Customizing HTML with a `.properties` file

You can also use a .properties file to reference a set of build parameters when building output with the dita command. The DITA-OT documentation uses a .properties file to include custom CSS, header branding, and table-of-contents navigation in the HTML5 output.

1. Create a .properties file to store the parameter settings for your customization.

   Tip: You can use one of the sample .properties files from the DITA-OT documentation as a starting point for your own customizations. These files are available in the installation folder under docsrc/samples/properties/.

   For example:

   # Directory that contains the custom .css file: args.cssroot = ${args.input.dir}/css/ # Custom .css file used to style output: args.css = style.css # Copy the custom .css file to the output directory: args.copycss = yes # Location of the copied .css file relative to the output: args.csspath = branding # Generate a full navigation TOC in topic pages: nav-toc = full

2. Reference your .properties file with the dita command when building your output.

   `dita` **--input**=*my.ditamap* **--format**=html5 **--propertyfile**=*my.properties*

Note: For an example of HTML output generated using this method, see the HTML5 version of the DITA-OT documentation included in the installation folder under doc/index.html.