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Best practices for grouping/reusing topics
Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 4
Best practices for grouping/reusing topics
In our topic-based writing environment we often run into situations where a
Topic contains content that also needs to stand alone.
For example, in one context we might have a group of related procedures
under the same Topic umbrella:
Topic X
Procedure Group
Procedure A
Procedure B
Procedure C
But for another context the content of Procedure B also needs to be used by
itself. In that case, it would look like this:
Topic Y
Procedure B
Our CMS is configured to tracks elements at the Topic level; we can`t reuse
at a level below a Topic. So, if a writer wants to reuse Procedure B, she
has to copy-and-paste its content into a new topic. Once that happens, the
"link" between the original Procedure B and the new Procedure B is broken,
so updates to the original Procedure are not reflected in the new
Procedure.
We`re looking for a way to group/reuse Procedure B in such a way that, when
it`s updated, it gets updated in both Topic X and Topic Y.
We`re considering a few options, including but not limited to:
* Allowing a Topic within a Topic
* Creating a Topic Group, which would contain two or more Topics
* Creating a Section element within Chapters which could be used to group
Topics
* Creating nested Topic References within our documents (Chapters would
contain nestable references to Topics rather than the actual Topics
themselves; similar to a DITA map)
Do any of you group/reuse Topics in any of these ways? If so, what are the
pros/cons of the method you use?
Are there other options?
Thanks,
Susan White
Application Systems Analyst
Lexmark International, Inc.
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