Why do documents need to be structured

A structured document is an electronic document whose contents are organized into labeled blocks according to certain restrictions—known as schema—using a mark-up language such as HTML or XML.

Rather than formatting with presentation to end-users in mind, structured documents give priority to grouping information together logically.

When used in the right situations, it can make document contents easy to search, update, and reuse. However, many businesses will find structured documentation inefficient and not worth the trouble of implementing.

The labeling of sections in structured documentation makes it easy to lift sections from one document for use in another. When adding content to pages using the rich text editor in Canvas, use the Format selector on the toolbar to select the appropriate level of heading. If the heading text has not been typed yet, select the heading level first, then type. If the heading text already exists, simply select it before using the Format selector to assign a heading level.

Note that Heading 1 is already in use; Canvas assigns that automatically to the page title. Therefore, the highest level of heading you can select within your content is Heading 2.

WordPress, Drupal, and other content management systems all have a rich text editor for authoring content. The editor includes a toolbar with a format selector, similar to the one shown above in Canvas. Use this format selector to select the appropriate heading level for your content. In Microsoft Word, add headings using the built-in heading styles Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. When creating content, it is important to recognize when your content is a list of items.

For example, university web pages often include lists of links, events, staff members, degree programs, and much more. If lists are created as lists, screen readers can inform their users that they have landed on a list and can provide additional information such as the number of items in the list. Before setting out to write a complex document, it is necessary to design and develop the structure of the document.

It is not a good idea to just start writing a document until you have some idea of how it will be structured. The structure of a document may be defined as the nature and extent of the different sections , and the order in which these sections appear. The order of sections is important. The information that you present to your reader should follow a logical sequence.

Supposing your task is to write a report on risks associated with keeping dinosaur. Here is a suggestion for a document structure :. Risks associated with keeping Dinosaurs by Leo Isaac. Provide helpful information to the reader about Dinosaur in general.

To decide this, again consider your reader. You can then decide if you want to include the background early on because your audience needs this information , or if it can be included as an appendix for anyone who wants to read it later. Decide when and where to include the arguments supporting your conclusion or recommendations. This will probably give you enough clues to decide on a chronological or non-chronological structures. Beyond that, you will need to be flexible to decide what is most appropriate for your purposes.

When you are developing a suitable structure, remember that it is not set in stone. You do not have to use it rigidly. Even within an organisational outline, there will be some flexibility. The structure is designed to help you and your reader, not to constrain you and make your life difficult.

You will probably have realised by now that perhaps the most important consideration is your audience. Once you have decided whether you are using a chronological or non-chronological structure, set out some possible headings and sub-headings for your document. These should allow you to set out all the necessary information, in a logical order. The next step is to start to populate the structure with notes about what content to include. Under each heading in the structure, make a note of the required information.

You can then start to fill in the sections in more detail. You will often be able to use the titles of the main sections in your structure as headings and subheadings within the text.

These help the reader to navigate through the piece. However, even if you are not expected to use the section titles in the finished document, they will still help you to structure your writing into the desired framework. One of the most useful aspects of a structure is that you do not need to write your document in the final order. Instead, you can move about the document, writing different sections to follow your train of thought.

For example, some people find that it is helpful to start with their conclusion or recommendation.