DITA: Inline links
xref element.As a general best practice, people say to avoid inline links if possible, but if referring to another topic or page, it might seem odd not to include the link.
The topic title will automatically be used as the anchor text for the link.
<xref href="sample.dita"/>If you want to manually specify the anchor text, code it like this:
<xref href="sample.dita">Sample</xref>
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If you're linking to an external source, you need to add the scope and
format attributes to your link:
<xref href="http://example.org" scope="external" outputclass="external" format="html">Example.org</xref>About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, agent skills, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my AI courses for more on the latest in AI and tech comm. If you're looking for info about documenting APIs, see my API documentation course.
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Finally, I want to note a couple of things. I usually write the first drafts of my posts myself and then use AI to improve accuracy, clarity, and detail in places, so my writing is a mix of human and AI. (Hopefully that's not too off-putting.) Also, the opinions I express on my blog are my own perspectives, not those of my employer.