the ISTC Communicator magazine which outlines what I consider an average day in my working life. Naturally there is no such thing but the things I do, and the processes I follow match Sarah’s.

Interesting quote from Matt Haughey

My ideal blog engine company would hire some seasoned blogger and technical writer to be a documentation czar, keeping docs up to date when new versions are launched, produce screencasts for introductory users, and provide complete documentation at a stable URL that applies to every version of the product.

Moving legacy documentation to DITA
Scott pointed out this interview with Joann Hackos and, as ever, she offers sensible advice, particularly as I’m in the midst of planning such a move (to AuthorIT, not DITA):

Among your previously existing information, some of it we may call legacy because it documents products that are not changing much. Much of this information isn’t worth changing. There’s low value in converting or updating it.

The History of Visual Communication

Visual communication is the communication of ideas through the visual display of information. Primarily associated with two dimensional images, it includes: art, signs, photography, typography, drawing fundamentals, colour and electronic resources.

I’ve not read more than a couple of pages but this is fascinating and worth a look if you are at all interested in information design of any type.

Developing documentation, the FLOSS way.
Found on the DMN blog, this looks at the creation processes for documenting Open Source Software:

The common challenge is to create useful FLOSS documentation in a timely manner. The documentation must be continually updated as the software and projects evolve. It must be simple to understand yet comprehensive. The documentation must be easily translated into dozens of languages. It must be easily revised and distributed in a variety of display and publishing formats (HTML, PDF, PostScript, etc.).

Some handy tips and thinking points for anyone looking to streamline (and speed up) their content creation processes.

Writing in times of resource constraints
Mike Hughes offers some sage advice with some business perspective applied to the resourcing issue many of us face:

If your resources are tight, ask yourself whether you are writing the essential stuff at a level of quality users will notice

“Good enough” documentation is a reality that many of us don’t like to admit, but there are good reasons to understand when it is applicable to use that benchmark.