In continuation of our first webinar, Part 2 of the Cheaper, Faster, Better DITA series will walk through a simplified example of how to construct a DITA architecture for a documentation set. The example will demonstrate how the right approach will simplify DITA authoring, managing, and publishing content.
2. Welcome!
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12. Define User Experience
• Develop Personas
– Representative
customers
• Task Analysis
– Lifecycle of product
from customer
perspective
– Specific tasks,
connected to personas
13. Finding: Distinct Audiences
• Jake – End User
– Manual to big, not useful
– Context sensitive help too brief, frustrating
• Sam – Field Service Technician
– Insufficient detail
– Can’t lookup error codes quickly
– Procedures are confusing (inconsistent
with user interface)
14. Analyze Workflow
• Map of current content lifecycle
• Alignment of other related processes
• Opportunity assessment
22. Structural Elements – Maps
Name Based On Contains
Blocks
Owned by
UserGuide Bookmap Introduction
Chapters
Support Guide
Index
Tech Docs
ReferenceManual Bookmap Description
HowTos
Error Codes
Tech Docs
Feature DITA Map Description
HowTos
Error Codes
Configuration
Notes
Marketing
Tech Docs
QA
23. Block Elements – Topics and Concepts
Name Based
On
Contains Notes
Description DITA
Topic
Keywords
ShortDescription
MediumDescription
LongDescription
ShortDescription Topic –
Section
Paragraph Used in marketing
materials, User Guide,
Field Manual
MediumDescription Topic –
Section
Paragraphs Used in marketing
materials
LongDescription Topic –
Section
Sections
Paragraphs
Used in UserGuide
24. Inline Elements – Domains
Name Based On Notes
UI DITA UI domain Available:
Paragraphs
Table Cells
BrandElement Company specific
domain
Available:
Anywhere
Product names, etc.
Programming DITA programming Available:
Anywhere
Only using 6 of the
standard 25 elements,
added 3 custom
elements
25. Attribute Specializations
Name Based On Notes
@audience @audience Limit to following
options:
User
Technician
Internal-Only
QA-Team
@translate @translate Limit to valid language
codes (‘en,’ ‘fr,’ ‘de,’
etc.)
@legal_status @otherprops Required for specific
block elements (e.g.
copyright notice).
Values
(‘modified,’ ‘approved’)
26. Steps for Prototyping Specialization
1 Mock up representative content using generic DITA
2 Carefully review the existing domains and specializations
3 Remove as much as you can
4 Build the DTD
5 Revise mock up content with specializations
6 Iterate with SMEs
27. Specialization Best Practices
Know the public DITA specializations
Know the current DITA domains
Preserve DITA Open Toolkit architecture
28. Specialization Best Practices
Make sure DTD is easy to update
Support ‘default’ and ‘flexible’ formats containers
Create a DTD maintenance process
29. Questions and Next Steps
www.lr.com
Tom.Voltz@lr.com
Joan.Lasselle@lr.com
www.justsystems.com
sales@justsystems.com
1-866-793-1542