Customizing WebHelp_Pro Format

[ABwrite]

Hi,

I want to output my Help to the WebHelp_Pro format so that the Help displays in a single pane in a browser, and so that there are no Contents, Index, Glossary, or Search buttons on the toolbar. I created a window for which I deselected these toolbar options, and selected "single pane", but when I display the Help in a window it displays in two panes and all the toolbar buttons display. I can create WebHelp that displays as I want but I've not had success with the WebHelp_Pro format. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I need to do?

Thanks,
Alan

[Peter Grainge]

You say "I want to output my Help to the WebHelp_Pro format so that the Help displays...". What's the connection.

Also webhelp pro requires that you have RoboEngine installed. Do you have that?

I wonder if there is some confusion about what webhelp pro is. See this topic.

If webhelp is the format you require, then you say you have resolved it.

[ABwrite]

Peter,

Thanks for the link to the RoboWizard site. An excellent resource. I'm afraid I don't understand your first question. If possible, I want my WebHelp_Pro project to display in a browser so that only the default topic displays. I don't want a table of contents pane. Also, since the topic I want to display (it's a one-topic project) does not contain any index or glossary entries, I don't need these buttons to display in the toolbar.

We do have RoboEngine.NET installed and that is what I am publishing to. So I do want my Help in WebHelp_Pro format; I just tried the WebHelp format as an experiment.

Thanks,
Alan

[Peter Grainge]

Your statement could be interpreted as meaning that you wanted the pro output because that is what would give you what you wanted. I can see now what you meant.

I don't have any experience of using RoboEngine so I don't know why the webhelp settings do not work in webhelp pro. Sorry. Perhaps someone else can come in?

[MergeThis]

Wouldn't the RobEngine forum be the place for this topic?

[ABwrite]

No, I don't think so. I'm using RoboHelp HTML to create the Help, which I assume is where I would need to make the formatting/appearance changes. In any case, my ok-for-now solution was to create my Help output as WebHelp - because this gave me the kind of single-page layout I wanted - and then used the RoboHelp Smart Publishing Wizard to FTP my Help project files to the appropriate location on our server. Our network admin then did some technical wizardry to set the project default page as the Web site home page.

However, I'm still interested in finding out whether I could create the single-pane-no-toolbar format I wanted using WebHelp_Pro. Then I could simply publish the project to the RoboEngine.

Thanks,
Alan

[Peter Grainge]

Alan

I just ran a five minute test and I think I can see the problem and it is nothing to do with RoboEngine.

I generated ordinary webhelp with a skin but all buttons deselected and got the three pane window. Then I set the skin option to None and got the single pane you want.

Changed my output to webhelp pro and found you have to select a skin. So as far as I can see, it is impossible to produce webhelp pro without a skin.

[ABwrite]

Thanks for your reply and testing. Actually, I wasn't trying to create the Help without a skin. I want to use a skin; I just wanted to exclude some buttons from the skin. But as your test shows it doesn't seem to be possible to do this with the WebHelp Pro format. As mentioned in a previous post, I managed to achieve what I wanted to do with the WebHelp format, so I'll just go with that.

[Peter Grainge]

In your first post you indicated a single pane and omitting the buttons. You now indicate it is just the buttons you want to omit which suggests you don't mind have the three panes, albeit that only one has any content.

Have you managed to get a true single pane output with webhelp but still using a skin or are you in fact displaying the panes but with just the one topic and no buttons?

[ABwrite]

I created a single-pane page and I used the XP Blue skin. The result is that in the generated WebHelp output, there is a blue "banner" across the top of the page with a "Powered by RoboHelp" logo in the top right corner and then the topic text below that. As far as I can tell, WebHelp Pro does not allow a single-pane output, even though selecting the single pane option in the window setup will de-select all the button options.

[ABwrite]

To clarify, the single-pane page resulted from me creating a window with a single pane, but I had to generate WebHelp for the page to display as I wanted. If I generated a WebHelp Pro project, the output would display in two panes and the buttons would also be included in the skin. I do want to use a skin so I can get the nice interface formatting. In summary, I wanted Help that displays in a single pane, that uses a skin, and that does not have any buttons.

[Peter Grainge]

OK I now see how you did it in webhelp with a skin but, as you know, the wizard does not permit the buttons to be deselected in WebHelp pro and I cannot see any other way of getting what you want.

[ABwrite · Accepted solution]

Yes, I now know that buttons cannot be deselected for WebHelp_Pro. Thanks to everyone for the input. I'll mark this issue as "answered."

Alan

[ginafromtampa]

I am experimenting with using a FlashHelp vertical skin, which appears to be exactly what I need to design single-pane help. You can also edit the FlashHelp skins with the SDK that's in RoboHelp's program files.