One of the greatest benefits of using DITA is specialization. However, specialized DITA is more challenging and expensive to implement than standard, out-of-the-box DITA, which is something you should consider before you take the plunge.
Tips for developing a taxonomy in DITA
When you’re coming up with a metadata strategy for your content, you should start by developing a taxonomy, or a hierarchy used to organize metadata. A taxonomy will help shape your metadata strategy and make implementation of that strategy possible. In this follow-up post to … Read More
Unsung heroes of DITA (premium)
For some content developers—especially those using DITA for the first time—any features of DITA that go beyond the basics can seem intimidating. But sometimes, a special feature of DITA might be exactly what an organization needs to solve one of its content problems and save … Read More
The friendly guide to the scope, format, and type attributes in DITA
In testing one day, I was running a set of sample content through the DITA-OT, and much to my consternation, the build was succeeding, but generating no content. The error log helped to ferret out the source of the problem; the preprocessor was attempting to … Read More
Making metadata in DITA work for you
Metadata is one of the most important factors in making the most of your DITA XML-based content environment. Whether you’re converting legacy content into DITA or creating new structured content, it’s important to know what metadata (or data about data) your files will keep track … Read More
Conditional content in DITA (premium)
This post provides an overview of techniques you can use to handle conditional content in DITA. The need for complex conditions is a common reason organizations choose DITA as their content model. As conditional requirements get more complex, the basic Show/Hide functionality offered in many … Read More
Managing DITA projects (premium)
A DITA implementation isn’t merely a matter of picking tools. Several factors, including wrangling the different groups affected by an implementation, are critical to successfully managing DITA projects. Note: This post assumes you have already done a content strategy analysis, which determined the DITA standard … Read More
Webcast: Managing DITA implementation
In this webcast recording, Alan Pringle discusses key factors for DITA implementation success. Alan touches on the following issues: Good and bad conversion strategies Information architecture and content modeling issues Wrangling the various factions (authors, implementers, IT, and executives) CMS evaluation and vendor management
Webcast: DITA and content strategy
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe discusses content strategy and the role of DITA in content strategy.
Perplexed by complex syntax: understanding syntax diagrams in DITA
What DITA elements are available for syntax diagrams? And how does one go about using them?