MadCap recently release Flare version 5, which includes support for the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). Scriptorium Publishing advises customers on how to optimize publishing workflows.

“Many of our customers are implementing DITA-based publishing,” said Sarah O’Keefe, President of Scriptorium Publishing. “With Flare version 5, we have a new alternative for generating HTML, PDF, and web-based help systems.”

Scriptorium has published a review of the new DITA features in Flare. Alan Pringle, Director of Publishing Operations, wrote, “If you’re looking for a path to browser-based help for your DITA content, you should consider the new version of Flare.” The full review is available in two parts on Scriptorium’s blog, Palimpsest.

“We are excited to have Scriptorium, which is at the forefront of XML and DITA-based publishing, join our Certified Flare Instructor program,” said Anthony Olivier, Co-founder and CEO of MadCap Software. “The combination of Scriptorium’s expertise and MadCap Flare 5.0’s cutting-edge multi-channel publishing functionality for XML and DITA content provides a powerful solution for addressing the enterprise publishing demands companies face today.”

But we need your input. Where would you like us to focus our energies? For example, Scriptorium Publishing is offered a series of inexpensive webinars as a substitute for conferences. Are there additional speakers or topics you would like for us to add? Cherryleaf has a mentoring group for documentation managers. Should we create similar groups in Melbourne and the Research Triangle area? Should we increase the geographic scope of Hyperwrite’s AODC conference?

Drop us a note in the comments.

Cut support phone time, reduce the number of support calls and provide post sales service – help your  customers stay customers for a long time – through technical communication and documentation that really works.

Cherryleaf Limited is a technical communication company based in the United Kingdom. We’re technical communicators – those people sometimes called information designers, technical authors or technical writers – known throughout the world.

Even when organisations decide to write their technical documentation themselves, they still often call upon our help. That’s because we offer more than just technical writing services; we offer specialist training and writing recruitment services, too.

“Cherryleaf is one of the best technical authoring houses in the business, and profoundly knowledgeable, professional and approachable. Highly recommended for anyone requiring top-notch documentation or training services.”

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Cherryleaf Technical Documentation Services

If you want to produce clear information, simply and efficiently, then our project writing services for technical documentation, and content management solutions could help you. We work with developers of software and technology who are missing documents their users really need. We also work with organisations finding their content is too difficult to manage and maintain.

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Our recruitment services for hiring technical authors enable you to find the right technical communicator or courseware developer for you – with less effort, risk and stress. We have a great selection of candidates looking for permanent and contract technical writing opportunities.

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By booking onto our training courses, you gain access to our knowledge and practical experience of developing technical documents, business communication and copywriting – skills you may need.

Contact us

Call +44 (0)1784 258672 or send us an email. Tell us your situation, and let’s see if we can help you.

Anne Gentle

Even if your documentation system does not converse with your users, your documentation can help customers talk to each other and make the connections that help them do their jobs well or learn something new as if they were in a classroom with a community for classmates. This talk describes how you can think about documentation and user assistance in a conversational way, with the help of social media technology. Anne Gentle discusses the topics in her new book, Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation. She’ll describe the use of in-person Book Sprints that combine wikis and community events to gather together writers to accomplish documentation goals.

About Anne Gentle

Anne Gentle is a senior technical writer and blogger who has over ten years of experience. She started blogging for her employer at talk.bmc.com, and then moved the content to www.justwriteclick.com. Anne has acquired many interests, including structured authoring, wikis, XML models for software documentation such as DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture), blogging, online user assistance, and writing in an Agile development environment. Anne is a volunteer maintainer of the One
Laptop Per Child user manual housed at FLOSS Manuals. Anne is the lead for the STC Intercom Editorial Advisory Panel to guide the editorial calendar for 2009 and 2010. She currently works as a senior technical writer at Advanced Solutions
International, which provides business and membership management software for professional organizations, churches, and other non-profits including the Society for Technical Communication.

Register for Documentation as Conversation

• Demystifying DITA to PDF Publishing, June 2, 11 a.m. Eastern time (Sarah O’Keefe)
• Hacking the DITA Open Toolkit, June 4, 11 a.m. Eastern time (Simon Bate)

Each webinar is $20.

For companies that have large amounts of technical content, our consultants provide expert advice and collaborative development. Streamlining the publishing process results in cost reduction and quality improvements.

Unlike some of our competitors, we do not resell software, so we are free to recommend the best alternative for each client and deliver comprehensive implementation services.

We have expertise in all technologies required by our clients, and we transform abstract concepts into practical applications.

If you are facing a difficult publishing challenge, we want to hear from you. Contact us at info@scriptorium.com or +1 919-481-2701 x105. Visit us on the web at www.scriptorium.com.

• Australia: HyperWrite
• United Kingdom: Cherryleaf Ltd.
• United States: Scriptorium Publishing

Contact us today:
In the USA – Sarah O’Keefe on 919-481-2701
In Europe – Ellis Pratt on +44 1784 258672
In Australia – Tony Self on +61 3 9803 8291

Email – info@techcommalliance.com