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Play nicely, and share your code
Monday, November 27, 2006 — posted by Sarah
[updated to fix broken link]Quadralay's new ePublisher Pro was released with, shall we say, minimal documentation. The user guide describes how to manipulate the basic interface, but details on how to go under the covers and customize the XSL transformations that make up the core of the product are absent.
It appears that the company is trying to address this shortcoming with a wiki. There are some concerns about this approach, though. Char James-Tanny points out that "no one seems to have the rights to any of the material that's posted." And Bill Swallow writes this in waxing techcomm: "If the intent is to supply users with a means of online support/reference, I think it would be best to triage the contributed content, have it validated by a company representative, and then published."
I think the wiki approach raises a larger question--how much documentation should a product creator be responsible for? A product like ePublisher Pro provides a configuration platform--the customization possibilities are endless. For advanced customization, ePublisher Pro is more comparable to a software development environment than a menu-driven application. Documenting a "development platform" is very, very tricky.
Nonetheless, there are some things that Quadralay should have provided and hasn't. These include:
- An inventory of the XSL transformation files provided with the product and an overview of what each file does.
- Examples of how to perform common customizations that cannot be accomplished inside the user interface.
- Documentation of the Quadralay-provided XSLT extension functions.
Quadralay has tried before to put the expert user community to work (anyone remember the WebWorks Publisher forums on their web site?). But speaking as a consultant, I'm not likely to post into the wiki when the ownership of that code is so unclear. Furthermore, we already have the wwp-users mailing list, which has over 3,000 members. Why bother with the wiki?
Finally, there is a massive disclaimer as part of the wiki:
All projects, code snippets, suggestions presented in this medium are colloborative [sic] materials expressed by both Quadralay personnel and WebWorks power users. Material taken from this medium and implemented into your existing production workflow or testing environments should be carefully considered and is done at your own risk. Although our product support consultants can and will place material on this medium to faciliate collaboration between Quadralay and its customers, Support Incidents submitted through webworks.com regarding issues with implementation of this material will not be accepted. Support for the implementations expressed here will only be supported through this medium.In other words, if you use information posted on the wiki by Quadralay to customize your project, and it doesn't work, Quadralay support will not help you.
Boo.
I understand the concerns surrounding wikis and the ability of anyone to edit a page, but it seems this could actually be resolved quite easily. The wiki can be set up with Official and Unofficial pages. Official pages are built by Quadralay employees, are editable only by Quadralay employees, and Quadralay support will provide support for those pages. Unofficial pages are those created by ePublisher Pro users; they are the "use at your own risk" section of the wiki.
1:20 PM Permalink | |
The agony and the ecstasy of open source: our new calendar
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 — posted by Alan Pringle
In addition to our redesigned front page, we are also creating a searchable calendar to make it easier to get information about upcoming classes and events. The calendar isn't linked on our web site yet because I'm still hammering out a few things, but you can get a sneak preview. Let me know what you think (or if you have any problems with the calendar display).After poking around the web and researching various options, I settled on using the open source PHP iCalendar. Overall, my experience has been quite positive: the amount of time it has taken to configure and customize the scripts for the calendar pales in comparison to the time it would take to set things up from scratch. I learned a thing or two (or three) about PHP scripts, so that's good.
However, my work on the calendar has included some "learning experiences." The documentation for PHP iCalendar is very basic and sometimes inaccurate. For example, the documentation stated that if I placed several folders of files on our web server and set permissions on those folders, I should be able to see a sample calendar. Not so. After about 30 minutes of digging around forums and researching through Google, I discovered the release I was using had a setting in the configuration file that would prevent the calendar from being displayed. Once that was fixed, I was able to see the sample calendar.
Customizing has been mostly by trial and error. Online forums for PHP iCalendar have information about some customizations, and the configuration file contains some helpful comments, but they do not take the place of solid docs.
I don't want to go on and on about the documentation, though: if you're going to use open source software, you really can't complain about the documentation and support (or lack thereof) that you didn't pay for. (But wouldn't you know it: a few forum posts were a tad huffy. Yeah, that's an excellent way to get support from volunteers.)
