Led by Frank Miller
Duration: two days

Now receive the Introduction to DITA: A User Guide to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture book free with registration to this workshop.

The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an information architecture that presents a powerful solution for the information developers. DITA provides information developers with a standard approach for creating topic-based information and assembling topics into books or other outputs. Topic-based and task-oriented information provides end users with organized and comprehensible solutions for their needs.

Why call it DITA?

Darwin - DITA provides a single-sourced information model that can be specialized to account for your particular authoring needs.

Information Typing - DITA was designed to create technical information based on a core information architecture using concept, task, and reference.

Architecture - DITA provides a framework for designing and delivering technical content efficiently.

DITA provides you with an open source, OASIS standard to support topic-based authoring of well structured content. Out of the box, DITA encompasses three primary information types (concepts, tasks, and reference) that provide a structure amenable to most technical information. And it provides a mechanism for extending the structure through specialization to meet your industry's needs.

In this workshop, you learn that DITA is a standard for authoring topic-based technical information, that using DITA provides significant business advantages, and that you can get started immediately with the DITA Open Toolkit.

Who should attend?

This workshop is designed as an introduction to DITA. It is meant for those who need to implement structured documentation, including writers, editors, information architects, and their managers.

You will learn to

In the workshop, participants will learn to

• build a business case for moving to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture
• apply DITA concepts and methodology
• design and create information using a topic/task-based structured writing approach
• use XML markup with DITA elements and the importance of the DITA elements to information development
• understand the purpose of DITA maps and how to create them
• create relationship tables
• recognize the need for specialization in DITA
• evaluate XML editing tools and use the DITA Open Toolkit

Workshop Description

Part 1: Making a business case for DITA

Learn why DITA is the most cost-effective and efficient solution for moving to an XML topic-based information architecture.

Activities

• Discuss the DITA standard and why a standard architecture is a good move
• Review a sample business cases to sell DITA to management
• Discuss open source software and its benefits
• Introduce specialization subgroups for DITA. These are industry-specific initiatives to extend DITA to specific industries like telecommunications, semiconductor development and manufacturing, ISO standard policies and procedures, and more
• Discuss topic-based architectures, why they are different from books, and what the benefits are for moving to a topic-based environment

Part 2: Learning DITA basics

Learn the DITA basics and resources available for more information.

• Discuss the basics of DITA DTDs including the four base DTDs and the map DTD
• Learn about the stylesheets that are included in the DITA package
• Know the references that DITA beginners can use to answer questions
• View the OASIS site and the XML coverpages site

Part 3: Writing in DITA

Learn about writing in DITA using the standard XML elements. Following an introduction to XML, you practice writing DITA topics and constructing DITA maps.

Activities

• Learn how to plan your projects using a topic-based architecture
• Specific output using DITA mapping
• Create a reuse matrix
• Mark up a variety of DITA topics, including reference, task, and concept, using the standard elements
• Develop a DITA map and view a map in an XML editor
• Discuss what happens when you embed a DITA map into another map and why you would want to do so
• View relationship tables. Show the input to a relationship table and what happens upon output
• Using a completed deliverable, create a relationship table to understand the concept
• Discuss specialization, what it is, and why it is an essential part of DITA
• Demonstrate how specialization enforces a specific structure in an XML editor

Part 4: Using DITA tools

Learn more about the DITA OPen Toolkit and what technology is provided by industry XML and content management vendors.

Activities

• Discuss the requirements for selecting an XML editor
• Introduce the editors available and discuss their features, focusing on how the features benefit DITA
• Introduce the DITA Open Toolkit and demonstrate downloading it
• Discuss the additional open source tools that are needed to get the toolkit up and running
• Discuss the basic steps to install the toolkit
• Demonstrate how to get output using the DITA Open Toolkit

To register for this workshop, please visit the registration page.

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