In episode 97 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and Dr. Carlos Evia of Virginia Tech discuss the pros and cons of markdown.
“I think markdown has a huge user base because most people need to develop content for the web. But there’s a set of people that need to be working in something more structured for a variety of reasons, and those are the ones who use DITA.”
–Dr. Carlos Evia
In episode 96 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast, Elizabeth Patterson and Gretyl Kinsey talk about the importance of content governance.
“An important part of governance is knowing that changes can happen. Keep your documentation in a central place where everybody can get to it and understands how it’s updated. If you don’t, some groups may start creating their own and that can result in unofficial documentation that doesn’t necessarily capture what should be captured.”
–Gretyl Kinsey
Buyers are looking at your technical content and marketing content prior to the sale. To provide a unified customer experience, you need to integrate the two. Here are some resources to help you get started:
I’m pleased to introduce myself as the newest Scriptorium team member. I’m so excited to work in such a productive environment and join the efforts to help clients get the most out of their content.
[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_column _id=”3″ ][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”false”]Melissa Kershes, Technical Consultant, combines creativity and technology.
[/x_custom_headline][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”5″ ][cs_element_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_column _id=”7″ ][x_image type=”circle” src=”20351:full” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_element_column][cs_element_column _id=”9″ ][cs_text]Melissa creates and modifies DITA Open Toolkit plugins, creates element mappings for specializations, and evaluates tool chains to recommend improvements.
She has been working in software documentation for 25 years and understands the challenges of a technical writing team. Melissa uses her technical skills to create efficiencies for writers, so they can concentrate on content. She also uses her knowledge to improve the overall content experience for end users.
Melissa has a Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics from Holy Family University in Philadelphia.
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In episode 94 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast, Bill Swallow and David Turner of DCL take a look at content migration and discuss all of the players and parts involved.
“It’s not just about moving the content and loading it to the new system. You actually have to transform the content from the unstructured formats.”
–David Turner, DCL
Content operations (content ops or ContentOps ) refers to the system your organization uses to develop, deploy, and deliver customer-facing information. Rahel Bailie refers to it as the way that your organization operationalizes your content strategy.
Over at easyDITA, there’s a more aspirational definition, which includes the purpose of good content ops:
Content Operations — ContentOps — is the infrastructure that maximizes your content creators’ efforts and guards against procedural errors by automating as much of the content development process as possible.
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.
In episode 91 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast, Gretyl Kinsey and Simon Bate continue their discussion about using text strings and microcontent. This is part two of a two-part podcast.
“Make sure that their voice is heard. All groups that are using your strings need to have some input or have a way of communicating their needs to the organizations controlling those strings.”
– Simon Bate
In episode 90 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast, Gretyl Kinsey and Simon Bate talk about using text strings and microcontent. This is part one of a two-part podcast.
“They’re starting to get the idea of taxonomy and how important it is for all parts of their business to communicate using the exact same language. If this can be captured and put in one place, then those strings can be available to everybody.”
– Simon Bate
