In the last post about the future of the ServiceNow wiki, we mentioned some of the changes you'll see on the new site. There are some internal changes, too. One of the most important internal changes is how we are authoring new content: We're using DITA XML instead of authoring in a wiki.
Automation
Wiki publishing is very manual. Publishing docs for a new release requires all hands on deck to ensure that over 1,000 new and updated pages go live as soon as the release goes live — but not a minute before. With DITA, a server builds output continuously. The output can be single-handedly staged, ready to be released all at once when we get the green light.
Feedback
Providing feedback on wiki content is not easy. When we do get comments, content owners don't receive a notification. Routing feedback to the right person is a multi-step — and manual — process. On our new ServiceNow product documentation site, every topic includes a "Leave feedback" link. When you leave feedback for us, we'll receive the comment in our inbox right away, with the topic URL embedded in the notification for easy routing. And, you'll know that the feedback has been received.
Flexibility
Wiki content is not flexible enough to support our future publishing goals. The highly structured, modular nature of DITA lets us easily transform content to publish in a variety of formats: HTML, PDF, ePub, in-product help, and more.
We can also repurpose content in many locations. Reusing topics helps us address the needs of different types of users while ensuring consistency in our docs. For example, learning content on the CreateNow Developer Program website reuses some conceptual information from the product documentation giving developers the information they need where they need it.
Here is an example of how content can be shared across sites:
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