Books linked to Topics

I've been creating new topics while creating my TOC; linking
new topics to newly created books. When I compile and generate Html
help, everything looks great. Until i exit out of Robohelp and go
back in. At that point, any book that was linked to a topic is now
a page. The Adobe support staff says this happened because i didn't
create pages for my books when i greated them initially, so any
book that does not have a page, automatically becaomes a page. Does
anybody know how to fix this retroactively? Essentially change a
page into a book? As it stands, the way i see it, i have to more or
less start over, which would be annoying since my TOC is pretty
large....
Thanks.

Hi SKIUNNYNJ and welcome to our community
Hmmm, so why would you want a book that has no pages inside?
Doesn't matter I suppose.
If this will be a compiled .CHM output file, you can do the
following. Sorry, but the bad news is taht it will involve hand
editing each entry. The good news is that you will end up with what
it appears you want.
1. In the RoboHelp TOC Editor, right click the topic and
click Properties off the context menu.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click the Image drop-down and choose the desired book
image.
4. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.
5. Recompile the project and test.
Hopefully this helps... Rick :)

Similar Messages

TOC - Books Linked to Topics?

I'm hoping that I'm just overlooking something and that my suspicion isn't true.
I have chapters, several levels deep of subchapters and then, of course, my topcs.
Something like this...
Help Root
     L Chapter Top
          L Subchapter
               L Subsubchapter
                    L Topic
I want each of my chapters to link to topics - basically introductory pages that I can't have at the same level as the topics because it woudn't make sense. I seem to be able to do this in RoboHelp HTML but not in RoboHelp for Word?

I think your suspicion is true. You cannot add a link to a book in the TOC when using RH for Word. You also can't have a page under a page in the format you describe or a book under a page. All pages do fall before books when it comes to the TOC hierarchy.
Book
     page
     page
     book
          page
     book
     page
An alternative you might want to think about is to put each chapter in one topic. Then add mid-topic links to the subsections on the page. You could also include this mid-topics in the Index. At the top of the chapter, build the contents of that section and make jumps to the mi-topics on the page. At the top, you could also include your intro.
Another alternative is to build an overview page with your intro.
Book
     overview page
     page
     book
          overview page
          page
     book
     overview page
     page

Webhelp RH8: TOC book not linking to topic

Hi (again),
I seem to have another little issue.
In generating our helpsystem, we would like to have books that display general information when clicked and also display the subsequent topics. That all works fine, I link a topic to the TOC book and it displays the contents of the selected page.
However, when I only have a book (no topics), linking a topic does not work. In the output it displays as a page. Is there a way I can have a book linked to a topic while there are no other topics in that book?

Thanks RoboColum(n) for your pointer. Due to time limitations I could only look at it briefly and give it one try. Redirecting didn't work in this instance. I have a few redirect pages which work fine but so far I haven't managed to get a book to display when there is only one page in that book. For now I have avoided the problem by having an empty page when the book is clicked. Not pretty and I will be looking at this again when there is more time.

Generated Webhelp Navigation Book Links fail

Robohelp HTML 9.0.1.232
Word 2010
WebHelp - custom template
Each time i generate a project with two linked word files, book links randomly fail. There is no pattern as to which book link will fail on each generation. Sometimes one fails, sometimes more than one.
By fail, i mean clicking the book link does not activate the page.
Any ideas why this might be happening?
TIA
Rob

Hello again
While it certainly wouldn't hurt to clear the CPD file, I'd be surprised to discover it makes any real difference.
Question here. This one is a huge "gotcha" with mixing Word and RoboHelp this way. Do any of your Headings (which should end up being converted to individual topics) have any odd characters?
Note that when I say "Odd Characters" I mean any character other than A-Z, a-z, the underscore ( _ ) or 0-9. Quotes count as an odd character as do things like the shifted numbers ( !@#$%^&*()+ ). If so, I'm going to say that this is where your issue lies. While it's fine to use those characters in Word, they may wreak havoc when used as a file name.
Cheers... Rick
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Have a nice day. I can't open the books linked to the Adobe ID. Always the overallocation says. But some of the books I downloaded two times. Still, it gives a warning in the form of more installations.

