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DITA

DITA stands for Darwin Information Typing Architecture and refers to a specific XML schema or structure for creating content. Think of it as a template for filling out the essential parts of help. I don't currently use DITA, but in the past I compared DITA with Jekyll and other tools, and explored some of the shortcomings of DITA's information architecture.

The following content is in the dita category:

What is a DITA Content Management System (CMS)? guest post by John Baker

Markdown or reStructuredText or DITA? Choosing the right format for tech docs

Xeditor, a CMS editor for XML content

Lightweight DITA article in Technical Communication Journal

Is the only way to plug into a documentation CCMS through DITA/XML?

The problem with adopting bleeding-edge tools

LearningDITA.com: A new online learning resource for DITA by Scriptorium

Listen to Ed Marsh's Content Content podcast with me as a guest

How to design documentation for non-linear reading behavior

Recording and slides from "Jekyll vs. DITA: Bridging the Gap Between Tech Comm and the Web" presentation

Upcoming presentation: Jekyll versus DITA: Bridging the Gap between Tech Comm and the Web

Final analysis between DITA and Jekyll

Producing PDFs in DITA versus Jekyll

Reviewing content in DITA versus Jekyll

Creating links in DITA versus Jekyll

Building a table of contents with DITA versus Jekyll

Creating re-usable chunks (conref) in Jekyll versus DITA

Variables and conditional processing in Jekyll versus DITA

Check out Ed Marsh's podcast, and also My New series: Jekyll versus DITA

10 reasons for moving away from DITA

Top 10 posts, podcasts, tweets of 2014 -- and what it all means

Various Site updates: Added third column with dynamic sidebar, and more

DITA: Glossary terms and acronyms

Dynamic content filtering with OxygenXML's webhelp output

Add a mini-TOC to your OxygenXML webhelp topics

Flat file systems versus database models for help

The Author Experience -- Interview with Rick Yagodich

Simplifying DITA authoring by using a Markdown to HTML to DITA workflow

API Doc presentation slides and recording (San Francisco STC chapter)

Import DITA's XHTML Output into WordPress

Why developers will never adopt DITA

Two major Confluence problems: poor content re-use and lack of wiki markup

Using collapsible sections to bring tasks and concepts together (DITA)

Adding code comments through a sliding jQuery Sidr panel (DITA)

Using WordPress natively for single source publishing and conditional content

Challenges in using WordPress for publishing DITA content

Author in DITA, publish with WordPress

Woes of conditional text and topichead elements (DITA best practices)

Benefits of tool diversity, part II

Is tool fragmentation in tech comm a good thing?

Reviewing draft DITA content with subject matter experts: 6 essential points

My DITA quick reference guide (QRG)

Writing documentation in an interactive world: Some thoughts on using easyDITA and OxygenXML

Content Re-use is so much better with DITA (and esp. with OxygenXML)

What does DITA-structured help look like?

Complex tools versus simple tools

DITA: Nested subheadings and the concept element

DITA: Limitations with the chunk="to-content" attribute in relationship tables

DITA hierarchical links, related links, short descriptions, and one-folder organization

DITA: Why DITA, metadata, working in code and author views, and relationship tables

DITA: Folder hierarchy, conref, mapref, and more

My DITA journey begins

Dita Von Teese to give keynote at DITA North America 2014 Conference

DITA's output does not require separation of tasks from concepts

The appeal of DITA

Three Books on DITA

WordPress Tip: Merging Worlds: DITA and WordPress

About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.