DITA concept topics answer "What is..." questions. They include a body-level element with a basic topic structure, including sections and examples.
Concepts provide background that helps readers understand essential information about a product, interface, or task. Often, a concept is an extended definition of a major abstraction such as a process or function. Conceptual information may explain a product and how it fits into its category of products. Conceptual information helps users to map their existing knowledge to tasks and other essential information about a product or system.
The <concept> element is the top-level element for a DITA concept topic. Every concept contains a <title> and a <conbody> and optional <titlealts>, <shortdesc> or <abstract>, <prolog>, <related-links>, and nested topics.
The <conbody> element is the main body-level element for a concept. Like the body element of a general topic, <conbody> allows paragraphs, lists, and other elements as well as sections and examples. But <conbody> has a constraint that a section or an example can be followed only by other sections or examples.
Here is an example of a simple concept topic.
<concept id="concept"> <title>Bird Calling</title> <conbody> <p>Bird calling attracts birds.</p> <example> <p>Bird calling requires learning:</p> <ul> <li>Popular and classical bird songs</li> <li>How to whistle like a bird</li> </ul> </example> </conbody> </concept>
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OASIS DITA Architectural Specification v1.1 -- Committee Draft 02, 8 May 2007
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