Revision of DITA and Wikis from Wed, 2009-04-15 20:07

Wiki systems make it easy to edit documents online, which makes wikis a compelling tool for document collaboration. Current wiki formats, however, don't allow for the kind of reuse that the DITA was designed to enable.

Three approaches are currently being discussed or implemented:

  • A DITA-enabled wiki
  • Wiki as an output
  • Wikislices (building DITA maps from wiki content)

Related to a DITA-enabled wiki, 'Wikis, Docs, and the Reuse Proposition' by Eric Armstrong of Sun explores the possibility of implementing DITA features using a combination of JavaScript and CSS. He suspects it can be done most easily using a Ruby-based Wiki like MediaCloth.

Related to DITA as an output, Lombardi has developed a system in which a mix of "warrantied" content is continuously updated from the DITA source while retaining "unwarrantied" community contributions. This system is described on SlideShare.

The model is enabled by a DITA2Confluence import tool developed by Lombardi. Lombardi has donated this tool to the open-source DITA2Wiki project. To learn more, visit the Lombardi Development Blog.

Related to exporting content to DITA, the Wikislices vision is described in the April issue of STC Intercom.

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