Course overview

End-user Writing project Advanced Interview

Basics Process Concepts Tools Wrap up
documentation management topics preparation

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Day 5 Day 10 Day 17

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Day 10
Authoring and publishing tools: Get started with
AuthorIT
Day 10: Authoring and publishing
tools
 Overview of Author-it Software
 Introduction to Author-it Library, Objects, Object Relationship
 Reusability as a phenomenon using variants and versioning in
Author-it
About Author-it
 Enterprise-level CMS and authoring system
 Robust database-driven system for importing, cataloging,
searching, and reusing your content
 Number of powerful add-ons
 Can be configured as a standard client setup or a web-based
interface
 Powerful security features to track revision history and create
audit trails
Author-it objects
Content types in Author-it
Pointers to Information
(Created/Derived)

Main Content
(Created/Published/Reused/Archived)

Objects
(Default/Derived)

Variation Profiles
(Variant/Version/Variables)

Collection Profiles
(Rules/Import Types)

Publishing Profiles
(Style/Media/Templates/Formats/Actio
ns)
Author-it objects
 Book Object  Media Object
 File Object  Publishing Profile Object
 Glossary Object  Style Object
 Hyperlink Object  Table of Contents Object
 Index Entry Object  Table of Figures Object
 Index Object  Title Page Object
 Macro Procedure Object  Topic Object
Book object relationship
 Directly related to the
objects used to create the
document
 Creates the document's
structure.
 Related to the publishing
profile which controls
additional options used during
publishing.
Media object relationship
Directly related to the objects
that rely on the Media object
to control page layout, such
as margins, page size, section
breaks, and headers and
footers.
Style object relationship
Directly related with the Topic
and File objects. These
objects use the Style object to
control text format and content
layout within the page.
File object relationship
Directly related to the Topic
object and Title Page object.
Both of these objects can
include graphics which are
inserted using the File object.
Hyperlink object relationship
 Directly related to several
objects.
 Used to create links within
topic text
 Can also be used in File
objects to create a link from
the graphic.
 Can be used to create
entries in the document's
index.
Object templates
 An object template is a normal Author-it object, except you use it
to control the properties of other objects.
 When you create a new object you can base it on a template
with a particular set of properties - the object inherits the settings
from that template.
 For example, when you create a new book you'll base it on a
particular book template, such as User Manual or Training Guide.
When you create a topic you base it on a particular topic template,
such as Chapter, Normal, or Procedure. Each type of object has
one or more templates you can choose from.
Select an object template
 Author-it comes with "templates" for each type of object, such as
topics or pictures.
 This template is not the same as Word document templates,
which Author-it only uses to publish your printed document.
 These object templates contain the settings most appropriate for
each situation you'll encounter.
 You can be instantly productive, even before you learn enough
about the various settings to customize the templates yourself.
User Interface
Author-it library
Main screen has six primary components:
 The Author-it button and the Quick Access toolbar
 The ribbon bar
 The library explorer
 The object list
 The navigation pane tabs
 The preview pane
Understand Author-it user interface
The Library Explorer is where you work with your document
components:
 Menu tabs. Each tab contains a number of option buttons
organized into command groups.
 Navigation pane displays content or options based on the tab
currently selected in the navigation pane. Select a tab to display
the relevant content. For example, when you select the Folders
tab the library's folder tree is displayed, and when you select the
Search tab the search options are displayed.
 Object list displays a folder's contents or the results of a search.
Understand Author-it user interface
The Editor is used when you are working in a book or topic. When a topic is
opened you won't see the book contents.
 Author-it Button and Quick Access options. Click the Author-it logo to
view a variety of save and print options. From the Quick Access toolbar you
can Save, Undo and Redo your actions, navigate between topics in the book,
and open the Quick Search window.
 Menu tabs. Each tab contains a number of option buttons organized into
command groups.
 Book Contents pane displays the book's objects and structure. The pane
also includes the book contents toolbar, used when you are working with the
structure and adding topics. The tabs at the base of the pane let you view
other books using the current topic, and search options.
 Content pane. It has two views - it displays the topic's content or it can be
used to display details for the objects in the book's structure.
 Topic toolbar. Select text or an object in the topic content to display the
Style object applied to the text or the object's name and code. Use the two
"zoom" options to change the content's display size.
Understand Author-it user interface
When you are working in the Editor you'll find there are several
save options.
 Use Save Topic when you only want to save the changes to the
topic content.
 Choose Save Book when you only want to save changes to the
book's structure and layout (changes made in the book contents
