A recent thread on the dita-users list discussed specialization as an extension of the DITA OT by restrictive substitution. This is best done by creating a DITA-OT plugin.

Plugins are overrides to the OT code that add functionality. Plugins are used to add new specializations to the OT and to define new specialization targets for output processing of the specialized elements. If they are designed properly, plugins can be added to an upgraded version of the OT and still run properly.

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The Central Texas DUG presentations on Wikis and DITA, and Eric Arnstrong's excellent review of the benefits of structured formats and DITA compared to alternatives like a Wiki, raises the question of whether we are perhaps trying to force DITA into too many places.

Eric focused in on the reason structured formats are difficult to use -  they force you to learn the tagging structure (DITA has about 120 tags, DocBook 800, and XHTML only about 80).

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Can we get volunteers to restart the NYDUG?

The single most active content on the DITA.XML.org website is people looking at the now very dated page for DITA Users in New York.

Here are the all-time DITA.XML.org site statistics:

New York DITA Users Group 53210 reads

DITA User Groups 19113 reads

DITA Knowledge Base 15766 reads

Resources 13013 reads

Topic-based authoring 12518 reads

We really should be reaching out to these thousands of potential DITA Users in the New York area!

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I have produced a Flash tutorial that explains DITA topics, concept, task, and reference specializations, and DITA maps.

http://www.ditausers.org/training/DITATopics/

I am also working on Flash tutorials that explain the DITA Users website and toolset, including the DITA Manager for each member's workspace folder.

http://www.ditausers.org/training/DITAUsersWelcome/

Critical comments appreciated. This is a work in progress.

In earlier musings about full-text search, I wondered whether the lack of full-text search (FTS) in the standard DITA OT XHTML outputs was restrictive. Bob Doyle pointed out that Eclipse Help InfoCenters provide FTS, and that led to some further wonderings about the complexity of Eclipse Help installations. I've since noticed some DITA users have come up with some ingenius workarounds so that DITA content can be turned into beautiful "WebHelp" output just like that produced by HTML-based Help Authoring Tools.

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