Publishing with XML

The XML Blog is closed. Long live Digital Publishing

A lot happens in two years, and blogging on about a specialist subject is a bit of a dead end.

To celebrate 2011 this blog will no longer be used. Digital Publishing is the exciting new avatar and addresses larger digital content issues for publishers. The focus is still on the practical, but with more business orientation.

XML Trenches. Bad DocBook

The XML Trenches posts are case studies of real-world publisher XML events. The idea is to illustrate the fact that digital content strategies need the right tools and approach, and are a guide to help publishers make the right decisions.

We just received a DocBook XML file from a publisher who asked, "Can this be used to make a Mobipocket for Amazon?". The DocBook XML had already been used by the producer to make an ePub. We cracked it open to have a look.

It was a valid and well-formed DocBook file with a custom namespace, but there were significant tagging and structural errors which stop it being usable except by spending time = money. I have posted on this before in Sustainable XML Strategies.

This is the issue with every DocBook produced book XML I have ever seen. They cannot be used to produce more outputs without significant analysis, time and more work. 

Online Document Reader

There are many sites out there that use secure Flash document browsing interfaces to present content in a secure manner online just some examples are Google Books, Slideshare and Scribd. Now any organization can present the same features, instantly. IPG:RealSearch, with IGP:Online Document Reader are now an integral part of IGP:ECMS Solutions.For example, it is an integral part of the Digital Libraries for India project.

With IGP:ECMS Solutions you get this as a standard module. IGP:RealSearch works with IGP:Online Document Reader to create an uprecedented user search and content engagement experience. This is not an optional module. It comes with the complete package and works out of the box. After a few hours of installation you can be uploading and viewing documents online immediately.

Training Program for IGP:FLIP

The new introductory training program for IGP:FLIP is now ready. It can be requested as a custom package at any time. IGP:FLIP Portal users will be advised shortly of the schedules for each training module. These will be interactive Online sessions with regular breaks for questions and repeats.

The program will be run over 10 consecutive days in two time zone sessions. Europe/America's and Europe/Africa/West Asia. A special schedule for Oceania and East Asia will be announced separately.

Training environment. It is recommended that two computers are available at the learning end of the lessons. One for display of the instruction, the other for emulating the instructions given for learning reinforcement.

The structure of the course largely follows the sequence of document preparation from input to output, with suitable diversions to introduce the supporting modules.

Digital Content Publishing - Getting Started

Publishers need to move to all digital production methods with some urgency. Really!

Digital publishing requires a different Production perspective – Each title must start in digital form, be edited in digital form, stored in digital form, and output in a variety of digital market channel ready forms.

Digital Publishing requires a different Archiving perspective – Your content must be prepared for permanence with plans for updating as technology progresses.  No more sticking a CD in some drawer.

Your digital content strategy cannot rely on outsourced conversion partners, PDF to ePub things, or as an after-thought to print. It's all changing too fast. Publishers must control their own digital content and have it ready for anything. It's not about creating an ePub. Its about being ready for the inevitable. 

I am not saying that print publishing is going away, only that digital publishing is "upon us", is an fast evolving and changing business, needs a mindset change and the tools to match the mindset.

This post describes in relative detail the business advantages of moving to an all digital environment, in this case IGP:FLIP for a lot of content.

Digital Content Production. Change Management Challenges

I have been requested to describe the change management challenges of moving to digital production. That was made from the ePub blog, but the topic is clearly XML production. This is a first post answering those questions. Starting with the high, ethereal ground of change management to digital content strategies. 

So what are the considerations for publishers when deploying a potentially business-changing application such as IGP:FLIP?

This post is a summary of some change issues that may have to be addressed within any organization. Depending on how formal you want to be change can be analysed as follows, using the ADKAR method:

Awareness– of why the change is needed.

Desire – to support and participate in the change.

Knowledge – of how to change.

Ability – to implement new skills and behaviours.

Reinforcement – to sustain the change.

This post is an introduction to some of the considerations.

IGP:FoundationXHTML goes HTML5

It's time to get ready for a bigger than ePub digital content future. So IGP:FoundationXHTML is now officially HTML5 ready to go. Stand-by your interactive, video, canvas, local storage, everything in a browser content experience (or not).

Nothing changes the XHTML that is delivered to ePub, or Mobi. They get their correct XHTML 1.1 strict headers processed in by Formats on Demand at compile time. What we have done is upgraded the archive files for IGP:FoundationXHTML to XHTML 5. (that just means well formed HTML5, so XML processors can do their stuff on the content, and browsers instantly know they are looking at HTML5. It really is fantastic stuff.

That means the page declarations have changed.

STIX Fonts Released

This is a gush. I am probably one of the few people in the world really, really excited about MathML fonts!

For those into mathematics in general and MathML in particular, and getting it into e-books and print; a giant leap forward has been taken with the announcement on the 28th May 2010 (a day I was not sure would ever arrive); STIX fonts Ver 1 has been released. We have been using the mysterious, hard to find betas for what seem forever, but birthdays do arrive.

My/our/world's deepest gratitude (I think that is the best word) to the STIX team for completing this Herculean job. 10 years seems a long wait, but now the wait is over. The crowning glory is the MathML using/rendering technology is poised, ready, available and usable to exploit the font work to its fullest.

Image Control XHTML and CSS

I was asked for a code snippet the Using ePub blog, on controlling image size and positioning with CSS. This is more correctly an XML question, than ePub, so I have given the answer here.

We have a defined and controlled grammar XHTML we call IGP:FoundationXHTML, or FX for short. This delivers content strategies that are consistent, simple, reusable and processable. FX is the heart that allows the same XHTML to produce sophisticated print PDF, eBook formats, packages and other files easily and instantly.

The real need for publishers of content of all types is not ePubs - ePub is as terminal a format as paper,  especially once DRM is applied. Publishers need a current and future-value digital content strategy. FX delivers that.

On to the snippet!

It's the XML Not the Format

While we have been having some fun over on the Using ePub Blog, the real value blog (yes this one) has been a bit neglected. All the magic of image alignment in formats, and interactive ePubs for iPad work easily because of a rock-solid XHTML foundation.

The superior CSS rendering and behaviour of iPad has meant a radical rethink on the format production options from IGP:FLIP. There is little doubt that richer ePubs will emerge sooner rather than later and their is so much talk on typography.  I have been thinking of taking the Trade Master print presentation template, make a few font changes and add it directly to a ePub for iPad to see what happens.