pane.
 Choose Save All when you want to save both the structure and
the topic's content.
Basic operations
Work with folders
The Library Explorer is where you store and select the
components that you'll assemble into documents.
 Objects are stored in folders. The folders are a visual means to
logically organize and arrange the information within your library.
Folders can have security permissions applied to determine who
can create, modify, delete, or even view objects within them.
 Moving an object from one folder to another will not break any
links it has with other objects. When moving an object between
folders, you must have permissions to delete the object in the
folder it is leaving and create the object in the folder it is entering.
 When a folder is created, it inherits all the security settings from
its parent folder.
 If a folder is moved, it retains its security settings.
Work with Book properties
You can open the book object in two views.
 Properties view: Opening the book in the Properties view
enables you to set specific attributes for Print, Help, and Web
outputs. The properties are primarily used when changing
advanced settings, or creating a book template.
 Editor view: The Editor gives you an integrated view of both the
book's structure and the topic's content. This view is used when
creating or modifying content.
 By default, when you double-click a book it opens in the Editor
view. To open it in the Properties view, right-click the book and
select Properties from the shortcut menu.
 If the book is already open in the Editor you can display the
properties by choosing View > Show > Book Properties from the
Editor's menu.
Open the editor
 The Author-it Editor is a sophisticated document editing
environment incorporating both the book contents and the topic
Editor.
 It provides a familiar word processor type view of your book,
complete with command tabs and keyboard shortcuts to make
using Author-it very easy.
 To open a book:
 Select the folder. The contents are displayed in the object list.
 Double click the book.
 Only one person can make changes to topic content at any one
time, or add or remove topics in a book
Choose a book template
 Using a book template makes creating your documents easy, as
many of the book properties can be set in the template.
 You can define which external publishing templates to use and
you can include regularly used objects like a Title Page object,
Table of Contents object, and Index object, as well as Topic
objects that are common to many of your books such as a
Copyright Notice or Introduction section.
 You can use the standard templates that come with the default
library or you can create your own templates.
Using books inside books
 Including books inside books (or sub books) makes it easier to
manage large documents.
 Common chapters or sections such as a glossary, or introduction
section, can be reused easily in other books across your
documentation set.
 Any change to the structure of the sub book such as adding,
removing, promoting or demoting topics, is automatically reflected
in any other books that the sub book is used in.
 Only one person can make changes to it's content at any one
time, such as adding or removing topics. Other users can open
topics within the book and modify these provided they are not
open (and thereby locked) by someone else, but they cannot
make changes to the book's structure.
Work with topics
Work with topics
 A Topic object represents a concise chunk of text, usually no
more than a few paragraphs. In a traditional document this would
be the text under a specific heading or subheading in the
document hierarchy.
 Topic objects will make up the vast majority of all objects in a
book, and as such contain many properties defining how the topic
will be represented in both the printed and online documentation.
 Topics can mark the beginning of a new chapter and
automatically create a mini table of contents.
 The heading of the topic can be automatically formatted
depending on its level in the hierarchy of the book.
Choose a topic template
 One of the first things you need to do when you create a topic is
to choose the object template to base it on.
 You can use the standard templates that come with the default
library or you can create your own templates.
Default topic templates
 Normal: Use this template for most of the standard topics in your
document. Author-it automatically takes care of heading levels in
all output formats, no matter where the topic appears in your
book's contents.
 Procedure: Use this template for topics that contain step by step
instructions.
 Chapter: Use this template for the topic at the beginning of a
chapter, at the top level of your book.
 First chapter: Use this template for the first chapter in your
book. It behaves the same as the Chapter template, except page
numbering begins at 1.
Default topic templates
 Section: Use this template for topics which are either at the top
level of your book, but which are not chapters - like an Introduction
topic, or a subsection of a Chapter.
 Glossary term: use this template for topics which will be entries
in your glossary.
 No heading: Use this template for topics where you don't want a
heading in your printed output, but you do want one in your Help
and Web outputs.
 Slide: Use this template for slides containing the body of
information in an Author-it Presentation. The body slides use
different background images and typography to differentiate them
from the title slides.
 Slide title: Use this template for the slides opening (and usually
closing) an Author-it Presentation.
Work with topic structure rules
