Content Production Services

Content Description

The Toolkit Media Group specializes in developing content that is easily accessible to those without professional expertise. The goal is to make our readers aware of the issues they face and to guide them to the information they need to successfully address those issues.

Currently, we have developed two individual products.

Business Owner's Toolkit addresses the needs of very small business owners: those with fewer than 10 employees. Divided into 12 chapters supported by hundreds of downloadable forms and tools, it is a resource that provides answers to questions as well as general information useful to business owners and to those considering going into business. At present, the BOT consists of about 5,000 documents, including two recently added chapters on asset protection (bankruptcy) and on doing business with the government.

Financial Planning Toolkit is a newly developed information resource for personal financial planning. It follows the same approach as the Business Owner's Toolkit: easily understandable information organized around a number of major topics, supported by forms, tools, and over 100 financial calculators.

Content Format

As a supplier of intellectual property, the Toolkit Media Group strives to deliver the content in a format that is 100% consistent with the server environment in which it will reside. We aren't web site designers, but we recognize that the content must be fully integrated into the surrounding web site. To that end, we can manipulate the content in a variety of ways prior to delivery.

File types: Content is delivered in a variety of html, asp, php, and cfm formats, and we are working on xml delivery. This type of data manipulation includes changing file name extensions as well as all internal links to those files. Optional mark-up, such as SSI statements, scripting, modified link mark-up (such as session variables or other coding), etc., are performed in conformance with specifications supplied.

Data storage and directory structure: If no request is made otherwise, the content is divided logically among a number of directories, with all links providing a relative path to other documents. However, we are equally comfortable changing the links to absolute values, adding query strings and session variables, removing the path statement to permit use in a database environment, etc.

Tools and graphics: The content is supported by a number of downloadable tools as well as several graphics. A major element of the BOT is a group of about 35 hot-spotted state maps that provide state specific information. Other elements, such as tips, examples, warnings, and other featured text are also highlighted by graphics. Bar charts and other explanatory images also support the text where appropriate.

The tools, which are primarily in pdf, rtf, and xlt, are not subject to modification. These are downloadable forms, spreadsheets, and sample documents that won't be presented on a web page.

The required graphics, including all maps, are provided. All tip, warning, example, work smart, etc., graphics are supplied, though you may choose not use them (for example, if they are inconsistent with an existing scheme). If alternative graphics are sought, we do not supply them.

Specific Items

Over the course of several years of content licensing, we've found that the following items often have to be addressed to successfully insert the content into the desired page wrapper.

Previous/Next references: An invaluable feature of the Guidebook section of each Toolkit is the previous and next seeding that permits users to simply page through the content like a book. A variety of techniques are available, including scripting, the insertion of hard-coded links into the files, and various database solutions. While we don't write script or database applications, we do make whatever changes are required within the documents to make a script or application work.

Pop files: Each of the Guidebooks, which are ordered data sets, is supported by local resources. The prime example of this is the 50 or so files that support each state map. These files are not part of an ordered set, so there is no previous document/next document information. Other pops provide definitions of key terms.

Calculators: The BOT contains a home office deduction calculator using a Java Applet to estimate the amount of the deduction. The FPT contains over 100 Java-based calculators, which will reside with the content. These are processed client-side by the browser.

Links: In addition to the previously noted issues relating to directory structure and relative versus absolute links, the links present other issues, particularly if frames or a query string approach is used. The content also contains links to relevant external sites, such as the BLS, SBA or IRS sites.

Tool file descriptions and links: A group of web documents describes the features and benefits of one or more tools, and provides the hypertext links to the tool downloads. This can raise issues over how links to downloads should be structured. We will conform the links as required.

Metatags and document variables: Substantial content and structure related meta information is available for the documents. For example, the document's relative level in the data hierarchy, its parent document, the previous and next documents, the document filename and page title, etc. These are formatted as required for the server environment to enable things like previous/next functionality.

CSS, SSI, scripts, copyright, etc.: If required, calls to external documents, such as style sheets, scripts, and server side include statements are inserted in the appropriate locations within the files. Specific mark-up in lieu of these is also possible. We can insert a Toolkit copyright line in each file to avoid modifying an existing site-wide page wrapper.

Other: The preceding examples note some of the types of data manipulation we have done in the past. It isn't a comprehensive list and we're always open to performing whatever other services are required to get the content ready.

Caveats

The content itself, with rare exceptions, can't be changed. Since Toolkit holds the copyright on, and is responsible for the accuracy of, the material, we insist that no substantive changes are made without express written permission. Such changes, if permitted, will be lost each time we provide an update.

The content of each Toolkit is logically organized into chapters, and it isn't possible to rearrange the content to support some other organizational structure. There are thousands of links among the documents, and changing them isn't feasible at this time.

Similarly, it isn't possible to provide different mark-up to pages except on the basis of the topical arrangement or the six-tier outline structure or other readily identifiable attributes. Thus, all the documents in subchapter 1 can be treated differently than all the documents in subchapter 2. Or, every subchapter level document (Heading 2) can be treated in a special way. Such differentiation may not be made on a document-by-document basis, or on the basis of other attributes that are content-based, rather than organizationally based.

We always perform link validation and html validation on the content prior to conversion. However, with very limited exceptions, we can't recreate your server environment and, therefore, can't validate the converted files. With that said, if the files don't work as delivered, we will continue processing them until they are correct.

Further Processing

By Toolkit: We strive to provide files that are 100% usable as delivered. Occasionally, they are not: sometimes the processing fails, sometimes the specification was incorrect or has changed. Whatever the cause, we will continue to reprocess the files if a format error is discovered. We employ content management processes that usually allow us to turn around a flawed data set in a day or less after discovery and notification.

By Licensees: Our intent is to provide a plug-and-play information resource, requiring minimum processing time for our licensees. Nevertheless, we recognize that it is sometimes easier or otherwise desirable for the content we deliver to undergo further processing to make it ready for the web. We don't object to this, as long as the actual substance of the content remains unchanged. However, any updates delivered by Toolkit will be in the original, unprocessed, format. While we are happy to undertake whatever further processing is performed, this must, unfortunately, be done on an all-or-nothing basis.