atw: Re: Replacing Word (Long...)
- From: Rhonda Bracey <rhonda.bracey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:58:43 +0800
Sorry for the confusion! I agree that Author-it is not a DITA authoring tool.
I was responding (too fast, obviously!) to the plea for a single-sourcing
authoring tool that can replace Word. DITA is one solution. Other solutions to
the nightmare of maintaining the same content in multiple documents is an
authoring tool designed for single sourcing that allows editing/writing in a
Word-like environment. Hence my immediate response of Author-it. Other
authoring tools do this too, but perhaps with not quite the same sophistication
or finesse.
Rhonda
Rhonda Bracey
rhonda.bracey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.cybertext.com.au<http://www.cybertext.com.au/>
CyberText Newsletter/blog:
http://cybertext.wordpress.com<http://cybertext.wordpress.com/>
Author-it Certified Consultant
________________________________
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Anthony Self
Sent: Thursday, 28 April 2011 9:28 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Replacing Word (Long...)
Hi everyone
Interesting conversation.
Just to clarify, though, Author-it supports some DITA-like features, but is not
a DITA authoring tool. It uses a proprietary format that only allows "lossless"
interchange with other Author-it repositories. It has a very limited DITA
export function, and it allows you to build structured content models similar
to those of DITA. Apart from that, it has no DITA functionality.
There are many really good DITA authoring tools, but Author-it is not one of
them. That's not to say that Author-it is not a good authoring tool. It is. But
it is not a DITA tool, and users cannot therefore take advantage of many of the
benefits that DITA offers to technical communicators.
Tony Self
>>> Rhonda Bracey 28/04/11 11:00 AM >>>
Answer: Author-it
Rhonda Bracey
rhonda.bracey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.cybertext.com.au<http://www.cybertext.com.au/>
CyberText Newsletter/blog:
http://cybertext.wordpress.com<http://cybertext.wordpress.com/>
Author-it Certified Consultant
________________________________
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rosemary O'Donoghue
Sent: Thursday, 28 April 2011 8:40 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Replacing Word (Long...)
Thanks, Ken. What I?m wondering is if someone has made DITA (or another tool
that achieves the same thing) user-friendly, such that you don?t need to be too
IT-literate to use it. In a lot of the places where I?ve worked, some text
(such as a safety warning) is re-used in several documents. When changes are
made to the wording (as invariably happens), it becomes a labour-intensive
nightmare to update the myriad of documents containing that text. Or, for
example, if the company is taken over by another, and logo changes are required
on all documents, can document management systems automate that change? I?m
wondering if there is a product out there that does these sorts of things, or
whether someone needs to create one.
Because so many people are relatively comfortable with MS Word, it seems to me
that the system should at least ?appear? to work like Word, but with added
features.
Rosemary O?Donoghue
TechWriting
Clarity out of Complexity
Mob: 0419 24 3636
rosemary.odonoghue@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:rosemary.odonoghue@xxxxxxxxx>
www.businessprocesswriting.com<http://www.businessprocesswriting.com/>
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