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February 8th, 2009 | Posted in Web 2.0, WordPress 9 Comments »
The DITA-to-WordPress importer tool allows you to import the XHTML output from the DITA Open Toolkit as pages into WordPress. This importer (created by Mike Little, a brilliant developer who had a hand in creating WordPress itself) is available for download here, along with a sample XHTML output.
The DITA-to-WordPress tool fills a major gap with the existing DITA outputs. Currently, the DITA Open Toolkit doesn’t have a webhelp output. The XHTML output provides an index of files in a left pane with the topics in the right, but it is so plain and unattractive that I can’t imagine anyone actually using it.
With the DITA-to-WordPress importer, you can use WordPress as your online help format. This approach provides unique advantages over other help tools on the market. Basically, WordPress taps into all the juicy features of Web 2.0 and gives you them for free.
For example, in your WordPress help, you can include the following:
- Comments
- Gravatars
- Tag Clouds
- Categories
- Related Posts
- Embedded flash (for screencasts or videocasts)
- Blog integration
- Calendar integration
- Video players
- Hundreds of attractive themes
- Easy theme customization with CSS
- RSS feeds and integration of RSS feeds
- Better user tracking, such as Woopra
- Better search engine optimization
- AJAX
- Tags
- Image galleries
And hundreds of other features. For a list of the 4,000+ plugins WordPress provides, see the Plugin Directory. To browse hundreds of themes, see the Theme Directory.
Additionally, WordPress provides an attractive website format that can change the way users feel about help. The standard help file, such as a .chm or tripane webhelp, has lost much of its appeal with users. WordPress can rejuvenate your users’ attitude about using help by providing a new, contemporary look.
I created a 5 minute demo of the DITA-to-WordPress importer. You can view the embedded version below or view the demo in a larger, clearer format here.
Tags: DITA, open toolkit, pages, web 2.0, WordPress
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the write up and the compliment. I’m astonished you have already recorded that video!
In the video you pointed out the “Eclipse content aggregated” page. That comes from the toc.html file generated by the DITA process. It is not needed, and I will probably add a specific check to exclude it from the import in a future version.
Good luck with your experiments.
[...] Eine Besprechung und ein Demo-Filmchen dazu gibt es hier: Merging Worlds: DITA and WordPress. [...]
[...] Eine Besprechung und ein Demo-Filmchen dazu gibt es hier: Merging Worlds: DITA and WordPress. [...]
Mike,
Thanks for the comment. A couple of questions. I noticed that the image paths are relative rather than absolute. So in my trial import, the image (for washing cars) didn’t show. What’s the solution for this?
Also, you mentioned that you created this importer for a project you did at a company. Is there a finished WordPress help site you could point me to that implements this in full scale?
Thanks,
Tom
[...] Mit dem “DITA-to-WordPress importer tool” gibt es nun ein neues Tool, mit dem DITA-konforme Inhalte direkt aus dem DITA Open Toolkit in Wordpress-Webseiten integriert werden können. Programmierer Mike Little hat es damit endlich geschafft, dem Open Toolkit einen vernünftigen Weboutput hinzuzufügen. Dank der ausgereiften Wordpress-Technologie, die neben der frei erhältlichen Basisversion auch noch tausende unterschiedlicher Plug-ins unterstützt, könnte man nun sogar von Web 2.0 Inhalte integrieren. Ein kurzes Video-Tutorial und Downloadlink finden Sie hier. [...]
Nice, i think this could really save me a lot of time. I love the features, and i can’t wait to try some more things out, thanks for the tip.
Hi Tom,
The image import should work, but as it tries to copy the image to a directory relative to the root of your blog, it probably didn’t have permission to create the directory there.
The on line help we created is for an internal tool sold to Northgate’s customers. The system will never be visible to the outside world.
Judging from you
I like the concept of this. I’m currently working on a hybrid ebook + wordpress site. The ebook is coming from docbook or TEI, the wordpress is handling user content (announcements, comments, etc). The ebook needs to be in either docbook or TEI (for conversion into .epub format), while the online version of the ebook content will be static xhtml. It didn’t seem practical or cost-effective to use an xml-based web publishing system; I opted instead for 2 side by side systems with a consistent layout/css. I could maintain a master document myself offline.
(Maybe if there were cheap online XML editors, native XML CMSs would take over. But last I checked, editing XML online with a WYSIG tool struck me as expensive for small noncommercial.
Wordpress solutions are practical solutions for news and commentary with an expected lifespan of 5 years or less and requires diligence to security and software updates. The static content on the other hand is easy to move, wayback machine friendly, invulnerable to xss, etc.
Wordpress has good xml export capability but I think it looks more like RSS than anything else. It would be nice if there an easy way to export offline/standalone html indexes, toc’s. Perhaps this is just a matter of writing a mysql-to-xml script (not that I could write it!). But it seems to be a straightforward talk.
It’s the first time I commented here and I must say you share us genuine, and quality information for bloggers! Good job.
p.s. You have a very good template for your blog. Where did you find it?