Row Villa

The short description (<shortdesc>) element occurs between the topic title and the topic body, as the initial paragraph-like content of a topic, or it can be embedded in an abstract element. The short description, which represents the purpose or theme of the topic, is also intended to be used as a link preview and for searching. When used within a DITA map, the short description of the <topicref> can be used to override the short description in the topic.

Use the <shortdesc> element when the first paragraph of topic content is simple enough to be suitable for use as a link preview or for summaries. Otherwise use the <abstract> element instead to provide richer content around the <shortdesc>. See the abstract description for more details on the behavior of shortdesc in an abstract.

While inclusion of the <shortdesc> element is not mandated by DITA or the tools, it is recommended that topics contain this element. In cases where a topic contains only one paragraph, then it is preferable to include this text in the <shortdesc> and leave the topic body empty.