greenfield and new structure

[Writer]

>But surely somehow the para tags get mapped to elements for PDF output? 

Forget about formatting while you author. Learn to separate creating content from formatting.

>When I publish a procedure to PDF, suppose I want the steps to have 0pt above, 6pt after, etc - the stuff I usually set up in the paragraph designer. How do the elements get that information en route to becoming a PDF?  I want to know how to set that up, too. 
>And then I want to publish the same content to HTML, with different presentation. Now that I separate the presentation form the structure, I have misplaced where the presentation layer went...
><still scratching head>


One approach (described at a very general level):


1. Create your DITA topics.

2. Create a ditamap for your book/PDF.

3. Create a ditaval file, if you need one.

4. Save your ditamap as an FM book with FM components (or however it works in FM11). I think you mentioned that you're using DITA FMx? That should help you build your FM book.

5. Go through your FM book and format the tags that are applied to paragraphs and characters. Set up your master pages, reference pages, TOC file, index file, front/backmatter etc.

6. Once you're satisfied with the results, save your formatting as a template.

7. Next time you update your DITA files and recreate your FM book, apply those templates to the generated FM book files.

Does that make sense?

As for generating HTML, that's going to depend on what processor you use.

This LinkedIn thread mentions several e-books about DITA (not FM). If you're not familiar with DITA in general, you might find something useful to give you a basis for using FM as a tool for authoring DITA.

http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=112571&type=member&item=181151686&trk=group_search_item_list-0-b-ttl&goback=%2Egna_112571


Nadine