Can I create newspaper-like columns in RH8?

[Guest]

I have a Quick Reference document in Word that I linked in RH 8.0.2. The Word document is set up in a 3-column newspaper style. I know RH supports tables but does it support newspaper-like columns like so:

This is what things look like in RH after the link from Word is done:

So what do I need to do to get the look and feel of the Word document?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Perhaps Willam will chime in with some sage advice on how to do it using DIV tags and CSS. I'm certain it may be done, but RoboHelp isn't going to help you with making it happen. Anything you will do will certainly be beyond the cozy confines of RoboHelp and its editor.

You could insert a large table and configure it with three columns. You could also create a Frameset with three columns and have the information for each column on its own HTML page.

Cheers... Rick

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[Guest]

Yeah, I thought about just a large table with 3 columns but what happens if I decide to maintain the source content in Word and then update in RH? Would I lose the formatting?

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Then that would seem that you maybe need to investigate using a Frameset with three different topics. Each topic would be part of the same Word document or could even be multiple Word documents.

Cheers... Rick

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[Guest]

Thanks, Rick. I'll read up on framesets as I'm not familar with them.

[Willam_van_Weelden]

You can create a three column layout using div's. I don't know a way that RH will do this for you, especially when you link to a word document.

Take a look at http://css-discuss.incutio.com/wiki/Three_Column_Layouts for links to help on creating a three column layout using div's. My experience is that Robo has quite a few problems with div's, especially with the positioning.

Framesets may be a solution, but the different frames scroll independent from each other. That's not very user friendly. Personally, I think that a single column layout is the most effective for online text. See also http://www.useit.com/alertbox/horizontal-attention.html

Greet,

Willam

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[Guest]

Thank you, Willam. After creating a test project with the framesets and some Captivate movies, we're going to start developing the movies and do away with the Quick Reference guides in printed format. Yea!!!!