dita webinar series - sdldownloadcentre.sdl.com/dita_and_content_ownership_webinar_marc… · dita...

DITA and Content Ownership: It’s all about the TOPICS

DITA Webinar Series

Collaborative Authoring in DITA, or: How We All Learned to Share

James HomEngineering Program Manager

© 2010 NetApp. All rights reserved. 3

Global Leadership

Broad solutions portfolio Comprehensive professional

services Global support Industry-leading partners 135+ offices around the world ~8000 employees Fortune 1000, S&P 500,

NASDAQ 100$1B

$3B

$4B

$2B

0706050403 08

FY09:$3.5 Billion*

09* Non-GAAP Revenue

3


Extend Efficiencies Everywhere

NetApp® FAS and V-Series

High-End SAN

Low/Midrange SAN

NAS

Disaster Recovery

Archive & Compliance

Backup

Virtualization

Industry Approach

All runData ONTAP®

Different hardwareDifferent softwareDifferent people

Different processes

Same hardwareSame softwareSame people

Same processes

▪One platform for all workloads▪ Learn once, deploy everywhere▪ Improve IT and business efficiency

4


Before DITA: Single writer owns one book

1990s technology:– Unstructured

Framemaker & Robohelp

1790s ownership:– One writer, one book– One work of content,

lovingly hand-crafted from start to finish

– Content used only in that book

– Writing groups focused on output formats

Image source: Wikipedia Commons


With DITA: Share and reuse the work

Now: Interchangeable parts:

“topics”– Multiple authors per deliverable– Content written for any output

format– Content reusable in multiple

deliverables


Writers own relationships and technologies, not books

Sunnyvale

RTP

Bangalore

Waltham

7

Pittsburgh


Component CM lets us share work globally: topics written once are used everywhere

Sunnyvale

RTP

Bangalore

8

WalthamPittsburgh


Writers manage groups of topics with submaps

Sunnyvale

RTP

Bangalore

9

WalthamPittsburgh


Publication captain builds deliverable using a master map

10

Publication Captain

Publication

Deliverable outputsMaster map


Collaboration requires additional communication between topic owners

11


Cross-global, cross-timezone communication via workflow states

12


DITA’s structure isn’t enough to ensure reusability

13

Writing style and usage DITA style and usage Editors ensure common voice Tools (Author Assistant) as

“Power Style Guide”

Style rules

Conrefs and Variables controlled in libraries

Conditions centrally managed and owned by the “Condition Maven”

Future: controlled vocabulary for translation

Shared constructs


Team representatives define process and content rules for the organization

Decisions affect the entire organization, so include representatives from each writing group, editors, and tools.

Ensures buy-in and coverage of all issues.

Need agreement otherwise can’t share everywhere.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Obama_Health_Care_Speech_to_Joint_Session_of_Congress.jpg�


The most important thing: Trust

Collaboration at this scale requires a high level of trust in your colleagues.

– Trust that their writing is good enough for your deliverable.

– Trust that they got the technical details right.

– Trust that they got the content edited and reviewed and fixed any errors.

Confidential. The material in this presentation is the property of Fair Isaac Corporation, is provided for the recipient only, and shall not be used, reproduced, or disclosed without Fair Isaac Corporation's express consent.© 2009 Fair Isaac Corporation. 16

Packages, Use Cases, and TopicsDefinitions and Artifacts to Facilitate Documentation Reuse

Tom GoeringFair Isaac Corporation

© 2009 Fair Isaac Corporation. Confidential.17

The Challenge

We need to manage:

» User tasks associated with product functionality

» Common tasks/functions shared across multiple products

» Product-specific tasks/functions

» DITA topics that support each task

» Reuse of topics that support common tasks

» Integration of common topics and product-specific topics in deliverables


Definitions

» PackageA container, representing an area of product functionality, that contains

use cases, and optionally actors, subsystems, and subpackages.

