Dramatic Flow
Effective writing tells a story
Real Live Metadata
Aboutness 1st; format 2nd
Structured Authoring
Templatized writing for humans
Everything Else
This, at least, is miscellaneous
Featured posts:
WYSIWYG wasn't just a comfort blanket. It helped writers do their jobs. For structured/web authoring, we can't go back, but must fill the gaps.
A mature approach to a structured content implementation has a clear idea of the benefits to be achieved
Recent posts:
"For truly futureproof content, we need to write well, use structural markers, and associate our chunks of information with external data."
Recording of a joint webinar with PoolParty's Andreas Blumauer.
French press brewing keeps the oils and makes great-tasting coffee, but it's messy to clean up afterwards. This easy method gives you the same taste with less fuss.
Using line-based diff and merge tools can result in invalid files or missing content. XML-aware merge tools avoid these problems.
The grammar police may criticise our doubleplusungood writing, but our loyalty should be with more plausible authorities — our global audience.
WYSIWYG wasn't just a comfort blanket. It helped writers do their jobs. For structured/web authoring, we can't go back, but must fill the gaps.
As tools designers, implementers, or authoring team managers, we have to do a better job of assuring authors when they're doing their jobs OK, and provide clear information on how to fix things if not.
Using a taxonomy makes you look again at what you are writing. You abandon information for its own sake, and instead shape content to fit your customers. Not only does their experience with search and navigation improve; what they find speaks directly to their needs.
Good visual communication is essential, yet graphics are often an afterthought in structured content implementations. We need a new approach to make them work well over an increasing range of screen sizes, devices, and contexts.
Well-thought-out content sets are like a good stew — each chunk has a distinct role. Carrots bring sweetness; potatoes, substance. In the same way, carefully designed information is served in purposeful pages whose structure reflects their intent.
An accessible way for authors, information architects, and schema developers alike to understand or refine a content model.
A mature approach to a structured content implementation has a clear idea of the benefits to be achieved
DITA makes things dramatically easier, but it does not remove the need to define your own processes and architecture. It was never intended to do so. You can't just fly your stuff from one place to another. The nature of the environment has changed. It's as dramatic as a frog's lifecycle from water to land. Put migration aside for now — your content needs to metamorphose, and you with it.
Recording of a joint webinar with PoolParty's Andreas Blumauer.