Category: Templates & tags help authors

Using line-based diff and merge tools can result in invalid files or missing content. XML-aware merge tools avoid these problems.

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.

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.

Distributed version control could make collaborative XML authoring faster, more reliable, and clearer. But the piece that’s missing from regular DVCS setups is an XML-aware merge tool. Project: Merge fills this gap. Here’s how I got it working with Mercurial in SourceTree on a Mac.