Ensuring that documentation in knowledge bases remains relevant and up-to-date is crucial for IT organizations. With DITA, there are effective strategies to maintain the quality and relevance of documentation over time.

Continuous Review

One way to keep documentation current is to establish a continuous review process. DITA allows for metadata and versioning of topics, making it possible to track the latest updates and changes. IT organizations can implement review cycles with subject matter experts to validate the accuracy of the content. By maintaining an audit trail, it’s easy to identify when a topic was last reviewed and by whom.

Automated Checks

Automation plays a significant role in keeping DITA documentation up-to-date. IT organizations can set up automated checks and alerts for content that may need attention. For example, if a software version changes, automated scripts can flag related documentation for review. These checks can extend to broken links, outdated code snippets, and more, ensuring that the content remains relevant in a dynamic IT environment.

Example:

Here’s an example of how DITA allows for continuous review and automated checks:

<topic id="software_installation">
  <title>Software Installation</title>
  <version>2.0</version>
  <last-reviewed>2023-05-15</last-reviewed>
  <reviewed-by>John Doe</reviewed-by>
  <content>...
  <alerts>
    <check type="version" expected="3.0" />
    <check type="links" />
    <check type="code-snippets" />
  </alerts>
</topic>

In this example, a DITA topic includes version information, last review date, and alerts for checks related to version updates, broken links, and code snippets. These automated checks help ensure the documentation remains relevant and up-to-date.