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writethedocs-authoring
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Topic-Based Authoring (TBA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topic-based_authoring
notes by @dcht00
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"Break docs into chunks":
Self-contained = non inter-dependant
Small
Reusable & Do not repeat yourself
...Units = Chunks = Fragments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DITA_Open_Toolkit
DITA was a standard proposed by IBM
XML dialect for authoring
3 types of chunks:
* task
* concept
* reference
+petr built some hacked docbook system that supports TBA (?)
With Drupal
<dcht00
"non-linear narratives"
problem for learning
This is what my software @middlemachine is doing!
Please get in touch with @dcht00
http://middlemachine.com
(site coming soon)
PROBLEM: narrative:
searching?
non-
how to maintain a narrative flow
@dcht00 has a project with "fragments" which are similar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DITA_Open_Toolkit
You create a content-specification
Most of IBM's docs is written this way
Problem: Constructing narratives
Q: What is a narrative?
--------
Narrative emerges through the way humans understand info.
"It's human to make sense out of random piece of information"
--------
Hyperfiction in DITA?
(getting more and more meta)
Q: What is documentation?
"If it's a training course, it's better to have a [fixed] story"
"Staccato text"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staccato
DITA could really help projects!
How would it be possible to have a user story
that starts as a ticket
and evolves through the full-lifecycle
all the way to code & documentation
"You could do this with DITA"
Inter-project collaboration!
Projects: Start sharing chunks!
DITA Tools:
DITA open toolkit -> generate PDFs, XHTML... -> https://dita-ot.github.io/
http://www.ditawriter.com/dita-related-software-tools/
[...]
DITA Conference:
http://www.infomanagementcenter.com/DITAeurope/2014/index.htm
Munich, 18.19. November 2014
Who's doing this?
"Any large organisation that is multi-lingual."
Examples / Learning DITA?
http://www.xmlmind.com/tutorials/DITA/
[...]
Transclusion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transclusion
"Sounds like DITA is more than just TbA"?
Yeah - it allows big organisations to collaborate.
In DITA you can create forms / structures / templates.
(Field Structures)