Referred to as the root element which is the top level or parent element of a task topic. It is present in the topic by default. Contains all other elements of the task topic.

The task element serves two primary purposes:

• Organizing procedural information into a standardized structure with clear steps

• Supporting task analysis by separating prerequisite information, main procedure, and post-task activities

Key characteristics of the task element:

• Contains a required taskbody element that organizes task components

• Enforces a specific content model that ensures consistent task documentation

• Must contain steps or steps-unordered for the main procedure

• Supports sections before or after any standard task element

A task element consists of these optional and required components:

Title (title)

A required, common element that provides a concise, descriptive name for the task. This is typically displayed prominently at the beginning of the topic and should clearly indicate what the task accomplishes.

Title alternates (titlealts)

An optional, common element that contains alternate versions of the topic title, such as a navigation title (navtitle) that might appear in menus, optimized for search engines. These alternates provide flexibility in how the task is presented in different contexts.

Abstract (abstract)

An optional, common element that provides a brief summary of the purpose and scope of a topic. Unlike the short description, the abstract can contain multiple paragraphs and other block-level elements to provide a more comprehensive overview, including shortdesc.

Short description (shortdesc)

An optional, common element that provides a brief, one-paragraph summary of the topic purpose. This often appears immediately after the title and may be displayed in search results or topic previews. It should concisely explain what the task accomplishes without describing how to perform it.

Prolog (prolog)

An optional, common element that contains metadata about the topic, such as author information, creation date, keywords, and other administrative data. This information is typically used for content management purposes rather than being displayed to end users.

Taskbody (taskbody)

A required, task-specific element that serves as a container for all the content elements specific to the task topic like prerequisites, steps, and results. It provides the structural framework that organizes the procedural information in a standardized format.

Related links (related-links)

An optional, common element that contains links to related topics, external resources, or other relevant information. These links help users navigate to additional content that may be useful before, during, or after performing the task.

Content within the task element typically follows these output formatting rules:

• Task titles are typically displayed prominently at the beginning of the topic

• Each major section (prereq, context, steps, an so on) may be labeled with a heading in the output

• The steps section is usually formatted as a numbered list to indicate sequence

• The steps-unordered section is usually formatted as a bulleted list

• The task structure maintains a consistent format across all task topics in a documentation set

• Some sections may be indented or styled differently to show their relationship to the overall task structure

<task id="task-6667">
    <title>Signing in to MobileView</title>
    <shortdesc>Sign in to the MobileView application through the ClusterControl server.</shortdesc>
    <prolog>
        <author translate="no" type="creator">Heretto User &lt;user@heretto.com&gt;</author>
        <metadata>
            <keywords>
                <indexterm>MobileView</indexterm>
                <indexterm>ClusterControl</indexterm>
                <indexterm>sign in</indexterm>
                <indexterm>authentication</indexterm>
            </keywords>
        </metadata>
    </prolog>
    <taskbody>
        <prereq>
            <p>Ensure you have your username, password, and the name of the server that you want to connect to.</p>
        </prereq>
        <context>
            <p>MobileView requires authentication to ensure secure access to your ClusterControl server resources and project data. You can authenticate either through your MobileView-specific credentials or using your Windows account credentials through single sign-on.</p>
        </context>
         <steps>
            <step>
                <cmd>To open MobileView, click <menucascade><uicontrol>Start</uicontrol><uicontrol>All programs</uicontrol><uicontrol>Thunderbird MobileView</uicontrol></menucascade>.</cmd>
            </step>
            <step>
                <cmd>In the MobileView window, do one of the following:</cmd>
                <choices>
                    <choice>Enter your MobileView username and password.</choice>
                    <choice>Sign in using your <tm tmtype="reg">Windows</tm> user account by selecting the <uicontrol>Windows</uicontrol> selection button.</choice>
                </choices>
            </step>
            <step>
                <cmd>In the directory field, enter the name or IP address of the main StormCluster ClusterControl server. Click <uicontrol>Sign In</uicontrol>.</cmd>
            </step>
        </steps>
        <result>
            <p>You are signed in to MobileView. You can sign out by clicking <menucascade><uicontrol>Home</uicontrol><uicontrol>Sign Out</uicontrol></menucascade>. If you do not sign out manually, you will be signed out automatically after a period of inactivity. </p>
        </result>
        <postreq>
            <p>After signing in, verify that the dashboard shows the correct user information and project data.</p>
        </postreq>
    </taskbody>
</task>