Mapping from custom XML to DITA
If you were an early adopter of structured content, there’s a good chance that you have a custom XML content model. This article describes the process Scriptorium uses to make a shift from custom XML into DITA.
Dita
Developing a strategy for learning content
Learning content is any material used for educational purposes, including e-learning courses, training guides, instructor guides, instructional videos, and more. This might represent the bulk of the content you produce, or it might be just one part of your overall content set. Either way, it’s important to develop a plan for creating, updating, and delivering learning content as efficiently as possible. Here are some tips for addressing learning content as part of your content strategy.
LearningDITA: a free online resource
Are you considering a transition to DITA XML and wondering where to get started? LearningDITA.com provides free e-learning courses on the foundational aspects of DITA. Each lesson includes instructions, practice exercises, and quizzes to test your knowledge, supplemented with additional resources.
Improving DITA workflow
An organization’s first foray in DITA and structured content is most often driven by one of the following:
- Merger or acquisition: After a merger, the organization needs to refactor content workflows and so they decide to move into structured content and DITA.
- Localization: The organization is growing and needs to ramp up content production in many languages.
- Smart content: The organization recognizes content as a key business asset and wants to wring maximum value out of the content lifecycle.
LearningDITA Live 2020 recordings
All of the 2020 LearningDITA Live sessions were recorded and uploaded to a YouTube playlist for your convenience!
If you had to miss this year’s conference for some reason, or missed a session you were interested in, you can go back and watch.
Thank you for being a part of LearningDITA Live. We hope you enjoy the 2020 sessions!
Reuse with the Learning and Training specialization
You have your technical content in DITA, and you are reaping the benefits of reuse. Now it’s time to move your training content over, but it’s a little confusing to figure out how to structure your content with DITA Learning and Training elements. How can you best set it up to facilitate reuse with your existing DITA content?
LearningDITA updates
LearningDITA.com got a makeover! We rolled out an update to the learning management system to give you a better user experience when taking the free courses.
LearningDITA: four years later
If you had told me in July 2015 that LearningDITA would have 10 courses and be available in three languages, I wouldn’t have believed you. Since the site’s initial launch, it’s grown from a single course to a major resource for those who need to learn to use DITA.
Migrating to DITA: convert or rewrite?
So you’ve decided to move your content to DITA. You want all the benefits of reuse and less expensive translation, and you’ve completed your content model. But now the question is, “What do we do with our existing content?”
High return on high-design in DITA
If you’re transitioning to DITA and have a wide variety of documents, it’s probably best to do a phased rollout. When you move into the second phase of that rollout, however, how can you best leverage the work that’s already been done to smooth the process?
New LearningDITA course: The Learning and Training specialization
We are rolling out the newest LearningDITA course: The Learning and Training specialization. The specialization is for creators of instructional material, and this course explains how to use it.
Conference recap: STC Summit 2018
I’ve been working at Scriptorium for almost four years, but last week was my first opportunity to attend a conference. I spent a good amount of time on the exhibit hall floor, but I was also able to attend presentation sessions.
That’s a wrap on LearningDITA Live 2018!
Last week, we hosted our first web-based conference, LearningDITA Live 2018. Thank you so much to everyone who attended the sessions — we had a total of 982 people who registered for the event!
Best of 2017: content strategy, localization, DITA, and more
Scriptorium wraps up 2017 with a look back at posts on content strategy, localization, DITA, and other content conundrums.
Revisiting the ROI of DITA
This post is part of Scriptorium’s 20th anniversary celebration.
Back in 2011, I wrote a post on how to calculate the ROI of DITA.
LearningDITA Q&A
Scriptorium is hosting a live, interactive question and answer session about the authoring courses on LearningDITA.com! Whether you want to go over a specific exercise or you just need some help getting started, bring your questions and join us for the discussion.
The learningAssessment DITA topic type
This post describes the DITA learningAssessment topic type and how to use it to create questions and exercises for your students.
Beyond production: DITA transformations for QA
I’ve written in the past on how a QA mindset can improve the quality and consistency of your content. While having a robust test set and test plan are useful, there’s another tool that you can use.
Using the learningContent DITA topic type
A few weeks ago, the blog post DITA for learning content introduced the DITA Learning and Training specialization and described how the specialization can help those creating content for electronic delivery through a learning management system (LMS) or other eLearning tool. This post gives a more detailed view on the learningContent topic type.
LearningDITA.com survey
LearningDITA.com currently (as of writing this post) has eight courses and over 2,700 subscribers. So… How are we doing?
DITA for learning content: The Learning and Training specialization
Training organizations can use DITA for learning content. The DITA Learning and Training specialization makes it possible.
DITA to InDesign: getting your paragraph styles in order
Getting your DITA content into a high-design format like InDesign is a tricky prospect. The biggest stumbling block is the fact that there is no intrinsic link between your ICML and the template that you flow it into. In the end, your InDesign template (you’re using one, right?) is the most important part of a DITA to ICML workflow; it contains the actual styles that will control how your output appears.
New LearningDITA course: Publishing output from DITA sources
We are excited to announce our newest LearningDITA course: Publishing output from DITA sources. Our other courses show you how to create and reuse DITA content; this one shows you how to publish it to PDF and HTML.
LearningDITA: What’s new and what’s next
You asked and we delivered—LearningDITA.com now offers certificates for completing each of the courses. All you have to do is click the “Print Your Certificate” button at the end of a course, and you’ll have instant proof of when you finished it.