MadCap Software and across Systems announced a strategic partnership to combine technical content creation with advanced translation and localization. Through integrated software from MadCap and across, technical documentation professionals will be able to publish multilingual user manuals, online Help systems, and other corporate content for the international market from a single source. MadCap provides XML software for creating multi-channel publishing, including its product Flare for delivering context-sensitive online Help and print documentation, and Blaze, MadCap’s answer to Adobe’s FrameMaker for publishing large documents, which will be launched later this year. MadCap will also announce MadCap Lingo — an XML based integrated Help authoring tool and translation environment. MadCap Lingo offers complete Unicode support for all left-to-right language. Through their strategic partnership, the two companies will enable integration between Lingo, Flare and Blaze, and the across Language Server, a comprehensive corporate platform for the entire translation process. Providing a centralized translation memory and terminology system, it serves to control the whole translation workflow, and to network all corresponding systems and persons involved. From the project manager up to the translator and proofreader, all participants work in a consistent client/server-based work environment. http://www.across.net/, http://www.madcapsoftware.com/
Category: Content creation and design (Page 52 of 60)
Technologies and strategies for authoring and editing, including word processors, structured editors, web and page layout and formatting, content conversion and migration, multichannel content, structured and unstructured data integration, and metadata creation.
SiberLogic announced the integration of SiberSafe DITA Edition with Adobe’s FrameMaker 7.2 Application Pack for DITA. With the Application Pack configured, SiberSafe automatically adjusts its integrated menu options to deliver sophisticated DITA content management from within the familiar FrameMaker environment. FrameMaker users can open a document and retrieve topic-based content along with associated dependencies such as xref targets, link targets, conref targets, and referenced images. Content reuse is streamlined and straightforward via SiberSafe’s support for content references (conrefs). And SiberLogic’s functionality is available directly from the FrameMaker menu: authoring and review assignments are automatically distributed via workflow email; each contributor has a list of tasks and knows how and when to execute them; and managers can keep track of progress and resource allocation. With additional features such as collaborative review, task analysis, and translation management, the FrameMaker/SiberSafe DITA integration aims to reduce the complexity of DITA-based technical documentation processes to a single integrated platform. http://www.siberlogic.com/framemaker/
StreamServe Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement with Adobe Systems Incorporated to provide support for XML Forms Architecture (XFA), the format of Adobe LiveCycle Designer software. This collaboration provides a common design environment for the production and distribution of business-critical documents in support of both interactive and high-volume output processes. XFA combines the data and capabilities of XML with rich presentation capabilities for multi-channel delivery, including PDF. Adobe LiveCycle Designer enables the creation of dynamic XFA form templates. This software supports XML data and schema bindings, enhances document security with template designs for digital signatures and enables compliance with government accessibility requirements for online forms. With it, anyone with Adobe Reader software can participate in secure, interactive data capture processes that extend to customers, partners or suppliers. Examples include new account applications, bid response or correspondence generation. StreamServe Persuasion permits companies to take information from enterprise applications such as ERP, CRM, SCM and legacy systems and transform it into business correspondence that acts as a dynamic and personalized marketing vehicle for cross-sell, up-sell and brand building. http://www.streamserve.com
As our readers know, we are long-time advocates of open-document formats. Over the past couple of years, we have written a great deal about DITA and formats like ODF, but we also have a lot of experience and interest in DocBook and vertical DTDs such as J2008 for the automotive industry and the various DOD standards. We are clearly reaching a point where interoperability among these standards has become an issue. Organizations are more diverse, more likely to be sharing content between operating groups and with other organizations, and more likely to be sourcing content from a variety of partners, customers, and suppliers. Needless to say, not all of these sources of content will be using the same XML vocabulary; indeed, even two organizations using DITA, for example, will likely have specialized DITA differently.
With this need for interoperability in mind, OASIS has announced a new discussion list, regarding a possible new OASIS Document Standards Interoperability Technical Committee (TC). Details on the list, including how to subscribe, can be found here.
Preparing for two upcoming meetings with search themes (Gilbane San Francisco and Boston KM Forum) has brought to mind many issues of search usability. At the core is the issue of search literacy. Offering some fundamental searching tips to non-professional searchers often results in a surprised reaction. (e.g. When told, if seeking information about a specific topic such as “industrial engineering,” enclose it in quotes to limit the search to that phrase. Without quotes, you will get all content with “industrial” and “engineering” anywhere in the content with no explicit relationship implied.)
If you are reading this you probably know that, but many do not. In order to learn what people search for on their company intranet and how they type their search requests, I spend time reading search log files. I do this for several reasons:
- To learn terminology searchers are using to guide taxonomy building choices
- To see the way searches are formulated, and followed up
- To inform design decisions about how to make searching easier
- To see what is searched but not found to inform future content inclusion
- To view the searcher’s next step when the results are zero or huge
wo results remain consistent: less than 1% of the searchers place a phrase inside quotations, even when there are multiple words; word are often truncated but do not include a truncation symbol (usually an asterisk, “*”). Both reveal a probable lack of search conventions understanding, a search literacy problem. Here are a couple of possible solutions:
- Put into place better help and training mechanisms to help the lost find their way,
OR
- Remove the legacy practice of forcing command language type symbols on searchers for the most common search requests
Placing punctuation around a search string is a holdover from 30 years ago when searching was done using a command language. Since only a limited number of people ever knew this syntactical format, why does it persist as the default for a phrase search for Web-based search engines?
