The Latest Trends in DITA XML Use in Tech Writing (Part 1)

Update January 27, 2012: Have changed the table info so that it is driven from a database — now you can sort and search the content of the tables, as well as seeing the full listing of tools in the survey.

It wasn’t that long ago when I looked at the 2011 Survey that WritersUA did of the tools that tech writers actually use and consider important. Well the JustSystem’s XMetaL is already out, and the results are in, with DITA-related tools slowly gaining more prominence in the industry.

Like last time, I’ve taken the raw data that WriterUA publishes and then plugged it into Excel to try to make some sense out of it. Here’s the 2012 listing for the Top 20 Technical Writer’s Tools for 2012 (out of a total list of 45 products listed):

Most-Used Technical Writing Tools 2012 (Writers UA Survey)

Rank	Tool/Manufacturer	# of Users
1	Acrobat · Adobe	517
2	SnagIt · TechSmith	405
3	Visio · Microsoft	381
4	PhotoShop · Adobe	291
5	FrameMaker · Adobe	275
6	RoboHelp · Adobe	240
7	Flare · MadCap Software	225
8	Captivate · Adobe	221
9	Dreamweaver · Adobe	199
10	Illustrator · Adobe	195
11	Camtasia · TechSmith	181
12	Paint Shop Pro · Corel	178
13	HTML Help Workshop · Microsoft	158
14	InDesign · Adobe	141
15	Flash Professional · Adobe	130
16	Capture · MadCap	109
17	Confluence · Atlassian	98
18	DITA Open Toolkit · Oasis	98
19	Fireworks · Adobe	94
20	Mimic · MadCap Software	81
21	WebWorks ePublisher · Quadralay	81
22	Author-it · Author-it Software	73
23	CorelDRAW · Corel	71
24	Oxygen · SyncroSoft	67
25	XMetaL · JustSystems	67
26	UltraEdit · IDM	49
27	FAR HTML · The HelpWare Group	48
28	Arbortext · PTC	46
29	Blaze · MadCap Software	46
30	Mif2Go · Omni Systems	44
31	Presenter · Adobe	44
32	FullShot · Inbit	40
33	Doc-To-Help · ComponentOne	39
34	Flex · Adobe	39
35	Expression · Microsoft	36
36	HyperSnap · Hyperionics	33
37	Presenter · Articulate	28
38	Help & Manual · EC Software	27
39	Vasont CMS · Vasont	26
40	Morae · TechSmith	24
41	Document!X · Innovasys	23
42	HelpStudio · Innovasys	17
43	HelpServer · 4.ST	13
44	Dr. Explain · Indigo	12
45	HelpConsole · ExtremeEase	11

 
Last year the DITA Open Toolkit was at the very bottom of the list at #20. This year it has risen a couple of spots to #18. This seems to indicate that DITA in general is making more of an impact, though it is still dwarfed by the number of FrameMaker users who push it to #5 in the listing. While a certain proportion of these users probably also use DITA then we might be seeing a relationship between the two sets of numbers, suggesting that just over a third of all FrameMaker users may also be using DITA. Intuition tells me that the numbers are probably not that high, but it sets a realistic maximum ratio of FrameMaker-to-DITA users.

The survey data also gives an idea as to which tools writers’ value the most, as they are asked how they rank them in terms of use. So the first chart shows you the most-used; the following one displays which of those tools are ranked the highest by technical writers:

Highest-Rated Technical Writing Tools 2012 (Writers UA Survey)

Rank	Tool/Manufacturer	# of Users
1	Acrobat · Adobe	370
2	SnagIt · TechSmith	234
3	Flare · MadCap Software	228
4	FrameMaker · Adobe	178
5	RoboHelp · Adobe	160
6	PhotoShop · Adobe	99
7	Visio · Microsoft	93
8	Captivate · Adobe	90
9	Author-it · Author-it Software	82
10	Dreamweaver · Adobe	67
11	HTML Help Workshop · Microsoft	52
12	Paint Shop Pro · Corel	50
13	Flash Professional · Adobe	40
14	Camtasia · TechSmith	39
15	InDesign · Adobe	35
16	DITA Open Toolkit	30
17	WebWorks ePublisher · Quadralay	30
18	Fireworks · Adobe	24
19	Mimic · MadCap Software	24
20	FAR HTML · The HelpWare Group	22
21	Flex · Adobe	22
22	XMetaL · JustSystems	22
23	FullShot · Inbit	21
24	Arbortext · PTC	19
25	Presenter · Adobe	19
26	oXygen · SyncroSoft	17
27	Blaze · MadCap Software	13
28	Document!X · Innovasys	11
29	Help & Manual · EC Software	10
30	HyperSnap · Hyperionics	9
31	Doc-To-Help · ComponentOne	8
32	HelpStudio · Innovasys	8
33	UltraEdit · IDM	8
34	CorelDRAW · Corel	7
35	Presenter · Articulate	6
36	Vasont CMS · Vasont	6
37	Mif2Go · Omni Systems	4
38	Expression · Microsoft	2
39	HelpServer · 4.ST	1
40	Dr. Explain · Indigo Byte	0
41	HelpConsole · ExtremeEase	0
42	Morae · TechSmith	0

 
The interesting thing here is how much higher the DITA-OT is ranked by technical writers: #11. So while the DITA-OT is arguably still only used by a minority of all technical writers, those who do use it rank it highly in terms of its importance to their work. What’s also interesting in this list is that JustSystem’s XMetaL just makes it to the list at #20, one spot below it (so not seen here) at #21 is SyncroSoft’s oXygen editor. So we have two competing XML editors ranked highly by technical writers, indicating significant usage within the community. Now not all XML is DITA, but it’s safe to assume a significant proportion of it is.

So has DITA taken over the technical writing world? Definitely not; it clearly has a long way to go. But there are sure signs that it is gaining prominence. Now that we have a couple of year’s worth of data, there are hints as to some emerging trends relating to the growth of DITA among technical writers. That’s what I will look at in Part 2 tomorrow.