DITA uses several elements for inline styling, or styling of pieces of text inside a paragraph:
<b> |
bold text |
<i> |
italic text |
<u> |
underlined text |
<term> |
a word or phrase that needs a definition |
<cite> |
a word or phrase that needs a citation |
<varname> |
a word or phrase that may change based on the user’s circumstances |
<sub> |
subscript text |
<sup> |
superscript text |
The inline elements <b>, <i>, and <u> are familiar and easy to use. However, because they are closely linked with the appearance of text, it is easy to misuse them and defeat the purpose of separating content from formatting. Use these elements sparingly; in most cases, it is better to use more meaningful elements instead, such as the <term>, <cite>, or <varname> elements.
In the following examples, you will learn how to insert the simple <b>, <i>, and <u> elements first, then how to replace them with the semantically rich alternatives.