The Oxygen XML Web Author allows you to edit and review shared files on any modern web browser. You can use the free online demo version of the Oxygen XML Web Author to complete the exercises at LearningDITA.com.
If you use the online demo version of Oxygen XML Web Author, there are some slight differences between the instructions found in the lessons and how you perform those steps using the Oxygen XML Web Author.
Save your files on Dropbox
The online demo of the Oxygen XML Web Author enables you to edit shared files on Dropbox, Google Drive, WebDAV, and GitHub. For the LearningDITA exercises, we recommend using Dropbox.
Before you can use Dropbox, you must create a Dropbox account (if you don’t have one already) and you must give Oxygen XML Web Author permission to access your Dropbox account.
To create a Dropbox account, visit www.dropbox.com and follow the sign-up instructions.
Once you have a Dropbox account, allow the Oxygen XML Web Author to access Dropbox (you only have to do this once):
- Go to the Oxygen XML Web Author online demo at https://www.oxygenxml.com/webapp-demo-aws/.
- On the Open panel, choose Dropbox. A Sign into Dropbox dialog appears.
- Enter your email address and password and click Sign in.
- The Dropbox Chooser allows you to choose a file to edit. If you don’t need to edit a file at this point, click Cancel.
Video: Save your files on Dropbox
Creating a new topic
Lesson 4 of the first course (“Introduction to DITA”) includes a section on Creating a topic in Oxygen. This section describes how to use the Oxygen XML editor to create a new topic. To create a new topic using the Oxygen XML Web Author, the steps are slightly different.
- In the Oxygen XML Web Author online demo, choose Dropbox from the New panel.
- The Choose Template window allows you to select from a number of Oxygen templates. Look under DITA > topic to find the Topic template.
- Select the template and click OK.
- A Dropbox Save dialog appears. Choose a location in your Dropbox where you want to save your files.
The Oxygen XML Web Author creates the file, but does not open it; choose Dropbox from the Open panel in the Oxygen XML Web Author to locate the new file and edit it.
Note:
The dialog does not provide a way to create new folders, so if you want to use a specific folder, you must create it from Dropbox before using the Oxygen XML Web Author New dialog.
In addition, you cannot rename a file from Oxygen XML Web Author, nor can you rename from the New dialog. To rename a file, use Windows Explorer, the Finder (Macintosh), or other file tools to access and rename the file.
Text mode and Author mode
The examples in LearningDITA are show in text mode. By default, the Oxygen XML Web Author shows the Author mode with Tags Display mode displaying “Partial Tags”.
To switch to text mode choose More (the three vertical dots in the tool bar at the top of the window), then choose Edit as XML.
Using sample files from the LearningDITA courses
Most of the LearningDITA courses have sample files that help you get started with the practice and exercise sections. If a course uses sample files, the “Housekeeping and sample files” section directs you to download a zip file then save the zipped files to “a location you can easily access”.
If you are using the Oxygen XML Web Author online demo, save the files to your Dropbox.
When you encounter a lesson that asks you to open a sample file:
- Use the Oxygen XML Web Author interface to navigate to your sample file folder in Dropbox.
- Find and open the file specified in the lesson.
- Switch to text mode by choosing More… (the three vertical dots in the tool bar at the top of the window), and choosing Edit as XML.