Content Reuse vs Copying

What is the difference between content reuse and copying?

With content reuse, you use the same content in multiple places. There are no duplicates. You reuse the same piece of content. If you change it, the alterations will be applied to every topic that reuses the content. A single-source of truth that only requires you to update in one place.

With reuse, the same element is inserted multiple times. Here, the "Select Save." para element (1) is used twice.

Copying is different, as you make a duplicate of the original. The copy is completely separate from the original. Cutting and pasting should be avoided, since it only leads to a multitude of duplicate content where you update one place, but forget another, you have to translate multiple copies of the same content just because they differ only slightly and so on.

As a general rule, we recommend that you reuse content when you want to use the same content in multiple places. Use copy if you want to use an existing piece of content as a starting point for a new, customized piece of content that will be separate to the original.

With copy, the element (or text in the element) is duplicated. The copy (2) is a separate element to the original (1).