How does content reuse impact the translation of DITA documentation?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

In DITA, content reuse refers to the practice of using the same pieces of content, such as topics, elements, or snippets, across multiple documents or projects. This approach improves efficiency, consistency, and maintainability in content creation and management. Reusing content in DITA is achieved through techniques like conref (Content Reference), key references, and conditional processing.

Content reuse can significantly impact the translation of DITA documentation in various ways:

  • Consistency in Translations: Reusing content ensures that identical phrases or segments are translated consistently across different documents or projects. This helps in maintaining a unified and professional linguistic tone in translated materials.
  • Reduced Translation Costs: By reusing previously translated content, organizations can minimize the amount of new content that needs translation, reducing translation costs and turnaround times.
  • Content Maintenance: When updates are needed, reusing content simplifies the process of making changes in a single place and having those changes reflected across all instances where the content is reused, which, in turn, reduces translation workload and costs.

Example:

Suppose you have a technical document about a product, and it contains a warning message that is reused in multiple places throughout the document. When translating this document into different languages, the warning message can be translated once and then reused wherever it appears. This ensures consistency in the translation of the warning message across the entire document.

<topic id="product-info">
  <title>Product Information</title>
  <body>
    <section id="introduction">
      <title>Introduction</title>
      <p>This document provides information about our product.</p>
    </section>
    <section id="safety-warning">
      <title>Safety Warning</title>
      <conbody>
        <note conref="common-warnings.dita#safety-warning"/>
      </conbody>
    </section>
    <section id="usage">
      <title>Product Usage</title>
      <p>To use this product safely...</p>
    </section>
  </body>
</topic>

In this example, the content of the “Safety Warning” section is reused from a common content file (common-warnings.dita). Translating this common warning once ensures that the translated warning is consistent wherever it is used in different documents.