Nearly any technical writer knows that Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is related to improving content reuse and single source techniques.

The big question is if DITA is a right solution for you. To understand whether or not it is time to begin thinking about DITA, you can try to answer these questions:

  • Do you reuse content extensively?
  • Do you have to handle multiple content variations?
  • Do you want to enforce a unified formatting and structure?
  • Do you produce multiple output formats?
  • Do you translate documentation?

If you answered “yes” on all or most questions, there is a chance DITA can make you more productive. It does not really matter if you are a lone writer in a company or a part of a documentation team – DITA can be beneficial in both cases. However, getting from the drawing board to implementation is not an easy task. You need to clearly understand how exactly you benefit and what efforts and costs are involved.

If you’d like to move your legacy content into DITA or even learn if this is an appropriate direction for you to take, write to us at info@www.writepoint.com. We have guided many companies on this path successfully and would be happy to assist you as well.