Subject matter experts do not want a new editor
DxAuthor+ keeps authors in Microsoft Word and applies the DITA structure behind the scenes, so the people who hold the knowledge never leave the tool they know.
A CCMS that the experts will not use is not a CCMS
The tech-comm island
Every structured-content vendor solves the back-end problem: components, content references, conditional profiling, audit trail. Most solve the SME problem by ignoring it: they ship a dedicated XML editor, hand it to the tech-comm team, and assume the experts will migrate. They will not. SMEs author five to fifty hours of content a year as a fraction of their job, and that fraction is not worth a tool change.
Bring the source content in
The practical effect is a two-tier system. The tech-comm team authors in the new editor; everyone else keeps emailing Word documents. The component model never reaches the source content because the source content never enters the system. DxAuthor+ was built specifically to remove that island.
The unified successor to DxAuthor
DxAuthor+ combines the proven capabilities of the previous Word-based authoring tools into one modern, unified experience. A major upgrade to DxAuthor, built for the latest Microsoft 365 and Word technologies. Faster, more reliable, cleaner, less to learn.
It integrates with SharePoint Online, SharePoint Server 2019, and SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. Single sign-on through Microsoft Entra ID keeps the connection direct: no extra login steps, no separate credentials.
Customers can install and manage DxAuthor+ themselves, or have DitaExchange host it as a service for SharePoint Online. A procurement preference, not a product limitation.
Word on the surface, DITA underneath
The author opens Microsoft Word, desktop or online, exactly as they would today. DxAuthor+ adds a pane on the right with the structured-content capabilities. Everything underneath is standard DITA, stored as XML inside SharePoint. The author never sees the XML unless they choose to.
Taxonomy tags from your SharePoint Term Store
Topic tags are pre-defined and managed by an administrator in the SharePoint Term Store. Authors select the tags they need: AudienceType, BusinessProcess, Customer, Guide, Importance, and any other taxonomies the organization maintains. Each tag carries a color; multiple tags compose into a structured metadata layer.
Tagging is what makes the audit trail and the where-used reports work, and what makes search return the right topic three months later.
Cross-topic links with SharePoint search and preview
Links to related topics are added by pasting them directly, or by searching SharePoint through the integrated dialog. Search results include document previews, so authors confirm the right topic without leaving the dialog. Reference a bookmark, reference a topic, or insert a content reference that resolves at assembly time.
That mechanic is what makes reuse practical: a safety warning in twenty manuals is one approved component referenced twenty times, not twenty copies that drift out of step.
Tagging, linking, references, in the Word the author already uses
Document tagging
- Tags sourced from SharePoint Term Store, administrator-managed, organization-wide.
- Hierarchical taxonomies for AudienceType, BusinessProcess, Customer, Guide, Importance and any custom dimension.
- Color-coded for at-a-glance recognition in the Tags pane.
- Multiple tags compose into the metadata layer that drives search, audit and reuse.
Cross-topic linking
- Paste a link directly, or search SharePoint through the integrated dialog.
- Document previews in the search interface, confirm the right topic before inserting.
- Link types include reference-a-bookmark, reference-a-topic, and content references.
- Links resolve at assembly time, so reuse stays consistent across every document.
Single sign-on
- Microsoft Entra ID single sign-on, no separate credentials.
- Connection to SharePoint is direct, with no extra login steps.
- Same identity, conditional access and security posture as the rest of the M365 tenant.
- No second identity provider to maintain, no extra password rotation to manage.
Deployment
- Supports SharePoint Online, SharePoint Server 2019, and SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
- Customer-managed installation, or hosted as a service for SharePoint Online environments.
- Built on the latest Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Word technologies.
- Modern interface: faster, more reliable, less to learn.
Deeper DxChecker integration and AI-supported content rules
The roadmap brings content validation directly into the DxAuthor+ authoring experience. DxChecker rules will run inside Word at write time, surfacing violations as the author types, not in a downstream review cycle. Quality moves from a gate at the end to a property of the draft.
AI-supported rule creation is the second item: authoring content rules in natural language rather than machine-readable XML, to make rules cheaper to write and easier to maintain. An AI-assisted capability under development, not a current claim.