 Topic structure rules are based on three types of paragraph-level
rules:
 Paragraph rules define the paragraph-level style applied to a content
block. The rules also define how many paragraphs can be created in the
topic using the rule attributes, and the location within the topic.
 Table and table cell rules are used when you add a table in the topic.
Attributes for using the table are assigned to the Table rule (which acts as a
parent node). Table cell rules are used to assign paragraph style formatting
to specified rows or columns.
 Group rules are used to create a sub structure around several rules. By
grouping the rules you can define how the sub structure is used in the topic.
Work with topic structure rules
 In addition, a paragraph rule can also use six inline or child-level
rules. Child rules are used to enforce restrictions on additional
content within a paragraph or group rule.
 Character styles: defines the character styles that can be assigned to
the content block.
 File objects: defines the images that can be used within the text or at a
paragraph marker (where the image is the content block).
 Embedded topics: defines the embedded topic that can be used.
 Hyperlinks: defines the hyperlink objects that can be used. Defining a
template enables new hyperlinks based on the template to be created.
 Variables: defines the variables that can be used within the content
block.
 Text Required: enforces the use of text at a specific point within a
content block. The Text Required rule is a special case rule and only needs
to be used when you want to ensure that text has been added to a
paragraph at a particular point.
Work with styles and
formatting
Paragraph and Character Styles
 You control the appearance of the text in your document using
styles.
 Applying a paragraph or character style will change the
formatting of the selected paragraphs or characters to the defined
style.
 Paragraph styles are applied to an entire paragraph, and can include
alignment, indentation, and numbering, as well as character formatting like
Bold or Italics. A paragraph style is the underlying style that is applied to all
content within a paragraph.
 Character styles are applied to a range of characters, usually a word or
two, and can only control aspects of character formatting, like Bold or Italics.
A character style is applied on top of the paragraph style to one or more
selected characters and will only change character formatting properties.
 The Style object contains the formatting attributes applied to
content viewed in the Editor (on the Style Definition tab), it also
links to the style used in the Word publishing template, and defines
attributes used in Help and Web outputs.
Apply style
 To Apply a Paragraph or Character Style:
1. In the Editor, select the text you want to change:
 If applying a paragraph style, position the cursor in the paragraph you
want to change, or if you want to change more than one paragraph, select
the paragraphs you want to change.
 If applying a character style, select the characters you want to change.
2. Choose the Edit tab to display the Format options.
3. Choose the style from the character or paragraph drop-down
list, or click the style's icon in the Styles toolbar.
Change a style
1. Close any topics which uses the style you're changing, or your
changes can not be saved.
2. Locate and open the Style object you want to change.
3. Change the style's settings:
 The Style Definition tab controls how the style looks in Author-it's Editor. For
paragraph styles, it also defines the outline level at which the style appears in your
document.
 The Help tab controls how the style looks in your Windows Help output.
 The Web tab controls how the style appears in all Web outputs (including HTML
Help).
 The Print tab specifies the name of the style applied from the Word publishing
template, but does not otherwise define any settings. The style settings for your
printed output are defined in the template itself.
4. Save your changes. If you have made any changes to the settings
in the Style Definition tab, then all topics using that style are
updated, which may take a while.
Reusability in Author-
it
Reuse objects
 You can reuse each object as many times as you like, in the
same document or in many documents.
 When you change the object, your changes happen instantly in
all the places where that object is used. This saves you lots of
time, guarantees consistency, and makes it far easier to maintain
your documents.
 You can combine the same topics in different ways, by using
different books.
 You can arrange the same topics in a different order in each
book. For example, the sequence of topics in a tutorial will
probably be different than in a reference manual about the same
product or service.
Reuse objects
 The rules for how many times an object can be reused in a book
depend on the object type.
 Single use objects You can include a single instance of following
objects in the book:
 Title Page
 TOC (Table of Contents)
 TOF (Table of Figures)
 Glossary
 Index
 You can include multiple instances of the following objects in the
book.
 Book (used to add sub books to the structure)
 Topic
 File object
 When you work in a topic, you can also reuse objects. These will
usually be other topics, Hyperlink objects, or File objects. All of these
objects can be reused multiple times within one or more topics.
View an object relationships
 You can reuse an object and also see where it is used. The
Show Relationships window divides the associated relationships
into two groups.
 Objects used by: Any objects used to create the selected object.
 Objects using: Shows if the selected object has been used in any other
objects.

