A Quick Start to Technical Writing with DITA

Do you want to learn how to write documentation using DITA XML? If yes, I can help!

My name is Jordan Stanchev. I have built my career in the field of technical communications in the last 18 years.

Starting off my carrier as a Java developer, I have then become a technical writer and information architect. At present, I lead the development of DITA XML-based infrastructure projects, as well as the group of the DITA information architecture experts of a Fortune 500 company.

I have vast experience to share in structured writing and information architecture using DITA XML content management systems.

For a modern technical writer looking to build his or her career in the field of technical communications, knowing DITA XML simply is a must!

You must learn DITA if you are involved in any way with software documentation.

Knowledge of DITA is relevant for you if you are:

• technical writer

• part of a tech publications team

• information architect

• people manager, managing technical writers in the team

• user experience designer

• business analyst

• project manager

The course 'A Quick Start to Technical Writing with DITA' is designed for beginner level technical writers who want to quickly learn what is DITA, create a simple guide, and deliver it using a non-customized output using Oxygen XML Author tool. 

It will take you around 2 hours from the start as an absolute beginner, go through this course and deliver a small and simple guide in PDF and HTML output format.

Note:

If you are looking for a more deep dive into DITA Course, consider the more advanced "How to Write Using DITA XML", which is for technical communicators, already familiar with DITA.

What will you learn?

This is a course I use to teach my students about what is DITA and how to get started with DITA.

That is why it provides:

• Basic knowledge and understanding of what is DITA;

• How to get started writing software documentation using DITA;

• What is a DITA map and how to use it;

• What is a DITA topic and how to use it;

• A quick explanation of commonly used DITA topic elements, that are causing confusion for the novice DITA authors;

• How to construct a deliverable using Oxygen XML Author;

• How to produce a final deliverable ready for shipment to your customers.

The tool that is used in this course is one of the most popular tools for writing in DITA: Oxygen XML Author.

Your instructor will supply you with a trial license for the Oxygen XML Author, should you need one to practice your DITA writing skills.

What is NOT COVERED in this course:

As this is a getting started course, I shall not deep dive into DITA XML markup. To learn DITA, it may take years of experience. The goal of the course is to provide you with a quick getting started! That is why:

• This is not a comprehensive DITA XML course. Do not expect such a deep-dive level here.

• I do not provide details on linking, chunking, nesting, profiling, sophisticated delivery strategy, and so on.

• I do not provide information about DITA specializations, DITAVAL files, DTDs, and so on. This is not covered in this course.

• OTK is not covered or even mentioned in this course.

Why DITA?

Structured writing in DITA XML is an advanced discipline for technical writers. You can find many authors with decent language and writing skills. But you already know that technical writing is so much more than just written text with no spelling mistakes, isn't it?

If you need your technical writers to:

• Strictly follow your company or industry writing guidelines;

• Be able to spend less time on the maintenance of old documentation and spend more time on value-added activities for the customer;

• Offer information that can be reused on all levels - entire guides, chapters, topics, sentences, or even single words;

• Maintain a very high content quality standard  with no broken links and missing content;

• Produce as many different output formats as your customer needs - all from the same content

• Use metadata to classify the content that was written and offer it for automated forms of information consumption;

then most probably you are already evaluating DITA as an option for writing. 

DITA already offers all listed functionality and even more!

If it is a quick start into DITA what you are looking for, this in your course!  Enroll now and see how simple technical writing with DITA XML can be!

P.S. Do not forget that the course comes with a 30-day full refund policy - no questions asked!