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My employer has an online help system. Currently, the same URL shows in the browser's address bar no matter which topic you have selected in the help system. For example, the URL for the help system is:
http://www.helpsystem.com/help/welcome_to_help.htm
No matter where I am in the help system, that URL always shows up. If I need to refer someone else to a certain topic, I can't just send them a link. I have to tell the person where to drill down to it from the Table of Contents. I'd like to refer someone to a specific section, for example,
http://www.helpsystem.com/help/welcome_to_help.htm/projects
The person who created the help system said that RH centralizes the webskin in that address, which is also the starting topic. Calling the URL launches the webskin and TOC. He said that you can only make direct calls to a topic if you're willing to do this without a skin and TOC. Is this true? We have RH8. Does RH10 have more capabilities? Thanks.
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Maybe something at http://www.grainge.org/pages/snippets/snippets.htm#email will help.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
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dmagnum74,
This is a good question. There is a lot of good information at Peter's site, but I cannot find anything that specifically addresses this. Was anyone more successful than me? Thanks.
nankinnankin
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The address bar will always show the first URL used. It is the way tripane webhelp works regardless of the authoring tool used.
If you want the address bar to change I the new HTML5 layout layout in Rh10 would give you that. It does not use frames.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
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Hi,
As Peter says, this is the way WebHelp works because the topic is loaded in a frame. However, what do you want to accomplish with this? There are ways of retrieving the topic URL, but what problem do you want to solve?
Greet,
Willam
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William,
I want to be able to send a user a link to a specific topic so they can click that link and open the topic right up. I do not like the alternative where I have to give the user instructions on where to drill down in the help system to get the answer they are looking for.
nankinnankin
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The options here should help you. http://www.grainge.org/pages/snippets/snippets.htm#email
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
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Hi Peter,
Thank you for your response. There is a lot of really good information on this page. I am looking at the Navigation Pane section. None of those really seem to fit this situation. In your February 15th message, you seemed to indicate that I would need RH10 with HTML5 to send a user a direct link to a help topic. I only have RH9. Am I out of luck? Thanks for any further help you can provide.
nankinnankin
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Check the e-mail link methods. They should be exactly what you need.
Greet,
Willam
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Rh9 does not create HTML5 help which is what you need so sorry but yes you are out of luck as far as that solution is concerned.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
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Hi William,
What are some of the best ways to retrieve a topic URL or to help someone else locate a topic URL using Robohelp 8 or 9? Are the email snippets described in http://www.grainge.org/pages/snippets/snippets.htm#email the best method? I don't yet have Robohelp 10, but I'd consider upgrading if it enables users to just click a link that directly opens a topic. Right now, I just tell people how to navigate to a topic from the TOC (or they can use the index).
Thanks.
Donna
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Donna
I already covered that Rh10 will give you that ability in post 3 in this thread. Your developers will have to change help calls so liaise with them first.
The methods that Willam has pointed to on my site are what people have posted over time. Whether or not they are technically the best scripts doesn't really matter. All that matters is "do they work?" If your requirement is for something not covered there, then specify the problem and then someone may be able to help.
@Willam If you know of any other methods, please do post them here.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
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There may be a little confusion here: The methods on Peter's site work. When creating your output, create a mail link in the topics or the toolbar and use those to send a link to your users. You users can click the link and open the correct topic directly.
Greet,
Willam
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Thanks, William. I will try it.
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I understand how to email a direct link to a help topic, thanks to the good advice in this thread. However, if I want to create a link to a direct topic from a web page outside of the RoboHelp project, is that possible? How would I go about creating the web call for that? I now have RoboHelp 10.
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See Snippets on my site.
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Hi Peter,
Thanks. I tested the solution on my computer and it works.
I'll type up an example just for other newbies to reference.
For example, I have an external .htm file and I want to create a link from that to a topic named "Contact us" (contact_us.htm) within a Robohelp project's output. The start page of the RoboHelp project is http://www.company/help/introduction.htm.
The link in the external .htm is
<p class="link_para">
<font face="Segoe UI">
<a href=".. /help/introduction.htm#contact_us.htm">
<span style="font-size: 80%">Contact us.</span></a><span style="font-size: 80%">
</span></font>
So basically, using RH10, all you need to do is insert a # and the topic_name.htm after the help project's start page name in the URL.