atw: Re: Replacing Word (Long...)
- From: "Rosemary O'Donoghue" <rosemary.odonoghue@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:48:45 +1000
I was interested in DITA because someone had suggested it would enable the
flexible management of content that I was looking for. It seems there are
other solutions as well - thanks!
Rosemary O'Donoghue
TechWriting
Clarity out of Complexity
Mob: 0419 24 3636
rosemary.odonoghue@xxxxxxxxx
www.businessprocesswriting.com
_____
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rhonda Bracey
Sent: Thursday, 28 April 2011 11:59 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Replacing Word (Long...)
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
www.businessprocesswriting.com <http://www.businessprocesswriting.com/>
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