|
Breaking News
Posted 23 Dec 2008
Posted 19 Dec 2008
Posted 16 Dec 2008
Posted 16 Dec 2008
Posted 12 Dec 2008
News Features
Today's content has no respect for yesterday's silos. Documents and assets end up on pages, screens, and devices—or, inevitably, all of the above. That means extra work for designers and developers to constantly manage and repurpose material. It also means extra pressure for them to operate outside the comfort zones of their original disciplines.
Those who work in content management systems (CMSs) know that the content creation process can often be time-consuming and unwieldy. Ideally, the best content management system should enable the user to post content to the web seamlessly, without having to click back and forth between different programs. After all, it's difficult—or, at the very least, annoying—to be in two or three places at once. However, as wonderful as this utopian ideal may sound, it is very rarely the case. Web content creators are usually required to collaborate with one another in a wiki, edit images for the web in Photoshop or a similar program, and then upload everything into the CMS. Functionality is lost in the quest for a visually compelling website with top-notch content.
With its unique publishing and editorial structure, and limitless topical scope, Wikipedia traffics a huge amount of information. Out of more than 2.3 million entries in English, the mere presence of some entries is enough to offend certain groups.
On March 17, MadCap announced the launch of its XML Documentation Suite to provide a native XML alternative to Adobe. The product offers authoring, review, collaboration, analysis, translation, and localization tools, including an authoring tool that supports DITA.
Last week, the Follett Corporation, a company that provides products and services to the educational marketplace, subscribed to Johnson's digital approach to learning by acquiring technology firm Fourteen40—thus expanding its digital content platform with the addition of CafeScribe.
Featured Stories
Take a closer look at Quark, Inc., one of the 12 companies that inspired the most banter among the EContent 100 judges during the voting process.
Blogs have come a long way from their earliest manifestations as little more than the online journal entries of individuals wearing bunny slippers while typing away on a home computer. These days, traditional media companies are still struggling to figure out how to leverage the innate characteristics of blogging—immediacy, focus, global reach, interactivity—in a way that will complement existing media channels.
As Web 2.0 tools have developed, audiences have grown to expect to be involved. While many new businesses have developed around this idea, traditional media has had little choice but to jump on the bandwagon. The results have been mixed, but companies new and old are finding ways to leverage community for content and revenue.
My plan was to pick up a few different e-readers, play with them for a while, and then happily give them back. This plan has backfired. My name is Sherry. I am a Kindle-aholic. This is my story.
Controlled circulation trade pubs are now putting more of their print content online and uncontrolled for all to see, but despite the good press for "free" of late, the pay model is alive, even if it is struggling to find its proper place in an increasingly ad-driven digital media market.
Product Reviews
The G-Pen F610 is an attractive, affordable tablet that provides out-of-the-box ease of use. It features a highly sensitive pen and good integration with a variety of popular programs. While the pen itself could be better designed, the overall usability is quite good. The software bundle offers a good introduction to the fun—and usefulness—of the G-Pen F610.
The suite includes previously released updates to FrameMaker, Captivate, and RoboHelp, with some integration features not available in the stand-alone products. It provides a comprehensive technical writer toolkit for a reasonable price, but if you are looking for true single sourcing, Adobe is not quite there yet.
A solid update to a product Adobe acquired. Features from a previous high-end version are consolidated—at less than half its original price.
Office 2007 improves ease of use and fixes many long-standing shortcomings. Set aside time for analyzing the benefits and constraints of each Office 2007 edition and possible costs to upgrade from versions of Windows prior to XP. Then prepare your installation carefully. New users will find Office 2007 easier to learn than earlier versions; existing power users will have much to unlearn.
Adobe has taken a program that was already good and made it better by adding blogging and integration with multimedia, Office programs, and popular browsers. Managers should love this reasonably priced software that allows content creators to update blogs and websites without affecting the underlying design or bothering busy web design staff.
Columns
A former EContent assistant editor, Kinley Levack, forwarded me an August column from The New York Observer, The Media Mob. Her email bore this subject line: "I will always think of you when I hear this phrase …" Alas, the column was not about the most inspiring bosses ever. In fact, it was about "The New Media Religion: ‘Platform Agnostic.'"
I knew that price wouldn't last, but I became hooked and since then I've renewed every 2 years, including the digital edition. However, this year's bill gave me a case of sticker shock at nearly 30 times the original teaser price. I've already switched several of my other print publications to digital, and I suspect pricing is going to strongly encourage more digital switching.
I recently spent the day with my editor and his colleagues on the marketing, editorial, and PR teams at my publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. We had wide-ranging discussions the release of the Amazon Kindle version of my book. While the Kindle is new, John Wiley & Sons isn't. I can point to a number of things that are evidence of how Wiley is tuned in today, behavior that's indicative of why it has thrived for 2 centuries.
I earned a couple of memorable C’s in my academic history. One was for my capricious foray into physics, which I took as a college elective in an effort to follow the cryptic conversations my physics-major best friend had with her science pals. The other was in fifth grade handwriting. My teacher was appalled at my sloppy penmanship. She sent home a note to my mom, and they both stepped up the practice sessions … to no avail. Two years later, my grandmother bought me my first typewriter. I am forever indebted.
I admit that I have been a longtime skeptical observer of the digital magazine format, although 6 or 7 years after its introduction the platform is getting some traction with readers and publishers. Generally designed as facsimiles of printed periodicals, the digi-mag always seemed to fill an unnecessary niche between old and new media, between physical magazines and websites. It has the interactivity and rich media potential of a digital product (hot links, embedded multimedia), but it retained the lush design sense of print. But was this a solution in search of a problem?
|
EContent BEST PRACTICES
Appropriate and effective content management solutions not only enable ease of use, effective interactive communication, and dynamic marketing experiences, they deliver what all organizations seek: measurable return on investment.
Download this free whitepaper to learn about digital asset and digital rights management
Download this free White Paper from EContent to learn about some of the latest strategies and solutions for the enterprise and content management, including building a better partnership between business and IT, connecting your business to the services you need, and enabling dynamic publishing.
|
INDUSTRY WEBINARS |
| Closing the Publishing Loop: Outsourcing Content Origination. Available Now On Demand! |
|
| Publishing analyst Thad McIlroy will offer his insights on content origination outsourcing. Are publishers approaching the day when they are primarily responsible for branding, partner relationships, marketing and distribution, while content origination and authoring is handled solely by others? Is this the next step in the evolution of publishing organizations? |
|
CONFERENCES |
| You are cordially invited to participate in the 2009 Buying & Selling eContent Conference April 5-7, 2009 |
|
| Please join Information Today, Inc. and the more than forty executives who have agreed in advance to lead the agenda at the 10th Annual Buying & Selling eContent to discuss content strategies, remove barriers, pursue tactics, make deals, and network under the stars.
April 5th to 7th, Camelback Inn & Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona |
| The Impact of Social Media on Web Marketing Strategy Conference! Clearwater Beach, FL. Feb 17-18, 2009 |
|
| Web Content Tampa Bay brings together nationally-recognized technology, design, content, and marketing authorities to explore "The Impact of Social Media on Web Marketing Strategy". Web Content Tampa Bay February 17 & 18, 2009 Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Clearwater Beach, Florida |
| Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, NV Jan 8 thur Jan 11, 2009 |
|
| CES is the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow — featuring 2,700 exhibitors showcasing products/ technology from 30 categories. Register today |
|