The people who actually hold the domain knowledge
Medical writers and regulatory specialists
Drafting labeling, safety, and CMC content for a life-sciences submission.
Legal and compliance officers
Drafting disclosure language for a prospectus, a 10-K, or a DORA submission.
Aerospace and defense engineers
Drafting maintenance procedures, capability documents, or airworthiness records.
Nuclear safety analysts
Drafting licensing dossiers, periodic safety review content, or decommissioning records.
Rulemaking and guidance teams
Drafting the rules and guidance that other organizations then have to comply with.
Product, service and engineering teams
Drafting installation, operation, and maintenance content for a product family.
None of these people are XML specialists. Most of them will not adopt a tool that is not already on their desktop. DxAuthor+ meets them where they are, and gives the organization the structured-content posture that regulators, auditors and translators expect.
Content comes in, lives in SharePoint, is written in Word, and is checked against your rules.
One place to look for each of the four jobs: bringing existing content in, managing and publishing it, writing it, and checking it against your rules.
DxMigrationTool
The content you already have, brought in as components.
- Imports Word, HTML, Markdown and text files
- Metadata captured, styling aligned
- Links and cross-references fixed
- Documents componentized into topics
Dx5
Content management and publishing inside Microsoft SharePoint.
- Browser-based topic-tree authoring
- Built-in approval workflows and snapshot capability
- One-click publishing: Word, HTML, XML
- Translation packages per language
DxAuthor+
Structured DITA authoring inside Microsoft Word.
- Word add-in, authors stay in the tool they know
- Topic tagging from SharePoint Term Store
- Cross-topic linking with SharePoint search and preview
- Single sign-on through Entra ID
DxChecker
Rule-based content quality across the SharePoint repository.
- Configurable rule sets: your standards as machine-checkable rules
- Runs at authoring time, on schedule, or via workflow
- Controlled-language enforcement (ASD-STE100 and equivalents)
- Roadmap: deeper DxAuthor+ integration; AI-supported content rules
Frequently asked questions
Can we use DxAuthor+ without SharePoint underneath it?
No, and it is worth being plain about why. The tags come from your SharePoint Term Store, the link dialog searches SharePoint, and content references resolve against components held in SharePoint libraries. Take the library away and there is nothing for the add-in to point at. DxAuthor+ is the authoring surface onto a component store, not a standalone tool that turns a Word file into DITA on its own.
Does an author need desktop Word, and does our SharePoint version matter?
DxAuthor+ runs in Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365, on the desktop or in the browser, with its panes docked beside the document. Sign-in is the Entra ID account the author already has, so there is no second credential to issue. On the storage side it works against SharePoint Online, SharePoint Server 2019 and SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, so an on-premise estate is not a reason for authors to work differently from anyone else.
Where does a reviewer actually work?
In Word, or in the SharePoint library, depending on how the program is set up. Both surfaces exist and this site is deliberately not tidier about it than that. What is consistent is the mode: editors get the editing tools, reviewers get a clean read-only view, so a reviewer cannot disturb the structure the downstream workflow depends on.
Can DxAuthor+ convert the documents we already have into topics?
That is a different job and a different product. DxAuthor+ is the ongoing authoring surface. Existing Word, HTML, Markdown and plain-text files are brought in with DxMigrationTool, which runs once per body of content: metadata captured, styling aligned to the target model, links and cross-references repaired, documents componentized into topics. It is not an unattended process, and nobody should plan it as one.
Which capabilities are in the add-in, and which are in the platform?
Writing is DxAuthor+: tagging from the Term Store, cross-topic links, content references, the text itself. Everything that happens to the content afterwards is Dx5: the topic tree, workflow state, approval records, version history, snapshots, translation packages and publishing. The practical consequence is the one that matters for adoption. An occasional author learns one pane in Word, while the platform capabilities are configured where SharePoint is already administered.
Start with the team that has the most to lose from a new editor
Most DxAuthor+ rollouts start with the SME group where the opportunity is largest and adoption resistance is highest. Authoring in Word removes that barrier on day one.