Have a nice day. I can't open the books linked to the Adobe ID. Always the overallocation says. But some of the books I downloaded two times. Still, it gives a warning in the form of more installations.

I think you should ask in the Digital Editions forum, Adobe Digital Editions

Show navigation pane link in topics

Looking for more info on a new option for WebHelp layouts:
In the layout properties WebHelp Navigation screen (2nd page
of properties) there is an option Show Navigation Page Link in
Topics If I click the Help button on this screen, I see that this
option is described as "Include a link to the navigation pane."
I don't see any such link in my topics when I generate
WebHelp with this option enabled. I am just viewing my output
locally. Are these links only visible when the Help is called using
the API from a server?
Anyone using this option, or know what it is supposed to do?
I am using Breadcrumbs Links and these are working
fine.

Hi Rick,
First, thanks for all your help over the years with both RH
and Captivate, and for the great hints at your site.
Second, I was *hoping* this option would show the nav pane
link in the following case:
In my project I have set up a 2-pane window (Main_window) and
a 1-pane window (CS_Window).
Main_window is used for calling Help from the toolbar button
and some other places in the app when we want users to open help to
the default topic.
CS_window is called from our app when a user presses F1 in a
dialog (context-sensitive help). This window displays pertinent
topic and toolbar but no nav pane. Just what I want.
Problem is, there is no way for users to access nav pane from
the context-sensitive window. Related topics etc are all opened in
this same window. In order to get more info, users have to close
the help and re-open it via the toolbar or other link.
When a user presses F1, I would like them to see the "naked"
topic, with a way to open the nav pane.
What is the best way to acheive this?
Is there a way to invoke a context-sensitive topic outside
the WebHelp frameset so that this nav pane link will appear, and do
what you describe?
OR
Is there a way to add a button to my CS_Window that would
re-open the topic in the Main_window, which includes the nav pane.
OR
Other ideas? Suggestions greatly appreciated!
Jeanne
PS RoboHelp 7's own Help suffers from same problem: Click the
Help button in a dialog, see the pertinent topic, but there is no
way to find additonal info unless it is listed as a related topic.
You have to close the Help window and invoke Help via the menu to
see the nav pane.

Where is "Synchronize Phone Book" link?

The user manual states that you can Synchronize the Verizon 'Phone Book' and 'Calendar' with programs such as Outlook.
It states: Go to FIOS Digital Voice Account Manager and Click "Synchronize Phone Book” link in "Phone Book" and Click "Synchronize Calendar” link in "Calendar" to download the "Synchronization Wizard".
There are NO links in either "Phone Book" nor "Calendar" sections of the Account Manager. I also did a search in Verizon for the "Synchronization Wizard" and came up empty.
Anyone know why these links are missing from Digital Voice Account Manager and/or where can I download the tool needed for the synchronization.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I spent several hours today fighting with this issue. Forget the Synching issue - even what is available on the website (a "SIMPLE" import of csv format file) is TOTAL garbage!
I am NOT a happy new FIOS user.
2 things were misrepresented to me:
(1) I was told VERY specifically that I could set up speed dials from the web site - who wants to spend hours punchingin 100 or more speed dial numbers (1 was told the service provided 200) via a keypad on the phone - UTTERLY RIDICULOUS and required due to the stupid need to dial 10 digits for every call - NOT AVAILABLE - LIE #1
(2) No matter what I tried I could not get all the fields to import from the csv file generated by OUTLOOK into the Vz FIOS phone book. Level 2 support couldn't solve it either.This entire function of moving contact info into the Vz website is a load of steaming stuff that also doesn' t work as advertised. DOES NOT WORK AS ADVERTISED INTHE USER GUID AND ON THE WEBSITE AVAILABLE - LIE #2
Tomorrow I will begin the formal process of reverting to copper and DSL. This sort of bogus enticement of people to change over to FIOS in order to benefit Verizon (I had no reason to leave DSL other than getting letters every week or so and knowing full well that eventually Verizon would force the switch anyway) is extremely poor business practice and I will be filing a complaint with the PUC.

Is it possible to link a topic from another help file?

