Edit online

Reuse content for similar products

Read time: 2 minute(s)

This is the most common case for successful reuse, you have multiple similar products which share common functionality. So similarly the technical documentation for each of those products will also share common content. This is usually done in two ways. In the following sections I will use the term root map for referring to the DITA Map which will actually get published.

1. Use multiple Root Maps.

Each root map is published to obtain the output for a certain product type. As major benefits you can:
  • Reuse entire topics.
  • Define variable product names.
  • Remap links and reused content using keys.

Publication maps for phone models X1000 and X2000 using almost similar content except Blue-tooth chapter which appears in only one of them.

2. Use a single Root Map.

You have a single publication root map which gets published for various products using profiling filters applied on it. These filters can be applied either at topic or element levels. The product name is variable and depends on the applied filters.