All topics, regardless of topic type, build on the same common structures.

Topic bodies

While all topic types have the same elements for title, short description or abstract, and prolog, they each allow different content in their body.

Sections and examples

Sections and examples can be contained only by the body of a topic. They cannot nest. They can contain block-level elements like paragraphs, phrase-level elements like API names, or text.

Block-level elements

Paragraphs, lists, and tables are kinds of "block" elements. As a class of content, they can contain other blocks, phrases, or text, though the rules vary for each structure.

Phrases and keywords

Authors can intermix markup with text when they need to identify part of a paragraph or even part of a sentence as having special significance. Phrases can usually contain other phrases and keywords as well as text. Keywords can only contain text.

Images

Authors can insert images using the image element. Images can be used at the block level, for example to show screen captures or diagrams, or at the phrase level, for example to show what icons or toolbar buttons look like.

Multimedia

Authors can create multimedia for online information using the object element, for example to display SVG diagrams that can be rotated and explored.