Basic topic elements

3.1.1.1.1 topic
The <topic> element is the top-level DITA element for a single-subject topic or article. Other top-level DITA elements that are more content-specific are <concept>, <task>, <reference>, and <glossentry>, all of which are specializations of the <topic> element.
3.1.1.1.2 title
The <title> element contains a heading or label for the main parts of a topic, including the topic as a whole, its sections and examples, and its labelled content, such as figures and tables. Beginning with DITA 1.1, the element may also be used to provide a title for a map. With DITA 1.2, the element is also available in reltables, although in the reltable a title is typically used for reference information (not for content displayed to an end user).
3.1.1.1.3 titlealts
The <titlealts> element allows the insertion of alternate titles, such as titles that should be used in creating a table of contents for navigation or a title specific to search results. When the <titlealts> element is absent, the title element is used for all title purposes.
3.1.1.1.4 searchtitle
The <searchtitle> element is used to specify a title that should be displayed by search tools that locate the topic. This is most useful when the topic has a title that makes sense in the context of a single information set, but may be too general in a list of search results; for example, a topic title of "Markup example" may make sense as part of a guide to DITA, but when found among thousands of unrelated topics, a search title of "DITA markup example" is more useful.
3.1.1.1.5 navtitle
The navigation title (<navtitle>) element is one of a set of alternate titles that can be included inside the <titlealts> element. This navigation title may differ from the first level heading that shows in the main browser window. Use <navtitle> when the actual title of the topic isn't appropriate for use in a table of contents, navigation pane, or online content (for example, because the actual title is too long). Beginning with DITA 1.2, the navtitle element is also available in the <topicmeta> element in a <topicref> in a map, and its use is preferred over the topicref's navtitle attribute.
3.1.1.1.6 shortdesc
The short description (<shortdesc>) element occurs between the topic title and the topic body, as the initial paragraph-like content of a topic, or it can be embedded in an abstract element. The short description, which represents the purpose or theme of the topic, is also intended to be used as a link preview and for searching. The <shortdesc> element also can be used in a DITA map.
3.1.1.1.7 abstract
The abstract element occurs between the topic title and the topic body, as the initial content of a topic. It can contain paragraph-level content as well as one or more shortdesc elements which can be used for providing link previews or summaries. The <abstract> element cannot be overridden by maps, but its contained <shortdesc> elements can be, for the purpose of creating link summaries or previews.
3.1.1.1.8 body
The <body> element is the container for the main content of a <topic>.
3.1.1.1.9 bodydiv
The <bodydiv> element is used to contain informal blocks of information within the body of a topic. The bodydiv element is specifically designed to be a grouping element, without any explicit semantics, other than to organize subsets of content into logical groups that are not intended or should not be contained as a topic. As such, it does not contain an explicit title to avoid enabling the creation of deeply nested content that would otherwise be written as separate topics. Content that requires a title should use a section element or a nested topic.
3.1.1.1.10 related-links
The related information links of a topic (<related-links> element) are stored in a special section following the body of the topic. After a topic is processed into its final output form, the related links are usually displayed at the end of the topic, although some Web-based help systems might display them in a separate navigation frame.
3.1.1.1.11 dita
The <dita> element provides a top-level container for multiple topics when you create documents using the ditabase document type. The <dita> element lets you create any sequence of concept, task, and reference topics, and the ditabase document type lets you nest these topic types inside each other. The <dita> element has no particular output implications; it simply allows you to create multiple topics of different types at the same level in a single document.

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3.1.1.1 Basic topic elements