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Presentation storming

Dan Allen edited this page Jul 16, 2013 · 2 revisions

Presentation-storming session #1

Emphasize importance of mobile/responsive view (i.e., "mobile first")

Bad examples
  • inc.com

  • github.com

Good examples
  • asciidoctor.org

  • github.com (as of 2013/07/15)

Focus/message of AsciiDoc attributes

  • tuning the output/presentation (enable toc, syntax highlighting, etc)

  • DRY

  • set context (e.g., imagesdir)

Blog post about session

Parts
  • motivation / call to action

  • target audience / relate to them

  • logistics

  • title & abstract

  • prerequisites

  • list of techs & concepts

  • reading material

  • discount code

Get them in the door
  • reusable content

  • reduce friction for creating content

  • the "S" in CMS = git (VCS) + AsciiDoc (format) + Awestruct (publisher)

  • separation of responsibility - each tool has a specific focus, can be swapped out

Target audience

If you contribute to, maintain or organize any of the following content:

  • manuals / user guides / READMEs

  • tutorials

  • news / press releases / announcements

  • articles

  • book(s)

  • brochures / org info

  • press kit

  • conference info

  • RFPs

  • resume / personal site

Stability of content

  • tech proof

  • maintainability

  • preserve asset

  • less fragile

  • localize changes to system

Human readable, transferable structured content

Producers should get content back in a format they recognize as their own. Otherwise, you put up a barrier to their continued participation.

producer ------v organizer
(doctor) ^-----< billing

Examples of formats that violate this principle:

  • DocBook

  • PDF

  • "In-Design" ML

Layout needs to be automated and predictable, and only used at the very end of production.

Raises question of how one format is transformed to another (e.g., AsciiDoc → HTML). The conversion should be automated and predictable.

Resorting to HTML undermines the whole system / objective.

Key take-aways

  • reusable content (COPE); well-structured, reusable content

  • focused, targeted, clear goals (shapes and sizes of content)

  • accessibility

    • readability (typography & contrast)

    • "mobile first"

    • approachability of content for readers and creators (balanced system)

  • automation

  • human-readable semantics (chunked, structured content)

  • versioning & collaboration

  • DRY

  • workflow

git + AsciiDoc + Awestruct are a realization of these principles. They can still stand to be improved. The principles / concepts can be applied to other systems (e.g., Drupal).