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Re: least awful approach for keeping training slides up to date with core doc updates
Subject:Re: least awful approach for keeping training slides up to date with core doc updates From:Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sun, 21 Feb 2016 10:17:09 +0000 (UTC)
There's no reason that you can't identify pieces of a documentation superset that are suitable for slides. With creativity you might even be able to template the approach, and write these pieces in ways that suit both contexts. Overviews come to mind. Many slides in a training deck need an overview of the topic -- same with prose. I don't see why the initial piece of the overview can't be the same for slides and prose. Follow that up with discussion where the prose displays the discussion outright, and the slides include the discussion in the speaker notes. Then if things change, they change in one location.
You could go in the other direction... Create the initial overview for slides, and reference it into your prose. The bottom line goal is the same... Single source.Â
I'm not saying ALL the slides should be represented in the prose, or that the prose is the ONLY source of content for the slides. I'm saying that where they CAN be the same they should. And the main thing holding us back is technology/process, IMO. But it looks like there's a cultural problem as well.
I'll repeat, I'm pretty sure VMware already does this. At any rate, they presented a DITA to Slide process at one of the conferences -- in 2014 I think. If I recall, the synopsis cited advantages of single source. (Sadly, I couldn't attend.)
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