How do you update over 900 topics into DITA?
Very carefully, of course!
DITA-fying our documentation is a learning
experience for our team. Although the project is still in the beginning stages,
we have learned a few things.
DITA makes organization clearer.
We previewed the change to a few stakeholders from the training, support, and operations departments. Their feedback was very positive. They like the clear separation of the different types of topics; they know where to find the type of information they want. It’s a cleaner way to organize the information.
Writing in DITA structure makes writing easier.
DITA incorporates a specific structure for each type of
topic. Part of the writer’s job is to decide what type of information you have,
then place it in the correct task section. Is it part of a task? A
pre-requisite?
My time estimates were too low.
I should have tripled, not doubled, my original
numbers. We found that for existing topics, we were not only analyzing on
whether we needed to keep the topic; we had to break the topics down into very small chunks. Then we analyzed whether the information
was presented in the best way.
The first point enables us to evangelize the teams –
especially Training – to DITA, and to our end goal of a shared Content
Management System.
Our presentations to the teams came at a good time. There
have been rumbling in the company about increasing information sharing and
DITA. Technical Publications is already a step ahead.
