Re: [docbook-apps] Docbooks/documentation workshop

["Tobias Anstett [k15t.com]" <tobias@k15t.com>]

Hi Karen,

maybe I already pointed out the "Scroll Wiki Exporter Plugin for
(Atlassian) Confluence" earlier. Our product should be available in
the next few weeks. It introduces Documentation 2.0 as a paradigm for
doing your documentation in a Wiki.

Maybe it would be interesting to have a look at the upcoming 12th
Australasian Online Documentation and Content Conference. Sarah Maddox
from Atlassian will have a talk about "Delivering Enterprise Software
Documentation through a Wiki": (just copy pasted the excerpt/abstarct)

"The users get control". How does that work for technical
documentation? This session will include a demonstration of technical
documentation on Confluence (a wiki). We'll take a brief look at the
workflow (what there is of it) for creating a draft and publishing a
page. Other people can update your document and comment on it. They
may be developers, support staff or even customers. Embrace the chaos
– you can keep track of what's going on in your documentation and your
customers can subscribe to change notifications too. Challenges? Oh
yes: structure; release management; content re-use; multiple authors.
We'll see some examples of how plugins (addons) extend the core wiki
functionality, and how technical writers and other wiki enthusiasts
can contribute ideas with technical documentation in mind.

Our plugin will be one of the plugins (addons) mentioned in her abstract.

Cheers,
Tobias


On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 7:30 PM, Karen Schneider <kgschneider@gmail.com> wrote:
> Back in early February I asked for examples for a Docbook workshop.
> I'm actually still planning a workshop for a conference next month.
> However, after speaking with various stakeholders, observing people
> learning and working with Docbook, and following discussions on this
> list, my objectives have evolved. Thought you all might be interested
> to see where this is headed.
>
> Instead of a "why Docbook" workshop, I'm planning to facilitate a
> half-day, high-level discussion of "why and how documentation," with a
> chunk of time devoted to single-source documentation, and Docbook in
> particular. I will demo Docbook and discuss its strengths and also its
> challenges, and compare it to other approaches to documentation. You
> could call this "pro Docbook, with caveats."
>
> A very preliminary outline follows (input welcome):
>
> 1. Documentation: what is it and why bother?
>
> -- What it is and what it isn't
>
> -- Adding value to Evergreen
>
> -- "Early testing" benefits
>
> -- Breadcrumbs to decisions
>
> -- A pathway out of RFP hell?
>
> 2. Documentation: form and function
>
> -- Developers are from Mars, librarians are from Venus: two distinct
> documentation communities in Evergreen
>
>    -- implications for designing a documentation project for Evergreen
>
> -- The three W's of current Evergreen documentation: Wiki, Word, and Whatever
>
>     -- advantages and disadvantages of all three approaches
>
> -- Single-source documentation
>
>    -- This Bud's on me: the possibilities of single-source
> documentation (using BeerXML example)
>
>    -- Docbook: a common documentation schema
>
>        -- How it works (show EG examples)
>
>    -- Evergreen and Docbook: the pluses and minuses
>
>        -- Pull together EG documentation under one roof in a
> single-source format
>
>        -- No silver bullet, no easy roundtripping from existing formats
>
> 3. Documentation: how do we get there?
>
> -- Building dev documentation into the Evergreen development workflow
>
> -- Building user documentation into the Evergreen project experience
>
> -- Tools, time, and talent
>
> -- Next steps
>
>
> Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the earlier discussion...
> that was a terrific help!
>
> --
> --
> | Karen G. Schneider
> | Community Librarian
> | Equinox Software Inc. "The Evergreen Experts"
> | Toll-free: 1.877.Open.ILS (1.877.673.6457) x712
> | kgs@esilibrary.com
> | Web: http://www.esilibrary.com
> | Be a part of the Evergreen International Conference, May 20-22, 2009!
> | http://www.lyrasis.org/evergreen
>
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