dita.xml.org: DITA Getting started

[Kristen James Eberlein <keberlein@pobox.com>]

(E-mail sent by David Hollis on 22 August 2008 to a subset of the DITA 
Adoption Committee)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Fwd: [dita-users] DITA Getting started
Date: 	Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:57:00 +0100
From: 	David J. B. Hollis <dhollis@AandOConsultancy.ltd.uk>
To: 	Kristen James Eberlein <keberlein@pobox.com>, Gershon Joseph 
<gljoseph@yahoo.com>, Scott Tsao <scott.tsao@boeing.com>, Bob Thomas 
<bob.thomas@tagsmiths.com>, Carol Geyer <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org>, 
Brenda Oakley <brenda.oakley@citrix.com>
CC: 	JoAnn Hackos <joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com>
References: 	<48656.38161.qm@web54604.mail.re2.yahoo.com>



Hi, All

I noticed this on DITA-Users, and at first I was delighted that the  
message is getting across. The page is also an excellent starting  
point for adopting DITA.

However, after a small amount of investigation, it does seem to  
encapsulate the scope of the task ahead. For instance:

1. If I landed on the homepage for dita.ml.org, how would I navigate  
to this page? There seems to be very little navigation built into the  
site. I think the route would be either of these:
Browse - Categories : Introduction : Getting started
Wiki Knowledgebase (orange top line) : Setting up DITA : Getting started

I think the topic headings in the Wiki Knowledgebase are great, and  
wonder if it would be possible to bring some or all of them into the  
'Browse' listing?

2. I don't know what the 'book' sub-directory is supposed to contain,  
but even it doesn't contain a link to the getting started page. http://dita.xml.org/book/

3. A little bit of browsing further, and I came across a few out of  
date links:
http://dita.xml.org/uk-dita-user-group - the event has happened!
http://dita.xml.org/book/dita-ot-design-documents  - out of date  
information

The first I've edited. The second I'm not sure about. I'm sure there  
are many like this.

4. The Categories page is very peculiar, and there are a number of  
howlers. 'en Français' and 'Kéroack' caught my attention. These appear  
to be the same, and are a mis-placed blog posting.


I apologise if I'm being overly critical - I really don't want to  
offend anyone. There's clearly a great deal on the site, and we  
shouldn't underestimate the task ahead.

I'm sorry if this puts anyone off, just as Kristen is trying to  
recruit folks! ;-)

David

(I'm just waiting for someone to point out that my own site is  
absolute rubbish, and completely out of date! "People in glass  
houses ..... ")


> From: Paul Masalsky <paulmasalsky@yahoo.com>
> Date: 21 August 2008 14:11:03 BST
> To: dita-users@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [dita-users] DITA Getting started
> Reply-To: dita-users@yahoogroups.com
>
> Lately the place of choice for getting started has been:
> http://dita.xml.org/book/getting-started
>
> Paul Masalsky
> EMC
>
> Paul Masalsky - paulmasalsky@yahoo.com
>
>
> --- On Thu, 8/21/08, chaitra venkatesh <chaitra_babloo@yahoo.co.in>  
> wrote:
> From: chaitra venkatesh <chaitra_babloo@yahoo.co.in>
> Subject: [dita-users] DITA Getting started
> To: dita-users@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, August 21, 2008, 5:16 AM
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> I am new to this Group and new to Dita also.
> How do I get started with Dita.
> Can I get some links or book references so that I can get some hang  
> of it.
> It will be a great help for me.
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Regards,
> Chaitra