00:00:07The main purpose of this video is to demonstrate
some real world use-cases where Web Author
00:00:12is used to improve documentation quality,
team efficiency, and the review process.
00:00:18Web Author is a web-based XML authoring tool.
00:00:22It's a lightweight version of Oxygen XML Author
that can be used on any device that includes
00:00:28a modern web browser and from anywhere you
have internet access.
00:00:33The first use-case involves a situation where
a proofreader or support engineer notices
00:00:38problems in the documentation and they want
to streamline the documentation workflow by
00:00:43proposing changes or adding comments directly
in the XML source.
00:00:48The documentation team can then easily integrate
the changes or suggestions without various
00:00:53additional steps being required somewhere
in the process.
00:00:57I will show you how they could use Web Author
to achieve this.
00:01:02Suppose I'm a proofreader and I'm using PDF
output to review a topic about "Migrating
00:01:07MS Office Documents to DITA".
00:01:09I notice that the 3rd method is missing a
step in the procedure.
00:01:15We've configured our PDF output to include
an "Edit" link so I can simply click that
00:01:21link...
...and the document is now opened in Web Author.
00:01:25More about Web Author in just a minute, but
let's also explore another similar possibility.
00:01:31Suppose I'm a support engineer and I've received
feedback from a user that they were experiencing
00:01:36issues trying to migrate Office documents
to DITA.
00:01:39I have found this same topic in our WebHelp
version of the documentation and I want to
00:01:45send them a link to it...
00:01:47...however, I also notice that the 3rd method
is missing a step and even though I could
00:01:52just explain this to the user, it would obviously
be better if this was corrected in the documentation
00:01:58before sending it to the user.
00:02:00We've also configured our WebHelp system to
include the "Edit" link, so similarly I can
00:02:06simply click this link... ...and the document is opened in Web Author just like the first scenario.
00:02:13If you're familiar with Oxygen XML Author
or Editor, you'll notice that Web Author has
00:02:18a lot of the same basic editing functionality.
00:02:22Suppose I want to add a step in the procedure
for Method 3.
00:02:25I can simply position the cursor at the end
of the list item where I want to add a new
00:02:30one and click the "insert list item" button
on the toolbar.
00:02:35I'll enter the text for the new step...
...and I also noticed another potential problem
00:02:41and want to add a comment for the documentation
team.
00:02:45I'll select the content and click the "Add
Comment" button from the toolbar...
00:02:50I'll enter my comment...
00:02:54Notice that my comment now appears in the
"Review" panel on the right.
00:02:59Now I just need to save my modifications.
00:03:02In our case, we've integrated Web Author with
a Git repository so I can simply select "Commit"
00:03:09from the Git drop-down menu or by using CTRL+S.
00:03:13Note that you can integrate Web Author with a variety of repository services, not just Git.
00:03:19Once the document is saved into the repository,
the documentation team can also see the changes
00:03:24in Oxygen XML Author (or Editor), assuming
they have access to the repository.
00:03:31Some of the benefits of using Web Author for
this type of use-case are:
00:03:36- It provides a very quick way for a proofreader
or support engineer to edit or suggest changes
00:03:42in the documentation.
00:03:44- Content is continually improved through
contributions by the proofreaders or support engineers.
00:03:50- The review and contribution process is streamlined
and fewer steps means less potential for mistakes.
00:03:57The second use-case involves a common scenario
where a Content Author has created a document
00:04:02and wants to send it to a subject matter expert
for review to make sure it's accurate and
00:04:07they want changes or comments to be added
in the XML source document so that they can
00:04:12easily merge the changes back into Oxygen
XML Editor or Author.
00:04:17Again, I'm going to show you how Web Author
can be used for this.
00:04:21There are obviously numerous ways that a document
can be sent to others, but for our case, we
00:04:26are using a collaboration solution called
Oxygen Content Fusion.
00:04:30If you're not familiar with Content Fusion,
it's a collaboration tool that makes the entire
00:04:34documentation review process very simple and
efficient.
00:04:39The Content Author just creates a review task and sends a link to the subject matter expert...
00:04:46who simply follows the link to open the document in Web Author.
00:04:50Notice that in this case, the Web Author is
integrated inside the Oxygen Content Fusion interface.
00:04:58Note that Web Author can also be integrated
as a component in various other solutions.
00:05:02Now, suppose I'm the reviewer and I just want
to make a few minor changes to the title.
00:05:08Note that this integration forces the "Track
Changes" feature to be enabled so that the
00:05:13Content Author will know exactly what was modified and they can easily accept or reject each change.
00:05:20This makes collaboration very simple and efficient.
00:05:23Now the Content Author just needs to be notified
of the changes so they can integrate them
00:05:27into their project in Oxygen XML Editor or
Author.
00:05:32In our case, Content Fusion notifies us and
helps us to automatically merge the changes
00:05:36back into Oxygen XML Editor.
00:05:39Some of the benefits of using Web Author for
this type of use-case are:
00:05:45- It's a very simple and efficient way to
collaborate.
00:05:48- It provides an incremental review workflow
that is more likely to engage reviewers and
00:05:52lead to more feedback.
00:05:55- It allows the Content Author to control
the published content while the Reviewer simply proposes changes.
00:06:02The third use-case involves a scenario where
someone in a documentation team creates a
00:06:06template for knowledge base articles, contributors
from multiple off-site locations use this
00:06:13common template in Web Author to create articles,
and these articles then comes back to the
00:06:19documentation team in the same format regardless
of where they come from, so it's very easy
00:06:24for them to integrate the articles back into
their project in Oxygen.
00:06:27This can be achieved by guiding the contributors
with form controls built into the template
00:06:31and I'm going to show you how this can be
done in Web Author.
00:06:35Suppose that someone has created a template
for a knowledge base article submission form
00:06:41and all contributors have access to this same
template, regardless of where they are located.
00:06:46All they have to do is fill out the form in
Web Author.
00:06:49Notice that the template contains simple form
controls to guide the contributor.
00:06:54Now the contributor just needs to save it
in Web Author and the documentation team can integrate it
00:07:00into their knowledge base project in Oxygen
XML Editor or Author.
00:07:11Some of the benefits of using Web Author for
this type of use-case are:
00:07:16- There is a small learning curve since contributors
are guided by familiar form controls.
00:07:21- Content remains in XML format so there's
no conversion necessary.
00:07:26- It helps to maintain consistency among multiple
contributors.
00:07:32These were just some of the many possible
use-cases for using Web Author.
00:07:36It can be integrated into virtually any type
of workflow.
00:07:40I'm sure you are already thinking about
ways to integrate Web Author in your workflows.
00:07:46We encourage you to contact us with the details
of your specific requirements so that we can
00:07:51provide you with more specific suggestions.
00:07:55This concludes the demonstration.
00:07:56Thank you for watching.