I have a sneaking suspicion that your version of "update and
publish a single topic" is outside the norm (that is, perhaps a
little RH and a little WinExplorer). In case you're unaware, a new
generation of WebHelp output involves more than the update of a
single topic.
From within RH:
1. Update the topic.
2. Generate the complete output to a location on your local
machine.
3. Publish only the changed files (the Publish feature copies
new/changed files from your local machine to a designated server,
usually on a network).
Note, in the dialog box, the list of files that RH says it
has published to the server. Any of these functions attempted
outside the purview of RH will elicit no joy.
Good luck,
Leon