Project highlights

Choosing publishing
tools

Consulting

We help our clients reduce publishing costs by improving their publishing workflows. We begin with a thorough assessment of the existing workflow and its best and worst features.

You may have already identified problems in your company's workflow, such as the following:

• Cost of localization and associated desktop publishing
• Requirement to deliver more and more custom versions of the content
• Requirement to provide XML content due to regulations or customer demands
• Linking supply-chain members by providing reusable content
• Requirement to conform to an externally defined standard (such as a military standard, DocBook, DITA, SPL, S1000D, or others)
• Problems with document consistency
• Requirement to deliver content in multiple media
• Inefficiencies of existing processes and tools, resulting in high costs, delivery delays, and document errors

We look closely at each client's situation, including the following:

• Number and type of content contributors
• Staffing: Contract or permanent? Typical tenure? Current skillset? Reaction to change?
• Existing technology infrastructure
• Needs and wants
• Resource constraints
• Deadlines
• Security and classification issues

We can then develop, deploy, and configure a publishing system that meets your requirements. We strongly recommend including documentation and training as part of any change in your publishing workflow. Documentation ensures that design decisions and the overall system are captured for future maintainance. Customized, private training ensures that we transfer the knowledge needed for system maintenance to your staff.

Each customer has different requirements, and each implementation is unique. However, there are some common challenges, which are described in the next few sections.

XML publishing and structured authoring implementation

XML-based publishing offers the promise of better, faster, and cheaper documentation delivery. It also requires content creators to change how they work. For an overview of XML, take a look at our XML and Structured Authoring white paper.

Our implementation methodology ensures close collaboration with you during every step of the process. You can read more in our Managing Implementation of Structured Authoring white paper.

We build XML-based publishing systems using open standards (such as DITA or DocBook) and our own DocFrame environment. In many cases, though, we create custom structures that precisely match client requirements.

Single sourcing and multichannel publishing

Many single-sourcing workflows are now built on an XML foundation, but we can also assist you in implementing single-sourcing using unstructured tools, such as FrameMaker, InDesign, WebWorks Publisher, MIF2GO, AuthorIT, and others.

Custom document publishing

Many web-based software applications have user interfaces that change based on each user's roles and permissions. This presents a significant challenge for the accompanying user assistance (online help). We can help you create user assistance in which the content, like the software, changes based on each user's settings. Read more and see a demo in this article.

Other services

Our other consulting services include assistance with legacy document conversion, tools selection, and template design.

For more information, please contact us at sales@scriptorium.com or 919-481-2701 x105.