eliminating end game - how to be a hero and streamline documentation production

Eliminating END GAME

STC Houston

Tuesday, 13th March, 2007

http://www.webworks.com

Agenda

Introduction

What Did We Learn From You ?

What is “END GAME” ?

How to Get Rid of “END GAME”

Choosing a Strategy.

Create a Starting Point.

Becoming a Hero !

Q&A

http://www.webworks.com/



Introduction

20 + Years in Technical Publications

10 Years in Production Shops

10 Years in Publishing Software

Graphics

Content Management

Editing Tools

Publishing Engines

Document Conversion





The Boss

“I don’t understand what’s so difficult – anyone can write. All you have to do is create the content and then just publish it.”

The Reality

Standards

Software Products

Focus has been on creating the content and formats but not the publishing process.





“JUST PUBLISH IT”

Covers a lot of stuff..

Tight schedules

Increasing requirements

Limited budgets

Changing user needs

Lack of management understanding

Writers are tenacious.

“THE END GAME”





“END GAME”

Phrase Came From A Customer

Steps needed to create output formats (HTML, PDF, Online Help etc.)

Not about Content or Styling.

Repeatable for every release

Potential bottleneck (c.f. webmaster)





“END GAME” Can Be Your Worst Nightmare




How to Get Rid of “END GAME”.

Examine requirements Legacy content? Printed manuals? Images? Online format types? Other languages/locales? Lifetime of content? Update interval? Software budget?

Strive for automation No post-conversion edits Automate post-conversion steps Avoid visual Q/A requirements at end All errors identified by system




How to Get Rid of “END GAME”.

Avoid over-reliance on best practices. Flaws must be identifiable Enforce conformance up-front Avoid HTML lists unless enforced with structured editor

Track updates Keep previous version for “diff” analysis Compare conversion engine changes Compare content changes Simplifies final review Prevents future migration difficulties




Choosing a Strategy

Topic or document based?

Authoring environment?

Publishing system?




Choosing a Strategy

Topic or document based?

Topics require up front effort Documents are harder to reuse Smaller means more work DTD, Schema, or unstructured?

Choose wisely...




Choosing a Strategy


Adobe FrameMaker Large documents Powerful cross-reference and book operations Best of both worlds (XML and WYSIWYG)




Choosing a Strategy


Microsoft Word Available across enterprise Reduced training cost MS Office integration




Choosing a Strategy


Help Authoring Tools (HATs) Online Help centric Low software cost Editing and delivery in one environment.




Choosing a Strategy

Publishing system?

Standardized/productized Open architecture Content Management System Integration Ability to maintain Total cost of ownership Support for new formats (i.e. Vista) Automation/workflow flexibility





Create simple style template Headings Lists Bullets Note/alert styles





Create sample use cases Images Tables Print vs. online Popup, glossary, etc.




Becoming a Hero !




Becoming a Hero !

Ultimate goal

Free the writer Focused on content not tool used Provide ability for individual publishing

Peace of mind for management Means for tracking content Regular scheduled build runs Means for adapting to future requirements




The Three Components

Map Document Style to Output Style

Source + Map = On Demand Publishing

Lights Out / Hands Off for Automation

Output




Work Flow – Developing The Rules

Styles Template

Document Designer

Document Style = Output Style




Work Flow – On Demand Publishing

Source Documents

Writers / Production

Output

Source + Map




Work Flow – Automation

Source Documents

CMS

OutputOutput

Lights Out / Hands Off




Work Flow – Overview

Source Documents

Styles Template

Output

Document Style = Output Style

Source + MapLights Out / Hands Off




How Do We Fit In? – The Commercial

ePublisherExpress

ePublisherAutoMap

Stationery

Source Documents

Styles Template

ePublisherPro

Output




WebWorks RoundUp 2007

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Q & A

ANY QUESTIONS ??



Alan J. PorterDirector of ServicesQuadralay Corporation

.9101 Burnet Road, Suite #105

Austin, Texas. 78758

Tel: 512-719-3399 x232

Cell: 512-968-7362

[email protected]

eliminating end game - how to be a hero and streamline documentation production

Technology

hands offhttp

end game

document based

starting point

strategyauthoring

create

online

formats