Databases

Databases are the key to everything document-related, I believe. Because I have personally set up some online help using databases and content-management writing principles, I know that it works.

Here are some reasons to write content in databases instead of using traditional authoring tools. Databases:

- Enable users to customize their content
- Facilitate transformation and exchange with XML
- Facilitate exchange of content (data) between databases
- Enable the input of information directly into a database instead of a Word document
- Provide a variety of non-traditional access and display options (portal and mobile for one example)

Tech writers should and must learn about basic database design, I think. This section of the blog will focus on just that. I will cover the basics, and provide information on how databases could be used. Using databases works, and the possibilities are exciting.