Use the Customize DITA plugin

Perform the following steps to use the Customize DITA plugin to change the structure and formatting of your DITA templates:

1. Launch FrameMaker.
2. In the main menu, click Structure > DITA > Customize DITA > Customize DITA shell.
   Note: If the Initialize plugin command is shown, this needs to be executed first. A restart is required to create the new menu.

   The plugin initializes the code that is required for customization. Once this is done, the dialog shows the list of currently active customized DITA shells.

   Note: Initializing the plugin for the first time in FrameMaker takes a while, as the required XSLT processor is loaded.
3. Change an existing customization or add new one. The following table describes the user interface elements available in the Customize DITA pod.

   	Start a new customization. The dialog shows a menu with drop-down lists, from which you can select the topic or map to be customized.
   	Change an existing customization.
   	Remove a customization. The original shell for this topic or map is restored.

4. Click the plus icon to start a new customization.

   A list of DITA topics is shown. The topics are categorized under three branches of Topic, Map, and Learning.

   
   
   
5. Click on a DITA topic that you want to customize.
6. Select the modules, domains, and elements to include
   The dialog shows a tree with checkboxes. The checkboxes have three possible states:

   	Component (all of its possible child components) selected.	Click to unselects component (and all children).
   	Component (and all of its possible child components) unselected.	Click to selects component (and all children).
   	Some but not all child components selected.	Click to selects component (and all children).

   Note: Checkboxes for the required domains are disabled.
7. Select the attributes to show.

   The attributes that you choose not to include in the custom DITA are marked as hidden, they are not removed. This implies that they can still be used by FrameMaker and possible plugins, but you will not be able to see them or change their values via the Attributes pod.

   Note: The attribute selection is stored and automatically re-applied in other shells that have the same basic attribute list. There are separate lists for topics, maps, and lightweight shells.
8. Click to generate the EDD

   This takes a while, as multiple transformations need to be performed.

9. Select the CSS.

   The currently selected CSS is shown. If you want to use another CSS, click to open the Choose CSS File dialog and select another CSS. If an alternative CSS is currently selected, click to reset the selection to the default CSS.

10. Click to import the selected CSS into the EDD.

    If warnings or errors occur, an import report is shown. The report lists the lines of the CSS that caused the warning or error. For more information about the supported CSS properties, see CSS import. In addition to the supported CSS properties, there are some restrictions on using the CSS files. See Restrictions on CSS file import for more information.

    Note: When the import report is shown, you can either click to ignore the warnings or errors and continue to the next step or click to edit or change the selected CSS and try again.
    The following image shows warnings for CSS properties that cannot be mapped to the EDD. The lines in the CSS for which the error or warning is generated are listed and the error or warning explains what the problem is.
    
    
11. Select the template.
    The EDD must be imported into an template before it can be used to create new DITA topics or maps. The currently selected (empty) template is shown. If you want to use another template, click to open the Choose Template dialog and select a new template. If an alternative template is currently selected, click to reset the selection to the default template.
12. Click to import the EDD into the selected template.
    If no errors occur, the newly customized shell is now available. The dialog shows the list of customized shells and their modification dates.
13. Start using the customized shell.
    The new shell is listed in the Customize DITA dialog. A new file using the customized shell can be created via the File > New > DITA submenu. When (re)opening an existing DITA file of the customized type, the new template is used.