I apologized if topic has been discussed/answered. I was
wondering if it is possible to link a topic from another help file?
So, basically my client has a help file .chm that was created by
someone else. I am brought in to create another help file. so,
basically for the help file that i'm creating a topic call vacation
hours but this topic is already in the previous help file instead
of including that in the new help file can i create some see also
link to this topic in the previous help file and the topic vacation
hours from the previous help file display once someone click on the
link. please let me if this possible and how i can do this.
thank in advance
bob

Hi, Bob, and welcome,
Yes, you can create links from one .chm file to another. The
HTML syntax is as follows:
<a
href="TargetHelpFile.chm::/path_to/TargetTopic.htm">Link
text</a>
For example:
<a href="htmlhelp.chm::/topics/chmweb.htm">Click here
for more information</a>
To ensure that you're specifying exactly the right path
information to the target topic:
1) Open the target help file.
2) Display the required topic.
3) Right-click it and then, on the context menu, select
Properties.
In the resulting properties dialog box, you can copy the path
information out of the Address field and abbreviate it
appropriately (you need the name of the target .chm file and
everything that follows it).
For this type of link to work, the target help file must be
in the same folder as your source help file or in the Windows Help
folder, or it must be registered under the following key in the
Windows registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help
Pete

Linking on topic to another

I am new to UPK using V 3.6.1. Trhying to link between topics.

Hi,
Please refer to the Content Development.pdf document supplied with the installation media - it should contain the information you are looking for.
Regards,
Greig

Show Navigation pane link in topics disappears

When I click on a help link the topic with the navigation
pane link is shortly displayed and is then replaced with the topic
and the TOC in the left pane. I want to display the topic with the
navigation pane link.

Clarification of the WebHelp generation process seems to be
called for.
The .htm file that appears in the "Select Output Folder and
Start Page" field at the top of the first "WebHelp General -
WebHelp" dialog is the file in which RH will place all the frameset
and browser information needed to display the three frames (toolbar
pane, left-hand TOC/Index/Search navigation pane, and right-hand
topic pane). (The "Default Topic" field, in the same dialog, tells
RH which actual content page/topic to display when that start page
is launched.)
The direct launching of any other topic (you double clicking
the filename or R&D calling it in the application) will result
in one topic pane being displayed for that topic, with the "Show"
button provided to switch over to the three-pane frameset.
However, launching a specific topic
indirectly through the start page will display that page
with the three-pane format. The call from the application would
then be StartPage.htm#DestinationPage.htm. If you want to open the
same topic at a prearranged bookmark, the call would be
StartPage.htm#DestinationPage.htm#BookmarkSection.
Good luck,
Leon

"book with link" to topic in subfolder

Hi folks,
I have a book with a link that links to a subtopic (see structure below). When I click Book1, the 1.1. Book doesn't open and won't open when clicked on. I have a vague memory of there being an issue around this but could not find anything in the forum search.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Donal
1. Book w Link
1.1 BookTopic Linked to
1.2 Book
1.3 Book

Hi,
What version/flavour of RoboHelp are you using and what is your output? If you're using WebHelp, which browsers do you use (including version) and do they have any plug ins?
Greet,
Willam

RHS9 & RH8/Clicking links to topics more than 3 "deep" in the TOC does not open the TOC

Our IT department recently purchased and installed RoboHelp Server 9. I am publishing two RoboHelp 8 projects to the server using WebHelp Pro output. When I view the projects, I am able to navigate the table of contents without issues, but if I click on a link in a topic that links to another topic that is 3 or more "deep" in the table of contents, the topic will display in the main window but not open its location in the TOC. I am able to navigate the topic in the TOC myself and view it without a problem.
The behavior we expect when clicking on a link to a topic that has an entry in the TOC is that the TOC will open and highlight the topic as well as open it in the main window. We need this functionality because we use a "recent updates" page and would like our staff to see where a topic is located in the TOC after they click the link to the topic.
This behavior does not occur with items two levels deep in the TOC or with our current WebHelp output. Using our smaller, 600 topic project, we tried removing all TOC books except for one that went 3 levels deep and then tried to duplicate the behavior - but it worked fine. So, we suspect that it is an issue with RoboHelp Server and the number of topics/TOC entries we have. (Roughly 600 in one project and 1500 in another)
We have attempted the Adobe fix described here: http://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp/kb/books-topics-missing-toc-webhelp.html which results in the same behavior, as well as some new behavior when attempting to access items 3 or more deep in the TOC - the message, "Loading, click here to cancel..." displays and the topic will not load. (Similar to this thread: http://forums.adobe.com/message/4116269#4116269) We've since reinstalled the server, republished the projects and we're back to square one.
Any thoughts on this behavior? We're at a loss at this point.

