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Presented at DocTrain East 2007 Conference by Steve Manning, The Rockley Group -- Reuse has been (and continues to be) a best practice for the technical communications and training communities. Many companies are struggling with big translation localization expenses. DITA is the word most used when you ask about hot trends in the industry. What do the three preceding sentences have in common? Simple. Component-based content is part of the solution.So what is component-based content management? Thats what this session aims to help you understand. You will learn what component content management is, what the benefits are, and how it is currently being applied in different organizations. You also learn how a content component approach can help you solve your content issues.How important is component-based content creation and management? It has taken over from DITA as the most talked about subject in documentation. It is being used in many companies who have followed traditional methodologies for creating things like technical documentation, training materials, help systems and so on. But in the push to do things faster, cheaper, more flexibly, and for more people, companies are discovering that by moving to a component based approach, they can do things faster, cheaper and more flexibly. Some of the advantages they are gaining are in automating the production of outputs—getting PDF for print, PDF for online display, and HTML—with a single push of a button. Or, they are getting flexible content, where reuse is a matter of reconfiguring a list of topics, rather than cutting and pasting chunks of content between large binary files. Or they are beginning to manage extreme time frames, where panic used to be the order of the day come release time, and make release time something that is not so likely to turn hair gray.This session will describe content component management in detail and help you grasp the concepts needed to figure out if a move to component-based content can help you solve your content challenges.
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Understanding Content Component Management
Steve ManningPrincipal Consultant, The Rockley Group Inc.
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Agenda
Briefest intro to TRGAn introduction to CCMThe benefits/drivers of CCMSome scenariosWhat you need to consider for CCM
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The Rockley Group Inc.
2007
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The Rockley Group sample clients
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Component Content Management
Is the creation, management, and publication of content as individual chunks (components) that can be assembled into necessary outputsNot based on the outputs i.e., chapters
Is part of the solution in most of the projects we (TRG) work on
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Create components, output ???
Whatever you want!!!Components can be configured and reconfigured for different outputsTopics are assembled/related to create outputs through:
Virtual documentsMaps (DITA)Directory hierarchies in CM systemsOther linking mechanisms
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Why CCM
Key drivers:ReuseTranslation costsDITAStructure
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Reuse
A definite “Best Practice”Reuse content rather than duplicate itFocuses revisions to a single instance Promotes consistencyReduces time to create and maintain content
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Translation costs
Reduce costs by reusing translated components, just as you reuse the source language componentsReduce timelines by sequencing components through the translation process, rather than larger (chapters?) chunksSave money and time by automating formatting and output
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
DITA
A shortcut to get to XML and Topic-based architectureStuctureReuseOutput Automation
Increasing in popularity and application
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Structure
Repeatable patterns in content E.g., Procedure (title, description, steps)
Promotes consistencyEases the authoring process
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
BenefitsFaster time to marketBetter use of resourcesReduced creation, maintenance and production costsConsistent and accurate contentIncreased opportunity to innovateDecreased costs!!
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Some scenarios where CCM fits
Hardware documentationSoftware documentationGovernment policy and procedureFlight menus
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Hardware documentation
Products in a single product line have lots of common information, currently duplicatedTranslation costs soaring as languages are added
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Hardware documentation solution
CCMTopic-based approachTremendous savings in translation costs
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Software documentation
Content duplicated across productsContent duplicated across outputs (user guides, help, marketing)Collaborative authoring on all outputs
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Software documentation solution
CCMTopic-based approachDefined structures for consistencyUsing conditional text to output to user guides, help, and marketing from a single topic base
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Government policy and procedure
All information published on the web and in PDFDifferent audiences require different subsets of content - content is copied and pasted to create these varientsToo many different formats requiredHuge amount of boilerplate (like contact information) duplicatedTranslation time consuming
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Government policy and procedure solution
CCMTopic based approach – DITAEach different audience gets a different DITA mapMaps point to required topics from a library of topicsOutput to HTML and PDF automated
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Flight menus
Menus are printed for food service (first class and executive – of course!!) for all flights (hundreds)There are 4 “cycles” repeated throughout the year (Jan, May, Sept) use the same cycleMenus comprise food, wine, and miscellaneous itemsItems can appear on any number of menusMenus are copied and pastedChanges are time consuming (gotta find where items are reused)Formatting is time consuming (gotta fix every time you change an item)Timelines are being squeezed (more decisions being made at the last minute)
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Flight menus solution
CCMEach food item is maintained as a single componentRecipes point to required food items Cycles point to related menusCM system helps manage the relationships between cycles and menus, as well as recipes and food itemsFirst pass at formatting is automated, required only fine adjustments for output
What you need to consider
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Success is in the analysis
A successful implementation begins with a thorough analysis of your organization issues and needs
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Analyzing the content life cycle
Content is developed in many different ways, by many different people, and by many different departments.
Development may follow a predefined process or it may not, and if there is an established process, it may differ from department to department.
You need to examine your content life cycle and any issues associated with it.
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Perform a content audit
A content audit is an accounting of the information in your organization.
The purpose of a content audit is to analyze how content is used, reused, and delivered to its various audiences.
You need to understand how information—as well as the processes to create it—can be unified, eliminating the “cut and paste” method many authors employ in their attempt to unify content wherever possible.
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Create a content model
Consistent structure is vital!!!Create a structural model of your content that clearly describes the components and structureE.g.,
MenuFlightRegionFood Items
Food ItemName Description…
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Create a metadata model
You cannot reuse what you can’t find!!!Understand how authors will search for content to be reusedCreate a metadata/taxonomy strategy that ensure you will be able to find and reuse content
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Tools and technology
XML??DITA???AuthoringContent ManagementDelivery/publishing
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
XML??
You can take a component-based approach without XML, but it might be more difficultXML give you:
StructuresSeparation of content and format
Can take some time to implementHas a learning curve!!
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
DITA???
Very popularA nice shortcut to XMLStructures may not be sufficientHas a learning curveNo so easy to deal with (customize) stylesheets!!!
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Authoring
There are some excellent XML tools with varying degrees of support for DITAKey functionality
Ease of useMap/virtual document creationTag entryMetadata entry
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Content Management
Lots of CM systems to support CCMBoth installed and hosted (SaaS) Key functionality
Integration with editorsWhere used reportingLink managementGraphics managementMetadata management Search mechanismsWorkflowPublishing integration
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Delivery/publishing
Very important – your job is to deliver pdf, help, etc., not just componentsKey functionality
Integration with editors/CMOutput formats supportedGeneration of TOCs, Indexes, Xrefs, related topicsAutomation (hands off!!)Standards (open source)