Creating the calendar and integrating it with our web site's design hasn't really had a lot of impact on other things here; the calendar is isolated from the other work we're doing. However, working with the calendar shows once again how important it is to thoroughly research, plan, and test any open source solution that would have a large impact on a company's workflow (DITA, anyone?). "Free" could be very costly without careful planning.
3:20 PM Permalink | |
A fresh coat of paint for the front door, er, page
Monday, November 20, 2006 — posted by Sarah
Finally, FINALLY we have found some time to update our web site's front page. We simplified the layout (no more nested nested nested tables), added a live feed from our blog, and did some general housekeeping. Please let us know what you think of the new look.For the most part, it's standard HTML/CSS, but we did use XSL to process our blog's RSS feed.
We are particular interested in getting feedback from those of you running non-Windows, non-Firefox, non-Internet Explorer systems.
A new calendar is also on the way. More on that later this week or next.
5:38 PM Permalink | |
A student reviews a web-based class
Thursday, November 16, 2006 — posted by Sarah
In the November 2006 newsletter of the STC UK chapter, Mark Buffery of Salford Translations writes about his experience with the web-based version of our XML and Structured Authoring class.The course consists of 4 half-day sessions (approximately 2 hours in length each), and is presented as a web-based meeting with all participants in direct communication with one another through a telephone conference call. This enables the tutor to field any questions raised during their presentations, as and when they are raised. Once logged on, each participant can view the tutor's screen in real-time as they demonstrate and talk them through the various functionalities being discussed. This was the first time I had ever attended a webinar, and I was not sure just how effective this would be.I firmly believe that, in theory, classroom training is better than web-based training. The trouble is that classroom training is also much more expensive than web-based training. Typically, the cost of travel (at least) doubles the basic tuition expense, and when you take into account the time spent traveling to and from the training site, costs are even higher. Web-based training allows you to fit the training into your regular workday. You do miss out on the many delights of the airport security line, but I think you can probably manage to contain your disappointment.
Being in direct vocal contact over the telephone was useful, and a better compromise than I had imagined (being used to the more traditionally reciprocal teaching environment of the classroom or lecture theatre). However, once we had been online for a few minutes, it did not seem so strange.If you're considering this or other courses with Scriptorium, please read his article for an overview of how things work from the student's point of view.
One common question that Mark does not touch on is class times. Our commitment to our students is that we will make every attempt to schedule the class so that class meetings are during regular business hours for each student. Most often, that results in an 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. meeting at our local time (U.S. East Coast). If we have only East Coast and European students, we move the time earlier; if participants are west of us, we move the time later. So far, we have not had any participants dial in from east Asia or Australia, but please feel free to sign up and we'll make sure we meet at a time that's reasonable for you.
8:48 PM Permalink | |
Baby Breeze
Monday, November 13, 2006 — posted by Sarah
Adobe announced the availability of Acrobat 8, which now includes Acrobat Connect, the Product Formerly Known as Breeze.The Product That Formerly Had a Non-Dorky Name is (or was) an online meeting/collaboration/elearning tool. But ex-Breeze (now Connect Professional. Boo) is quite expensive.
With Acrobat 8, though, Adobe is offering a low-end version of Connect, which Claudia McCue promptly dubbed Baby Breeze. For $400 per year, you get an "always-on," unmetered meeting room for up to 15 people. And a static URL. And a free conference bridge line.
We tried it out last week, and it is very very nice.
I'd like to see the ability to record meetings added to Baby Breeze. Other than that, I'm very impressed.
Right now, Adobe is offering a free trial (and if you convert to a paid account, you keep the URL you establish). If you have any need for web conferencing, take a look.
12:01 PM Permalink | |
Source, please?
— posted by Sarah
The DITA hype continues.The announcement for Arbortext 5.3 is almost completely focused on DITA, and in places reads more like a description of DITA than a press release about a new product. And in the middle, we find this item:
"PTC believes that by the end of 2008, up to 80% of all new XML publishing installations will be based on DITA." (press release at ptc.com)Is there research to back this up?