The solution of providing a better help page and getting people to actually use it is a harder proposition. This one from McGraw-Hill for BusinessWeek Online is pretty simple with just seven tips but who reads it? I expect very few, although it could dramatically improve their search results. http://search.businessweek.com/advanced.jsp.
If you are trying to improve the search experience for your intranet, there are two resources to consult for content usability on all fronts, not just search: useit.com, Jakob Nielsen’s Website and Jared Spool’s UIEtips, User Interface Engineering’s free email newsletter. In the meantime, think about whether you need to demand more core search usability or tunable default options from vendors, or whether better interface design could guide searchers to better results.
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced the Adobe Creative Suite 3 product line. Adobe’s new Creative Suite 3 line-up unites Adobe and Macromedia products to provide designers and developers with options for all facets of print, web, mobile, interactive, film, and video production. There are six all-new configurations of Adobe Creative Suite 3. These include, Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Design Standard editions; Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Web Standard editions; and Creative Suite 3 Production Premium; and, Creative Suite Master Collection which combines 12 of Adobe’s new design and development applications in a single box. The majority of Adobe Creative Suite 3 editions will be available as Universal applications for both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs and support Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista. Customers will experience increased levels of performance and speed running Creative Suite 3 natively on Intel-based Macintosh systems and the latest Windows hardware. Customers can choose from six all-new suites or full version upgrades of 13 stand-alone applications, including Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, InDesign CS3, Illustrator CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver CS3, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, and After Effects CS3. Each edition of Adobe Creative Suite 3 integrates different configurations of Adobe’s creative products: Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium delivers an essential toolkit for print, web, interactive and mobile design while Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Standard focuses on professional print design and production. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium combines the web design and development tools and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard serves the professional web developer. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is a post-production solution for video professionals. Lastly, Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection combines 12 new creative applications in one box, enabling customers to design across all media – print, web, interactive, mobile, video and film. Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard, and Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard will begin shipping in April 2007. Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Creative Suite 3 Master Collection for Mac OS X on Intel-based systems and for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista platforms will begin shipping worldwide in the third quarter of 2007. Estimated street price for the Creative Suite 3 Design Premium is US$1799, US$1599 for Creative Suite 3 Web Premium, US$1699 for Creative Suite 3 Production Premium, and US$2499 for Creative Suite 3 Master Collection. There are upgrade paths available for customers. http://www.adobe.com
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) announced that the first public alpha version of Apollo is now available for developers on Adobe Labs. Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system application runtime that allows web developers to leverage their existing skills in HTML, JavaScript and Ajax, as well as Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex software to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop. Apollo provides people with direct access to Internet applications built with HTML, JavaScript, Flash and PDF without the need to open a browser, offering more reliable interaction with content. With Apollo, people can launch applications directly from their desktops and interact with them offline. When a network connection is available, newly created or changed content can synchronize. The first version of Apollo for developers includes a free SDK that provides a set of command line tools for developing and working with Apollo applications. Web developers can use the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of their choice, including Adobe tools such as Eclipse-based Flex Builder, Flash, and Dreamweaver to build Apollo applications. The alpha version of the Apollo application runtime, required to run Apollo applications, and the Apollo SDK are available immediately as free downloads from Adobe Labs. The Apollo SDK is available in English. The Apollo runtime and SDK are offered for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems, and future versions will be available for Linux. http://www.adobe.com/go/apollo
OASIS announced that its members have approved version 1.1 of the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) as an OASIS Standard, a status that signifies the highest level of ratification. The result of a collaboration between advocacy groups for the disabled and open source and commercial software vendors, this new version of the standard provides key accessibility enhancements to ensure that the OpenDocument format (ODF) addresses the needs of people with disabilities. OpenDocument 1.1 supports users who have low or no vision or who suffer from cognitive impairments. The standard not only provides short alternative descriptive text for document elements such as hyperlinks, drawing objects and image map hot spots, it also offers lengthy descriptions for the same objects should additional help be needed. Other OpenDocument accessibility features include the preservation of structural semantics imported from other file formats, such as headings in tables, and associations between drawings and their captions. The new version of OpenDocument reflects the work of the OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility Subcommittee, which is made up of accessibility experts from IBM, the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), RNIB, Sun Microsystems, and others. The Subcommittee’s recommendations were incorporated into the OpenDocument specification by members of the OASIS OpenDocument Technical Committee, which includes representatives from Adobe Systems, IBM, Intel, Novell, Sun Microsystems, and others. http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/office/, http://www.oasis-open.org
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