Enlightenment (Revised)

Publishing has always been a complex process.

To this?

In March of 2013 the Church released its newest edition of the English scriptures in digital formats, a full 6 months ahead of the print editions.

So why would we want to go from this amount of mark up . . .

For the first time all of the publishing channels, including print, used a single source XML file.

To add another level of experience for the user, such as footnotes, we indicate this with the appropriate tags.

Do all publications need the same markup?

Adding meta-data to the content creates hooks for the optimization of search and navigation.

Grouping content together in semantic tags like header, section, aside, figure and footer enable publishers to give presentational structure to the page.

To take this a step further and create an experience where the user can directly link to the footnote through tapping or clicking, we would need to add additional markup.

For instance, even though computerized systems were available for typesetting back in 1981, the scriptures were typeset using traditional hot-metal because it was the only way that the footnotes could be presented properly.

Paper, ink, and printing presses have given way to screens, pixels, and applications. An entire library of gospel books can now be held in the palm of your hand.

Up until now, we’ve only considered stand-alone content. The next step is to link between this content and other content. To accomplish this, we need to uniquely identify the components of the content.

The first thing we have to do to get the content out of a flat, monotone presentation is to give the <p> tags semantic class names, such as title, titleNumber, studySummary, and verse. This allows the content to begin to come alive.

If the requirement is to allow the user to mark up the content as part of his studying, then it will need additional identifiers placed on those items we want to permit the user to annotate.

When we speak, we give intonation to certain words and phrases. This becomes very important to the delivery of “The Message” and likewise needs to be represented in the content with tags like <em> (emphasis), and classes like dominant.

Individual ownership of scriptures allowed for unfettered access. Now personal study could include marking and annotating “your own” scriptures.

A new edition of the Bible and the Triple Combination became available in 1981. These new editions were the products of years of research and inspired direction. With the coordinated study aids and cross-references in each, these works became truly “one” in the hands of the user.

In hot-metal, each letter is created as an individual metal slug. These slugs have to meet certain specifications so they can fit together properly and print correctly.

It also gives internal structure to the content. This can be used by other technologies like assistive reading devices.

No. Our publications have differing requirements—brochures for historical sites will not require as much markup as conference talks and scriptures. The level of markup should be determined by the required user experience.

This means that if a specific paragraph in a talk needs to be linked to other content, all paragraphs in the talk will need to be uniquely identified.

Enlightenment

The movable type also provided the capability of adjusting type on each page, thus keeping complete footnotes on the same page as the corresponding verses.

Through Publishing

Gives you search results like this.

Even with all of its complexities, the typesetting of the 1981 LDS edition of the King James Bible was completed in record time, just taking a little over 15 months.

A prime example of a publication that does not require markup is this program for a Christmas concert because it will only be produced as a printed, English-only product.

Gutenberg said the following about his invention. It still seems pertinent for our time.

“God suffers because there are such multitudes of souls to whom His sacred Word cannot be given; religious truth is captive in a small number of little manuscripts . . . . Let us break the seal which binds these holy things; let us give wings to truth that it may fly with the Word, no longer prepared at vast expense, but multiplied everlastingly by a machine which never wearies . . . ”

Johann Gutenberg

This intonation can be represented in the presentation with italics and larger type sizes.

Semantic class names allows for unique presentations, which help the user navigate and read the content.

And keeps you just a tap away from study aids.

These semantic tags organize the content into blocks, which can be used to provide margins and padding to help with the readability of the content.

An HTML5 schema provides us with a modern version of “movable type.”

With unique identifiers inserted into other content it becomes possible to link resources via the footnotes to their respective content.

HTML5 is an industry standard, and provides the greatest amount of flexibility for content creation while having the greatest potential for freeing us from the confines of the printed page.

Similar content will also group together visually and different presentational styles can be used to communicate additional meaning, like using italics to separate holy writ from study helps.

Just like in the past, our modern version of “movable type” will need standards. These agreed upon measurements, referred to as “schema,” will allow the creators of content to take their manuscripts from various applications and ingest them into a single source publishing process.

Allows you to mark and annotate “your own” scriptures

Are we limited to certain content creation tools?

In 1830 the Book of Mormon was published using typesetting methods similar to those established by Gutenberg 375 years earlier.

As printing processes continued to improve, publishing costs were reduced and the scriptures moved out of the family library and into the hands of individuals.

Imagine content being responsive to different product designs while always keeping footnotes, annotations and other study aids just a tap away.

No. Because the schema is based on an HTML5 standard there are lots of tools available.

Moreover, with the right amount of rigor, this world wide consortium-based standard will allow us to protect the Church's content from the risks of a proprietary solution.

For centuries scriptures were copied by hand from manuscripts. These books were very costly and only a privileged few had access to them.

For instance, documents that only need the most basic of structures, can be created by properly using paragraph and character styles in tools, like Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign, and then exporting HTML or XML files.

This example was exported out of InDesign using an approved template.

By 1455 Johannes Gutenberg had invented a press with movable type, and the Bible was one of the first books he printed. For the first time it was possible to print multiple copies of the scriptures and at a cost many could afford.

The following series of examples take the first eleven verses from Matthew 5, and walks through the setting of modern “movable type.”

We will follow a step-by-step process to show the levels of markup required for the various experiences our users have come to expect.

In this first example everything is marked up in the same manner.

The importance of Gutenberg's invention cannot be over-stated. Over time the lower publishing costs would make it possible for the average family to own a Bible. Ultimately it would be those family Bibles that would prepare a prophet of God and a people to receive the Restoration.

Do digital publications need more markup?

Yes. Especially if they are going to web and mobile. Digital content has to be accessible to all sorts of users and through all sorts of search queries.

This type of markup allows us to create footnotes marked with numbers and letters to help the user navigate the main body of the text and the associated footnotes.

This type of markup will not only improve how the content is searched it will also allow for personalization and contextual delivery.

This level of markup represents the minimum needed for publishing content in a static, read-only experience.

Now that the markup is in place, the related footnotes are just a tap away from their related markers.

When everything is marked up in the same manner, everything you publish will display uniformly, which can be confusing to the user.

With this level of markup, the content is on its way to becoming suitable for the more interactive publishing channels.

The populating of data like topics, target audiences, and maturity level is best done under the direction of editorial experts. This would include collaborating with developers to create automated processes to populate this type of markup.

We see that the visual appearance of the page is only slightly affected, but the user experience is greatly enhanced.

This linking of related content, which could include audio and video, is nothing more then a further fulfillment of the promises made when the 1981 edition of the scriptures were released.

Meta-data enables searching by subject, author, date, location, event, etc.

These works are now just a tap away from becoming truly “one” in the hands of the user.

It basically allows users to ask a question, and then have your content presented to them as an answer.

Nothing really changes in the presentation, but now the user can annotate the digital publication as they would a printed one, thereby making the digital delivery of the content a viable tool for personal study.

Are all levels of markup labor intensive?

No. Some additional structure and mark up can be added programmatically. These are often referred to as transforms. They literally transform the content from one state to another.

All these things make it possible to create a new publishing experience.

In the past, publishing has played an intrinsic role in ushering in this, the last dispensation.

For instance, this sample shows the added markup necessary so that links and annotations will function properly for the user.

Our content is not of this world, it is not for leisure reading or entertainment. So if we want users around the world to continue to have enlightened experiences with our published content, we have to be willing to do our part.

The development and maintenance of such transforms by software engineers, around a single source will ensure consistency across multiple publishing channels.