» Use CaseFor our purposes, we consider “use case” a synonym for the more

commonly understood “user task.” The official UML definition is: “A description of a set of sequences of actions, including variants, that a system performs that yields an observable result of value to an actor.” I don’t believe there is any inherent conflict with our usage.A use case is contained by exactly one package. However, a use case can “include” other use cases, from the same package or a different package.

» TopicA DITA topic, owned by exactly one use case.


Artifacts

» UML ModelsA model includes at least one package, actor, and subsystem, and can represent either a common functional component such as Case Manager or ADAM, or a business application.

» Repository FoldersThe Trisoft folders correspond to the packages

» MapsEach use case has a corresponding map, with references to the topics for the use case

» TopicsA topic supports exactly one use case.


UML Use Case ModelTree view shows hierarchy; diagrams show relationships

» Packages are hierarchical. A package that contains one or more subpackages is a “parent.” A package that is contained by another package is a “child.”


Use Cases Can “Include” Use Cases From Other Packages

» Use cases can “include” other use cases. When a use case includes another use case, the topics associated with the included use case must integrate cohesively with those of the including use case.


Folders in the Repository Follow the Package Structure

» Each “package” folder contains a “Maps” folder, which includes the map for each use case in the package


Ownership

An Information Architect owns the model Responsible for the package and use case definitions, including the

parent/child and include relationships.

A Writer owns a package (more likely many packages….)Responsible for developing the topics and maps associated with each

use case in the package.

A Publication Lead owns a deliverableResponsible for assembling the deliverable from the content in the

packages.


Other Ownership Responsibilities

The Information Architect:» Interacts with PM, the GAT, and Dev Leads to validate the model. » Communicates with package owners about the scope and purpose of the

package.» Communicates with Publication Lead to identify and fill any gaps in the

“story” for a deliverable

The Writer:» Interacts with SMEs for the package to obtain source material and reviews.» Communicates with the owners of any parent, child, and included packages

to ensure cohesion between related topics.» Communicates with Publication Lead to ensure the suitability of the topics for

inclusion in the deliverable.

The Publication Lead:» Interacts with Product PM to define the deliverable and obtain reviews.» Communicates with IA and Writer to ensure comprehensive and cohesive

content.

Chip Gettinger, VP, XML Solutions

Content Ownership andComponent Content Management

26

Content In Business

Images

Specifications

Video

Websites

Documentation

Service Manuals Brochures

User Interfaces

150 countries and many more websites Up to 24 languages 10% content growth per year Time-to-market issues Unable to reach local audiences Personalized documentation spiraling out of

control (over 500 per product) High Desktop Publishing (DTP) costs for printed

materials Hard to find the relevant parts

27

Contracting Product Life Cycles

Research & Development

Market Life

PRDInternational

ReleaseEnglish Release Shelf Life

Trad

ition

al

Research & Development

Global Revenue & Market Capture Life

Mod

ular

writ

ing

LocalizationAuthor Review Publish

Author Review Publish Localize

Key:

28

Content Ownership and Communication

How do you manage content ownership?How communicated to a global team?How do you manage changes over time? Business requirements Products User community

29

Component Content Management

30

Component Content ManagementManaging topic reuse ownership

• Reduces authoring effort

• Reduces mistakes

• Reduces review costs

• Reduces localization costs

• CCM defines ownership

• User roles

• Group membership

31

Component Content Management BenefitsMeet time to market challenges

See status of all objects to closely track to delivery date

32

Component Content Management BenefitsImprove customer satisfaction – always latest content

Automatic notification of newer versions

33

Component Content Management BenefitsClear ownership and audit trails

Track who makes changes to a Publication

34

Questions?

35

Thank You for Joining Us

For more information…Visit us on the web: www.sdl.com/xml

Join us for our next DITA webinar…

How to Achieve Dynamic Publishing with DITATuesday, April 27, 2010To register:http://www.sdlxysoft.com/en/news-and-events/events

dita webinar series - sdldownloadcentre.sdl.com/dita_and_content_ownership_webinar_marc… · dita...

Documents