How are review comments and feedback managed within DITA for maritime content?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

Managing review comments and feedback within DITA for maritime content is essential for collaborative content development and quality assurance. DITA provides structured mechanisms to capture, track, and address review comments effectively.

Comment Elements

DITA includes specific elements to handle review comments. For instance, the <comment></comment> element allows reviewers to add comments directly within the content. Reviewers can provide feedback, suggestions, or corrections related to specific sections of the documentation. These comments are typically associated with the content and can be viewed alongside the relevant topic, making it easy for content developers to understand and address them.

Tracking Review Status

DITA also supports metadata for tracking review status. Metadata elements like <status></status> or <keyword></keyword> can be used to indicate the status of a topic, such as “Under Review” or “Approved.” Reviewers can update these status indicators to reflect the progress of the review process. This helps content teams to quickly identify which topics are pending review, approved, or in need of further attention.

Example:

Here’s an example of how DITA can be used to manage review comments within maritime content:


<topic id="safety_guidelines">
  <title>Safety Guidelines</title>
  <body>
    <section>
      <title xml_lang="en">Shipbuilders' Safety Tips</title>
      <p xml_lang="en">Shipbuilders contribute safety tips for ship construction.</p>
      <comment reviewer="Jane Smith" date="2023-11-15">
        <p>This section should include information on safety equipment.

      </comment>
    </section>
    <section>
      <title xml_lang="fr">Navigator's Checklist</title>
      <p xml_lang="fr">Navigators provide a checklist for safe navigation.</p>
      <comment reviewer="John Doe" date="2023-11-14">
        <p>Consider adding more details about emergency procedures.

      </comment>
    </section>
  </body>
  <status>Under Review</status>

In this example, DITA elements like <comment> and <status> are used to capture review comments and indicate the review status of the maritime content.