We are developing a number of tutorials for DITA. Some of these will be self-paced online tutorials. Others will be used for instructor-led webinars.
Attendees will do the exercises in their workspace folders on this website. Successful completion of both kinds of tutorials can result in certificates of completion.
Tutorials are locked (
Getting Started with DITA Tutorial from Lone-DITA (PDF).
Supporting files for DITA Tutorial from Lone-DITA (Zip file).
Specialization Tutorial by Eliot Kimber.
Why concepts, tasks, and references? You learn the three basic information types. Writing a concept. Writing a task. Writing a reference.
Title, ID, shortdesc, prolog metadata, body, sections, examples, paragraphs, lists, tables, phrases, keywords, images, multimedia, related links, topic nesting. How to find every element in the language specification.
What is a DITA Map? How to design a map hierarchy. How to assemble your topics into maps.
What is metadata? How to set attributes and filter or flag output for different audiences, products, etc.
Designing content for reuse. What is a conref? How does it differ from a topicref?
Adding reltables to your DITA Maps. Why are reltables better than related links in topics?
Specialization of a DITA topic. Inheritance rules.
Why is DITA ideal for content that must be localized? Writing for translation. Best practices for translation.
Why does DITA need a CMS? Locating your reusable components.
DITA map as a Help TOC. DITA Open Toolkit Help options - CHM files, Eclipse Help, Java Help.
Working with the toolkit. Build files. Output files.
What are plugins? How to design a plugin for the OT.
Designing stylesheets for your deliverables.
Publishing with the Open Toolkit and Publishing Engines.
Some DITA vendors have published tutorials. When the tutorial is as instructive about DITA as it is about their tool, we will link to it here.
Now - join and get a free copy of JoAnn Hackos' Introduction to DITA or an <oXygen/> XML editor with WebDAV access to your online workspace folder.
