Remove numbered Rank column in RoboHelp 8 Search results?

[Guest]

Hi. I'm using RoboHelp HTML 8.0.2.208, having recently updated from 5X, generating WebHelp. In a discussion about a year ago (May 2009 - http://forums.adobe.com/message/1924387#1924387) I learned that as of that time there was no option for "turning off" ranked search results.

Point #1 - Maybe behind the times to want Search to return a simple, non-ranked alphabetized list, but forum postings make it seem that it is desireable for a number of users to at least have the option. Currently lacking that option (and, yes, possibly for the better), we're fine with bringing our help users up-to-date with ranked search results (generate with the "Show Context in Search Result" not selected).

Point #2 - However, at least in our case, the left-hand Rank column of the search results seems more a waste of screen real estate than it is an aid. Eventually having the option to leave this column out would be great. I've entered both of these points through the Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form but wonder in the meantime whether in the intervening year since the above thread anyone has learned of a way to turn this off?

Thanks!

Celeste

[Amebr]

You should be able to do it here. I'm not sure whether this will survive patches, and probably won't survive upgrades, so you might want to make a note of the changes somewhere, to investigate after either event. (at least it's better than having to redo the change in the output files each time, as I've had to do with some "fixes". )

Find the following directory. The location might vary a bit, depending on where Robohelp is installed

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 8\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock

Create a backup copy of whfhost.js. (e.g. "whfhost_original.js")

In the original file, find "function writeTableHead".

There should be two TD ID='OdinFtsRank' entries. (The first one looks like it's only for AirHelp.) In the second one, change the 'width:15%' value. If you specify 0%, the ranking column is removed, although I think the search results are still in ranking order. To remove the ranking completely, you'd probably have to comment out/remove a bunch of javascript, and I don't know enough to do that.

I couldn't see any obvious problems with doing this, but I haven't conducted a lot of tests. As always, your mileage may vary.

[Guest]

This seems to have done the trick! In my case, the width value is defined in pixels rather than %; I changed it to 0px, and the Rank column no longer appears in the generated help file. The Search Results number entry box is still present, as are the numbered boxes and forward arrow box below the listed Search results; we'll have to live with those for the time being (still would like to see options in RoboHelp for removing those). We'll keep our eyes peeled for any issues, but so far so good. Thank you!

[Amebr]

Possibly there is somewhere in that file which will allow you to hide/remove the number of results box. But I don't know enough about javascript to know how to do that without stuffing up the search. Removing the pages and arrows might be a bad idea unless you figure out how to return all results on one page.

[Guest]

I had one of our dev guys helping me out. It was not obvious, we ditched the whole idea of removing ranking.

[Peter Grainge]

There is an option to turn off ranking in RoboHelp 9.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[tanima_roy]

Hi,

   I require help in hide/remove the number of results box and search results per page from the Robohelp help output. Can you please help what changes do I need to do in the code.

Will appreciate your help. Kind of urgent!!!

[Amebr]

This topic is really old and probably irrelevant now.

What you need to do depends entirely on what version of Robohelp and what output you are using. For example, for Webhelp output in RH 11, there are checkboxes "Hide Rank Column in Search Results" and "Show Total Number of Search Results". But for Multiscreen HTML5, you will need to change the Screen Layout you are using.