For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://idratherbewriting.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of all pages are available by appending .md to any page URL.

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Sample table of definitions

Fields Definitions

The ability to reuse content via a shorthand reference. This is often used as a slang term (a verb, like "google" is used as a verb) for using a content reference (conref) element.

The open toolkit is what processes your DITA files to transform them into webhelp, pdf, and other outputs.

There are other processors besides the OT that can achieve similar results.

OxygenXML does use the Open Toolkit to do its processing, but xMetaL uses another processor.

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About Tom Johnson

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.

If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me.

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.