A match="para" will match all para elements in your XML document,
unless overridden by a more specific template match. The // in
match="//para" is irrelevant as far as I am aware. Normally you
only use // in the select="//para" situation.
The difference between the match pattern "//para" and the match pattern
"para" is that the former has a higher default priority, so the "//" is not
strictly irrelevant. It is, however, likely never necessary, since the
higher default priority has no practical benefit.
Dave
XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list