DocBook 5: The Definitive Guide

Name

sidebar — A portion of a document that is isolated from the main narrative flow

Synopsis

sidebar ::= ((((title? & titleabbrev?), info? ^{db.titleforbidden.info}) | info ^{db.titleonly.info}), (annotation | bridgehead | remark | revhistory | Indexing inlines | Admonition elements | Formal elements | Graphic elements | Informal elements | List elements | Paragraph elements | Publishing elements | Synopsis elements | Technical elements | Verbatim elements)+)

Attribute synopsis

Common attributes and common linking attributes.

Additional constraints

• sidebar must not occur among the children or descendants of sidebar.

Description

A sidebar is a short piece of text, rarely longer than a single column or page, that is presented outside the narrative flow of the main text.

Sidebars are often used for digressions or interesting observations that are related, but not directly relevant, to the main text.

Processing expectations

Formatted as a displayed block. Sometimes sidebars are boxed or shaded.

DocBook does not specify the location of the sidebar within the final displayed flow of text. The wrapper may float or remain where it is located.

See Also

abstract, blockquote, epigraph

Examples

<article xmlns='http://docbook.org/ns/docbook'> <title>Example sidebar</title> <section><title>An Example Section</title> <para>Some narrative text. </para> <sidebar><title>A Sidebar</title> <para>Sidebar content. </para> </sidebar> <para>The continuing flow of the narrative text, as if the sidebar was not present. </para> ...