Author Max: Great DITA, Great Documentation

Why use <choices> or <choicetables> instead of <ol> or <ul> in a task topic when you need to choose what to do next?

The benefit is that the markup is semantic! When you use <choices> or <choicetables>, the machine (and the writer!) understands explicitly if we are talking about:

1. <choices> where the customer has reached a decision point and must choose one of the options (such as,  take Route 66 to Boston or Route 81 to Ithaca).
   or
2. <choicetable> — where the customer has different options to get to the same result (such as CTRL+S or File > Save).

Using <ol> or <ul> eliminates semantic markup! Using <choices> or <choicetables> explicitly indicates the kind of juncture the reader has reached — and forces the writer to state if no matter what the choice, the end result will be the same (<choicetable>), or if the choice selected will lead to a different outcome (<choices>).

Writers are conditioned to using tables.

Get past it. Table invite endless tampering with settings for column width.  In most cases, get over it and get past it.  Go for <dl>, definition lists.

The key point here is “most cases”. Most, but not all. If it’s absolutely critical that you display content (such as images and descriptive text side-by-side, and you don’t want to configure <dl> so that <dt> and <dd> display side-by-side in general, or if you absolutely must have a number of columns, then go for tables.

To describe what you can do, or what options are available, use a reference topic.

A good rule of thumb is that users tend to need, and prefer, step-by-step procedures in task topics to more general reference information.

As an an example, consider the case where a user can customize display of information in a window.  You could provide one or more reference topics that describe available options for sorting, grouping and filtering.  Or, more effectively, you would provide task topics for each procecure.  Such as:

• Sort columns alphanumerically
• Group by columns
• Filter information so you only see what is applicable to you
• Save the view you have set up

You might want to insert the topics in your ditamap as child topics under a topichead or under a concept topic such as “Custom Controls for Your View”.

The urge to describe everything would be, in this case, counterproductive and decidely non-minimalist.  Adding a reference topic here would create more content to update/maintain over time and add to your translation bill.  So, resist the temptation to add more reference content.  Often, when tempeted by a reference topic, Just Say No.

Let’s say that you have a series of menu choices (such as Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad).  Each menu choice item should be in its own <uicontrol> tag.  The whole series should be in a <menucascade> element.

A common error in preparing content is jamming multiple UI controls in one <uicontrol> tag, manually adding the connecting character (typically “>”).

Typical incorrect markup would be:

<menucascade><uicontrol>Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad</uicontrol></menucascade>

The correct markup would be:

<menucascade><uicontrol>Start</uicontrol>
<uicontrol>Programs</uicontrol>
<uicontrol>Accessories</uicontrol>
<uicontrol>Notepad</uicontrol></menucascade>

When the content is published, the DITA OT adds connecting characters between the menu items to represent the menu cascade.  So, the output would look similar to Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad.

Inspired by the movie Julie & Julia, here at Method M we have undertaken to emulate  Julie Powell, who cooks all 524 recipes from  Julia Child’s cookbook during a single year, a challenge she described on her popular blog.

So, we are off.  In 52 weeks we will try and post 104 examples of Do’s and Don’ts for DITA Markup.  No time to write more, we have to start preparing posts.  If you have suggestions that you want us to post, just go ahead and send them to us (info at methodm dot com).  We’ll be happy to credit you!

Stay tuned for the first postings soon.

DITA Thought for Today: one idea, one topic.

Just saw a procedure with mixed in in the prerequisites. An attempt to sneak in another procedure!

Tip for today: dividing your task topic into sections is usually a tip-off that your topic has more than one procedure.

Remember – one idea, one topic. (Kind of like, “one man, one vote”.)