Content model

A content model defines the types of content an organization produces, the parts (fields) each type consists of, and how types relate to each other. It is the blueprint that turns documents into structured content.

What a content model contains

• Content types — for technical documentation, typically concept, task, reference, troubleshooting, warning
• Attributes — the fields of each type: title, short description, prerequisites, steps, result
• Relations — "a task requires a tool", "a warning applies to a step"
• Rules — required and optional parts, allowed values, often from a Controlled vocabulary

Why it matters

A content model makes information architecture enforceable. When every task has prerequisites, steps and a result, readers learn where to look — and software can reuse, filter and assemble the parts. Metadata fields in the model feed Faceted classification and search.

Content model and ontology

A content model describes content; an Ontology describes the domain the content is about. They meet in metadata: a task's "applies to product" field points at a product class of the ontology. Standards like DITA define content types; iiRDS defines the metadata that links them to products and situations.

See Topic-based authoring for the writing practice built on a content model.