Learn best practices for content and keyword referencing to avoid problems with
localization.
Handling conrefs
You can easily reuse content in DITA with the conref attribute.Figure 1. Example of content referencing in DITA
Tip: To set an attribute of an element in oXygen XML Editor, select the element, press Alt +
Enter and type the name of the attribute you want to set.
Improper use of content referencing can lead to translation errors (such as wrong
grammatical forms or text not matching the context). To avoid such errors, follow
these rules:
Don't use conrefs for single words or parts of sentences. Instead, use them
to reference whole sentences or larger fragments.
Avoid excessive content reuse. This can make it harder for translators to
know the context of the translated text.
Handling keyrefs
You can reference keywords using the keyref attribute. Keyrefs can
be used for standard text or expressions that can change, such as product names.Figure 2. Example of keyword referencing in DITA
When used improperly, keyrefs can lead to translation errors. You can minimize such
errors by following these tips:
Use keyrefs for terms that should not be modified in translation, such as
product names or UI terms.
Avoid using keyrefs for common nouns.
Treat keyrefs as proper nouns and don't precede them with an article.
