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Introduction to publication structure

Learning a few basic rules will help you knowing your way around in a publication. As flexible as it may be, the structure of a publication follows rules that define the way maps and topics interact. The difference that you see between the structure of the publication in Publication Manager and the one you see in the output are consequences of these rules.

Figure 1. From Structure to Output

Names and titles
What you see in Publication Manager left-hand pane is the object's name: The object's label defined in its properties dialogue. What will appear in the output are the topic titles: the title that is defined inside the topic. Those two can be different, as in the example pictured above.
The name of the publication
Number 1 in the From Structure to Output picture: The title of the publication is the title that is defined inside the rootmap (My publication today rootmap title). It is not the name of the publication object (My publication), nor is it the name of the rootmap object as defined in the properties (My publication today rootmap name). When you change version for the publication, you can give it a different title so the version difference can be seen by the reader, without having to change the publication object's name nor any property-defined label.
Only one rootmap
Number 2 in the From Structure to Output picture: Each publication has only one rootmap right under the publication object. The rootmap is the only object at this level with the exception of Resources (content that is referenced inside the topics). All the content of the publication (except Resources) is inside the rootmap, necessarily at least one level under it. The rootmap's behavior is different from the behavior of all the other maps. For example, it is the only one for which the title is shown in the output (it becomes the title of the publication).
Map titles are invisible, except for the rootmap
Number 3 in the From Structure to Output picture: No map name (from the properties) or title (defined inside the map) appears in the output. The rootmap is the exception, the title defined inside it becomes the publication's title in the output. What the output shows as chapter titles for maps content is the titles defined inside the head topics. Therefore, in order to see what title will be displayed in the output for the reader, you need to view what is inside the topic.
Topics under maps
If you want a map to be a chapter or any part of publication that has a common title and introduction, then you need to put one and only one topic under that map. That topic can then contain other maps and topics. All the map content goes into that single topic, and this head topic gives its title to the map content. In this case adding an object to the map means adding it to the head topic just under the map.
If the content of the map are just a succession of publication parts standing on their own, then you should add them directly to the map with no headers. In this case adding an object to the map means putting it directly inside the map.
This choice has consequences on how your output looks like, hierarchy-wise.

Figure 2. Header or no Header

In the Header or no Header picture, the top example "chapter 1" has a header topic that shows at the same level as the Welcome chapter. The content itself shows at a lower level, commonly grouped under the header. The bottom example has no header for "chapter 1", and the content seems like two independent chunks of information each at the same level as the Welcome chapter.
Movements inside a map check out that map only
The map is basically the list of links to all the objects inside it. If an object is added, the map needs to be checked out first, and checked back in after. The same applies when you move or remove objects inside it. However, when you change the content of a topic, the map doesn't change.
The publication object, on the other hand, keeps track of the versions of objects. Therefore, when you create a new version for an object and select that new version for the publication, the publication needs to be saved, but the map is not checked out.
If you don't check out the map before an action, Publication Manager will require that you do, and then ask you to redo your action.

You can find out more about publications, maps, topics and resources in the How to sections of Knowledge Center documentation.