I find it very hard to believe that DITA is appropriate for 80 percent of all XML publishing implementations. Just consider the textbook and magazine publishing industries. Aerospace and pharmaceuticals both have non-DITA standard requirements.
(h/t Gilbane Report News)
11:13 AM Permalink | |
Online learning isn't just for colleges
Friday, November 10, 2006 — posted by Alan Pringle
A recent study found that the number of students in online college classes is still rising:Roughly one in six students enrolled in higher education - about 3.2 million people - took at least one online course last fall, a sharp increase defying predictions that online learning growth is leveling off.Cost savings play a big part in the continuing upswing for online learning at the college level, and that is true of our online classes, too. Neither the students nor the instructor need to book flights, rental cars, and hotel rooms, and those costs can be considerable. The financial incentives go a bit deeper than that, though. Each day of our online classes is about 4 hours (2 hours of interactive instruction and 2 hours of "homework" for the students), so students still have time to handle other job responsibilities. It also means our instructors have time to do other work here at our office. (And let's not forget the wear-and-tear associated with travel today: spending a lot of time on airplanes packed like sardine cans is no one's idea of fun.)
Overall, we've been pleased with our first year of online teaching. Even though having an instructor with you in the same room is probably the best way to learn software and technology, the cost of classroom training eliminates it as an option for many folks. We recognize that, and that's why we decided to offer online classes. Based on our experience so far, we feel they are an excellent compromise between do-it-yourself learning through books and the classroom experience.
8:50 AM Permalink | |
New York Times covers Target accessibility lawsuit
Monday, November 06, 2006 — posted by Sarah
This is the first mention that I've spotted in major media (my scans of said media are pretty spotty, though).Again, the reporting seems to break down to, "What [censored] was Target thinking?"
Most online stores go to great lengths to make sure that their sites are accessible to people with disabilities, simply because it is good business to allow as many people as possible to shop. And online-shopping technology specialists say it is not so difficult or costly a task.
About halfway through the article, it suddenly switches over to discussing accessibility in online education programs:
The issue has become critical because many online-only schools became eligible this summer to receive federal student aid. But to get such funds, organizations must adhere to regulations in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which has been updated to say that all Web sites of groups receiving federal money must be accessible to people with disabilities.Lots of interesting new information in the article. Read the whole thing.
5:49 PM Permalink | |
Is DITA right for you?
Thursday, November 02, 2006 — posted by Sarah
I've just posted a new white paper to our store.Assessing DITA as a foundation for XML implementation
Like our other papers, it's free. We do ask you to register to get the material.
I look forward to your comments.
10:14 PM Permalink | |
I'm not alone in my obsession...
— posted by Sarah
This blog features occasional digressions in ancient manuscripts, printing, and the like. So I'm delighted to find a similar tangent on words / myth / ampers & virgule:"The Museum Plantin-Moretus (Moretus was Plantin’s son-in-law) houses the oldest extant printing press (amid several other presses that are not much newer), punches cut by Claude Garamond himself, over six hundred manuscripts dating back to the ninth century, the company’s nearly complete business archives, and other treasures that earned the museum the designation of a world heritage site."Yes, Garamond was a person before he was a font name.
4:01 PM Permalink | |
Get heard by Adobe
— posted by Sarah
[updated to strip nasty Word HTML "tags"]I received a request from Adobe today to distribute a questionnaire:
The Product Management team at Adobe is working towards defining the future roadmap of its leading Technical Communication products.
For this purpose we are trying to collect ideas, feedback and inputs from the technical communication community. This is to request your help in tapping your network to collect some responses to the attached questionnaire. It would be very helpful for us, if you could make this questionnaire available to your clients, users and network.
It should take around 15 minutes to fill the questionnaire. The respondents can fill up either the PDF form (compatible with Adobe Reader 7) or type their responses in the MsWord document. The responses can be sent to me at aseem@adobe.com or Mahesh@adobe.com
Do you have feature requests for FrameMaker or RoboHelp? Here's your chance to send your complaints to someone who can do something about it:
Word version of survey
PDF version of survey
3:24 PM Permalink | |