Tags: xml dita structure

This article is for technical writers who want to learn about authoring content in XML. It is an overview of XML for the technical writer, but it is not about XML for manipulating data. It doesn't emphasize the syntax; there are plenty of complete references on the Web. And it doesn't claim to be comprehensive. If you would like to contribute to this article, please do so. If you are a registered user of this site, you can simply edit this page.

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Contents:

Overview

Whether this is "structured authoring" or "XML authoring", the new discipline of creating technical content that is structured, typically tagged with XML, is breaking from the limitations of traditional book-style authoring. In its narrowest sense, "XML authoring" is development of content within XML tags for the purpose of storage (in a database, content management system, or file system) based on tags and attributes and delivery to multiple formats and audiences again based on the tags and their attributes. In its widest sense, "XML authoring" is the latest mode of electronic communication of content. XML is about freedom — freeing the content, freeing the author from worrying about publishing, freeing the publisher from proprietary limits, freeing the consumer from stovepipes, freeing the content to assemble as it chooses (or as the consumer chooses).

Helpful resources for getting started with XML:

Tutorials for Beginners

Miscellaneous Introductions to XML

DITA

Often, the move toward XML and structured authoring means the adoption of the element types and the process tools that are in the industry standard DITA. For more information: