DITA Workshop Week

For companies implementing or evaluating DITA

How prepared are you to effectively implement or evaluate DITA? DITA success requires preparation and the DITA Workshop Week prepares you for success. Order now.

DITA Workshop Week delivers critical value to those moving to or evaluating using DITA. The workshops have been developed by Method M and by Suite Solutions, driven by customer needs for effective tools to evaluate, plan and successfully implement DITA.

Pick and choose the workshops that you need:

DITA Immersion Workshop.
Bare Bones – Minimalism and Topic Centered Writing.
Understanding and Using FrameMaker with DITA
XMetal – from Planning to Publishing to Maintenance
Using the DITA Open Source Toolkit

Read feedback from workshop participants.

DITA Immersion Workshop

Your first step in implementing/evaluating DITA. You will learn key DITA concepts, technical skills, best practices, and how to analyze and quantify your investment in DITA. Course modules include authoring topics, reusing content using components and content references, organizing content using DITA Maps, using conditional text to publish personalized content with “just enough” information, and specialization. We will start and complete a project during the workshop using the DITA Open Toolkit. Presented by Katriel Reichman of Method M. Full details.

Bare Bones – Minimalism and Topic Centered Writing

The Bare Bones workshop helps you focus on delivering the information that your customers need to reach their goals. You will learn how to anticipate what information is needed and how readers will use that information. Bare Bones continues with methods for organizing information, speeding preparation, checking for effective use, replacing jargon, simplifying complex language, shortening documents, avoiding ambiguities and proofreading for quality. Presented by Katriel Reichman of Method M. Full details.

Understanding and Using FrameMaker with DITA

This workshop covers installing and configuring the FrameMaker DITA Application Pack and how to author and publish DITA using FrameMaker. We will review the Application Pack components and their function: configuration files, template, EDD, struct files, input/output rules, and more. You will gain experience authoring topics, assembling and maintaining maps, and publishing via the DITA Open Source Toolkit. We will discuss methods for conditional publishing and adding DITA specializations to App Pack files. Differences between the FM 7.2 App Pack, DITA-FMx Plug-in and FM 8 DITA support will be reviewed. Presented by Joe Gelb of Suite Solutions.

XMetal – from Planning to Publishing to Maintenance

TThis workshop provides you with the tools that you need to create, edit, publish and maintain DITA content with XMetaL Author. You will gain hands–on experience in creating topics, assembling topics in DITA maps, linking between topics, setting relationships between topics, automating related topics links using relationship tables, publishing content with filtering, setting and using conditions, and reusing content. The workshop equips you to succeed using XMetal. Presented by Katriel Reichman of Method M. Full details.

Using the DITA Open Source Toolkit

This workshop gives you the knowledge and experience you need to publish DITA content to multiple formats using the DITA Open Source Toolkit (DITA-OT). We will present a clear overview of the DITA-OT components and their function, as well as how to install them. You will learn how to create build files and run them using Ant to produce different outputs, filter your maps using ditaval files, and gain an understanding of the log files generated. The workshop includes examples and hands-on exercises. Presented by Joe Gelb of Suite Solutions.

Get full details in PDF.

The DITA Workshop Weeks are a joint production of Method M and Suite Solutions. Order now.

Upcoming DITA Workshop Weeks:
Week of October 21st, 2007
Week of November 18th, 2007
Week of December 16th, 2007
Week of January 20th, 2008

Mix and match workshops: Choose any combination of workshops. In-house workshops are available, customized to your needs. Flexible dates for workshops hosted at your company’s site.

About the workshops: Each workshop includes six hours of instruction and practice. Group size is typically 8-10 students, encouraging active participation. Participation is limited to a maximum of 15 students.

Cost per participant: $350 +VAT. 10% discount for two participants from the same company, for STC members, for members of the Yokneam Forum of Technical Writers, or for participants who sign up at one time to multiple workshops in the DITA series. No double discounts. Fees include all workshop materials, lunch, and refreshments.

What Our Users Say...

"Thank you for conducting a successful 'DITA Immersion Workshop' at Mercury (HP Software). My goal for the workshop was to kick-off a new approach to documentation – topic-based writing designed for reuse. The workshop did a great job of helping to change the mindset of team leaders and writers at Mercury. We now plan to apply the knowledge gained from the workshop in our documentation projects. I recommend this workshop for any documentation organization that is considering moving to XML and DITA." - Julie Azoulai, Director of Technical Publications, Mercury Interactive (HP Software)

Find out more about how Method M supports your needs with  tools and training,  single sourcing solutions, and expert tech writing.