Element Warehouse Topics
Element warehouse topics contain topic elements that you can reuse through the
@conref
attribute.
Single-Sourcing Elements
We recommend keeping reusable elements centralized in warehouse topics. This way, you can easily find and maintain such elements.
- The reusable “Element A” and “Element B” are in the “Elements Warehouse” topic that enables single-sourcing
- “Element A” is reused in “Topic A”. “Topic B”, and “Topic C”
- “Element B” is reused in “Topic A”, “Topic B”, and “Topic C”
- There is no warehouse topic so the reusable elements are not kept in a central location
- “Topic B” and “Topic C” reuse “Element A” from “Topic A”
- “Topic A” and “Topic C” reuse “Element B” from “Topic B”
Multiple Elements Warehouse Topics
Creating separate warehouse topics for specific kinds of reusable content enables you to make its management easier. The following examples illustrate that this is a scalable approach.
In the following example, each of the warehouse topics contains content related to a given topic type. This approach is sufficient if you maintain a limited amount of documentation. Maintaining a large variable set may slow down variables processing and makes it difficult to search for variables.
- “Installation Steps Warehouse” task topic contains installation-related steps
- “Operation Steps Warehouse” task topic contains operation-related steps
- “Specifications Warehouse” reference topic contains tables with specifications
- “Safety Notes Warehouse” concept topic contains safety precautions
- “Tip Notes Warehouse” concept topic contains tips
This approach is recommended if you maintain a large amount of documentation.
Guidelines
Keep the following guidelines in mind when working with warehouse topics:
- Keep the element warehouse topics in a dedicated folder in the Content Library. For example, keep them in the _shared folder.
- Add the element warehouse topics to the shared map. For more information, see Shared Maps.
- Consider assigning meaningful
@ID
attributes to the reusable elements. For example, note_electrocution_warning or step_install_windowsImportant: Assigning unique@ID
attributes to the reusable elements is necessary to reuse these elements through the@conref
attribute.