Hi there
Often, when this issue arises with regular WebHelp, I will advise the following change. Perhaps it will help with WebHelp Pro, I'm not sure. But it's worth trying to see.
In the Single Source Layout properties for WebHelp, look in the Navigation section and change the Speed Optimization.
I just checked my WebHelp Pro and really don't see anything similar that jumps out at me for this setting, so I'm guessing the suggestions in that link are possibly a way of doing that.
Cheers... Rick
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I want Next/Back links between topics. Are there good examples how to do this?

I also have multiple books in which I want to have Next/Back buttons. The Help PDF offered by Adobe does not adequately describe how to do this. Does anyone have a good example/description of how I do this?
Walt Mahan

Hi again
To access the link I listed, you just click it in your web browser.
There are a few different ways you can do this. You can insert the text as you wish to see it, then manually create the links. Ick! That's not very much fun.
If you are using RoboHelp 8 you could create a Master Page and insert a Breadcrumb Trails placeholder, then apply the Master Page across the topics.
For any version of RoboHelp you could achieve this by creating a Browse Sequence (Tools > Browse Sequence Editor) and generate WebHelp twice. The first pass to folder A and the second pass to folder B. During the first pass, you use the "Traditional - No skin" output. This would produce topics with code in them that contains the Previous and Next links. Then the second pass would be generated with a skin. You would then copy the topics from folder A and overwrite the topics in folder B to obtain the best of both worlds.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Books / links on best practices when writing on-line Help

Hi everyone
Not sure were to place this topic...
I have not posted in here for ages...
I am a RoboHelp user and I am looking for one or several
books about best practices when writing on-line help. For examples,
what are the "rules" or "do's" and "don'ts" for CSS, topic linking,
number of clicks, links within a topic, index building, etc.
Just wondering if some people on this forum know about some
good books where all of the rules or do's would be compiled?
Thanks in advance for any input.
Regards

KeepItSimple,Stupid!
That is, just because there are neat things like drop-down
text, marquees, and such, doesn't mean you should use them.
Stick to the basic HTML fonts and colors (use the
w3schools web site for all
things HTML and CSS.
Instead of styles, create your lists by selecting Normal
paragraphs and formatting with the Bullet and Number toolbar
buttons.
Keep your tables as simple as possible (try not to nest them
and have all sorts of row and column spans, and try to avoid lists
and figures, if you can). Also, break up very long tables into
functional groupings with introductory headings.
Use
Peter Grainge's web
site and
Rick
Stone's web site for all the best workarounds and diagnostics.
Good luck,
Leon

Flash Book Link

Can someone point me in the right direction?
I want to download the flash books for the XL Reproter. I have "XL Reporter Overview" but there is mention in the flash book that there are another 3 to view. I cant find them anywhere...

Hi William,
Here the links to the other sessions you are asking for:
May 31, 2005; 05:00-06:00 p.m. (CET) - Topic: XL Reporter (Part2)
Content description
Demonstrating features and functionalities of XL Reporter (Part 2).
Recorded WebEx session
PDF presentation
LINK:
https://service.sap.com/~sapidb/011000358700002632192005E.wrf
May 24, 2005; 05:00-06:00 p.m. (CET) - Topic: XL Reporter
Content description
Demonstrating features and functionalities of XL Reporter (Part 1).
Recorded WebEx session
PDF presentation
LINK:
https://service.sap.com/~sapidb/011000358700002585382005E.wrf
May 10, 2005; 05:00-06:00 p.m. (CET) - Topic: XL Reporter: Introduction
Content description
An introduction to functions and features of XL Reporter.
Recorded WebEx session
PDF presentation
LINK:
https://service.sap.com/~sapidb/011000358700001920032005E.wrf
Just as info, all this documents are stored in our SMB portal under the tab of "Education", then clik in the part of "Webinars"--> All archived sessions.
Best regards,
Felipe

Books linked to Topics

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