Editing whtdhtml.htm

Report · Apr 01, 2009

I've been making a number of post-process changes to my WebHelp Pro output using the advice in Rick Stone's "Skinny on Skins". One of the changes I want to make is to add some padding down the left and across the top of the TOC pane. So, I edited the whtdhtml.htm file to look like this:

<body topmargin="26" leftmargin="20" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" bgproperties="fixed" bgcolor="white" scroll="auto">

When I launch my Help system locally it works a treat, but when I publish it to the server the changes aren't there, even though when I open whtdhtml.htm my changes are still included.

Can anyone help me with this or suggest another way of adding padding. Also, does anyone know how to centre the TOC entries vertically against the book and page icons so that they appear exactly in the middle?

Thanks

Report · Apr 01, 2009

26 seems a bit heavy; 6pt for both left and top works nicely for me.

As to the vertical alignment, you'd accomplish this by adjusting some blank lines in the icons (maintaining, of course, the transparency). To simply add a little space between each book/topic title, you might also try another of Rick's hints on adjusting the var gsMargin= value in the whthost.js file (I'm using 2pt for this setting). This file also needs to be saved externally, for overwriting the one created in each Generate process.

Good luck,
Leon

Report · Apr 01, 2009

I've removed the mini toolbar and want plenty of "white space" between the main toolbar and the TOC entries, but as mentioned my settings in whtdhtml.htm seem to be overlooked by RoboEngine. I've got a few other questions about tweaking the navigation pane so I've included some screenshots below:

TOC screen
Index screen
Search screen

Any help appreciated.
Jonathan

Report · Apr 01, 2009

See the attached code:

Report · Apr 02, 2009

Thanks for that, but the TOC setting is showing "absmiddle" and changing the Index border style to "0px" has no effect. Even changing "absmiddle" to "bottom" has no effect. It's almost like something's overriding these settings.

Report · Apr 03, 2009

Maybe Rick will jump in on this (now that he's done riding the ducks, or whatever), but I don't remember anything in his document about these hints working in the "Pro" versions (WebHelp or FlashHelp).

Maybe you could try just generating a standard WebHelp output and publishing to a regular server. Does that work?

Good luck,
Leon

Report · Apr 03, 2009

Quack Quack Quack!!!!

Hi all

Leon is spot on. I'm not sure if *ANY* of the information in the Skinny on Skins would apply to a "Pro" output.

Pro outputs are a totally different beast. I would compare the instructions in the Skinny file to something like an automotive manual. Perhaps you have a Ford pickup truck. The manual describes repairing the gasoline engine. But yours is diesel powered.

Cheers... Rick

Report · Apr 06, 2009

Hi, some of your advice does work with WebHelp Pro, but the bits I need to tweak don't unfortunately. I've exhausted my expertise now and wondered if you could help me find a way to, a) Change the image used for a specific page, and, b) Increase the spacing at the top of the TOC?

Many thanks

Jonathan

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Editing whtdhtml.htm