Tom Voltz from Lasselle-Ramsay presents some of the most important but frequently overlooked architectural aspects of DITA that you can leverage to improve and simplify your DITA adoption process. The right DITA approach will
* dramatically decrease training costs
* increase consistency and accuracy of your content
* simplify your stylesheet customization
Proper implementation sets you up for success. Learn how in this first of a two-part series.
2. Welcome!
• Today’s event is being recorded – link available in follow-
up email
• Use Q&A panel to submit questions for Q&A session
• Full screen view available for slides
5. Overview for Today
• DITA done wrong and done right
• What does it mean to do DITA right?
• What makes DITA different?
• Compare two approaches to implementing DITA
• Why the “Right Way” is Cheaper, Better, and Faster*
*most of the time
6. Poll – Using DITA
Yes
No
Question: Are you currently using DITA?
7. Poll – Pilot vs. Production
Pilot
Production
N/A
Question: If currently using DITA, which phase are you in?
8. Poll – Specializing
Less than 25%
Less than 50%
Less than 75%
100%
Question: If using DITA, what percentage have you specialized?
9. Signs DITA is Done Wrong
• Long learning curve
• Lots of resistance
• Lack of semantic richness
• Inconsistent content
• Difficult reuse
• Extensive training required
… in other words, it costs more, takes longer, and
quality suffers!
10. When DITA is Done Right
• Easy for authors to learn
• Content is richer
• Content structure is consistent
between authors
• Content is easier to reuse
• Value of writers increases
… in other words, it’s cheaper, faster, and better!
11. What does it mean to do DITA right?
• Hide unnecessary complexity
• Use a customized toolset
• Don’t just use “DITA out of the box”
15. Burger, Burger, Fries — Specialized
• Simpler training
• Faster entry
• Higher accuracy
• Easier changes
• More accessible
information for new users
– Instantly notify the kitchen
– Track your inventory
– Track hourly trends
16. What Makes DITA Different?
• DITA Open Toolkit?
• Topic Based Architecture for Content
• Specialization
17. Yes, that Darwin
• The DITA architecture
was inspired by Darwin’s
concepts of
– Inheritance and
– Specialization
18. Instead of this
You can create this
What is Specialization?
<topic><title>Feature: Sortable List Items</title>
<topicbody><p>Now you can sort the items in a list by just dragging them
with the mouse…
</p>
<feature><title>Sortable List Items</title>
<featurebody><marketing_description>Now you can sort the items in a list
by just dragging them with the mouse…
</p>
20. Specialization Lets You
• Hide unnecessary complexity
• Create domain specific markup
• Create richer, more meaningful and more useful content
• Create content that is consistent in form and function
21. Seeing is Believing
• Example of writing something using “out of the box”
DITA vs. a specialization.
• Task
– Write a set of FAQs for the new product
– Deliver as HTML for web team
22. “Out of the Box” DITA
• Everything You Need!
• And Everything You
Don’t Need!
23. Compare Two Approaches
• Pilot Project
– 10 writers will use the system
– 2 writers to work with team during pilot
• Joe - priority is to get an early win, and proof of concept
working end to end.
• Mary - focus on initial analysis and include specialization
and tool tweaking as part of the pilot.
28. Specialization Myths
Myth 1
Myth 2
Myth 3
Myth 4
Myth 5
Only specialize if we have to
Use specialization to extend existing types
We’ll be stranded
It’s too difficult
We won’t be able to support it
30. Secrets to Cheaper, Faster and Better
DITA Implementations: Part 2
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
How to construct a DITA
specialization architecture for
a documentation set
31. Questions and Next Steps
www.lr.com
Joan.Lasselle@lr.com
Tom.Voltz@lr.com
www.justsystems.com
sales@justsystems.com
1-866-793-1542