 To View an Object's relationships:

 Right-click on the embedded topic and choose Locate from the shortcut
menu.
 Right-click the topic and choose Show Relationships from the shortcut
menu. The Show Relationships window is opened.
Variants and versions
 Using variants and versions are two important ways of reusing
objects.
 Use Version if you need to create new versions of an object, but still
retain the original.
 Use Variant if you need to maintain multiple adaptations of a document
based on different criteria. Variants are used to control which variant object
is used in each adaptation of the book.
Variant types and usage
 Author-it uses following objects for variations:
 A standard object: Any object without variants
 A primary object: Any object that has one or more variants
 A variant object: A variation of a primary. A new variant object is created
as a copy of the primary object
 When a book is filtered or published, Author-it checks to see if
any of the objects used by the book have variants that meet the
selected criteria. When a match is found, Author-it replaces the
primary object with the variant object.
Variant types and usage
 Each variant is a unique object that can be modified without
affecting the primary object (or other variants based on the primary
object).
 Variants are stored in the same folder as the primary object.
 A variant object cannot be used directly in a book. The primary
object is used in the book, and the variant object displays once the
book is filtered using the corresponding variant criteria.
 You can create as many variations of a document as you need.
This is achieved by creating variants for different objects (topics,
file objects, and so on), assigning different criteria values, and
making the modifications to the content.
 To view each variation of the document, open the book and
select the appropriate criteria values in the criteria filter.
Publish content
Publishing profiles
 Author-it enables you to create your own customizable profiles
based on any of the publishing formats specific to the actual
deliverable rather than the output type. These profiles are fully
customizable, and you can create as many additional profiles as
you need to suit your requirements and your deliverables.
 Author-it uses Publishing Profiles to determine:
 Which outputs a book (or books based on specific templates) can be
published to
 Which users can publish a book using that profile
 The release states that content must be in for it to be included
 The templates, media objects, and/or external files that are used to
control formatting and layout
Publishing profiles
 Publishing profiles controls:
 Theme: Publishing Themes provide the ability to vary the look and feel of
a published output based on the deliverable. The options available in the
Theme tab vary based on the output the profile applies to.
 Filters: The Filters tab lets you build and apply filter expressions to
exclude topics from the published output.
 Actions: Actions enable you to trigger processes that run automatically
before and/or after publishing.
Create and customize publishing
profile
 When the existing profiles don't suit your needs, you can create
and customize your own profiles.
 To create a new publishing profile
 Select the folder you want the profile to be created in and in the main
window choose Design > Display > Publishing Profile.
 In the Publishing Profile window set and define the criteria for your profile
(like themes, filters, and actions)
 To Modify/delete a Profile:
 Locate and open the Profile you want to change/delete.
 Modify the criteria of your profile as required and save your changes.
—OR —
 Right-click the selected profile/s and choose Delete.
Session-end exercise
Session end exercise (30 mins)
 What are some of the key challenges of working with Enterprise-
level CMS and authoring system?
 List down some of the Author-it’s features for content reuse. In
what scenarios each feature is preferred over others?
Key takeaways
 Understanding of performing common tasks with Author-it
 Understanding of how Author-it Library is organized and how
objects are related to each other
 Understanding of how Author-it implements content reusability
Course so far

End-user Writing project Advanced Interview

Basics Process Concepts Tools Wrap up
documentation management topics preparation

Day 1 Day 3 Day 6 Day 8 Day 13 Day 15 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20

Day 2 Day 4 Day 7 Day 9 Day 14 Day 16

Day 5 Day 10 Day 17

Day 11

Day 12