Can I use RH to create an HTML newsletter?

[Chet Zeshonski]

My company produces a periodic electronic newsletter, which is mailed to subscribers as an HTML file embedded in an e-mail message. The content is typically written by an employee in Word, after which I edit the document and transfer the contents to the HTML file, which I edit in Macromedia HomeSite+.

Because some of these newsletters are long, the product manager suggested reducing each article to a short introductory blurb followed by a "click here" link that would reveal the rest of the story. (We all recognize this a a drop-down text hotspot, of course.) I got the bright idea that I'd try to create this functionality in RoboHelp. Not only could I include the hotspots, but I'd be able to edit content in a WYSIWYG interface rather than HomeSite's code view, which makes cutting and pasting laborious, given the inline formatting I typically need to apply.

Well, I managed to create a nice template for the newsletter, and I defined all the styles I needed, and I created the necessary hotspots. When I generated WebHelp and viewed the results, the file looked great. But when I attempted to send the HTM file to myself via Outlook Express (Message | New Message Using | Web Page...), I ran into two problems:

1. The styles I had defined were not used.
2. The hotspots didn't work.

I fixed the first problem by pasting the contents of the CSS file into the HTM file. But I can't get the hotspots to work in the e-mail message: when I click a hotspot, my browser attempts to open the information in a new window, which doesn't work.

So:

1. Has anyone tried to use RoboHelp like this?
2. Can anyone fix the hotspot problem for me?
3. If RH isn't a good tool for the job, can anyone point me in a different direction?

Thanks.

[MergeThis]

Why not just produce a PDF version of the Word file?


Good luck,
Leon

[Chet Zeshonski]

Leon asked:

Why not just produce a PDF version of the Word file?

The answer has nothing to do with my own preference and everything to do with two different factors. First, some of our subscribers use e-mail systems that forbid attachments, and sending HTML code through the mail gets around that restriction. Second, the product manager wants the subscriber to begin reading ASAP rather than noting the presence of an attachment and opening it. So the PDF file isn't an option.

[HKabaker]

Probably you need some javascripts that appear in the WebHelp output folder. You'd have to zip up and send the entire package, and the reader would have to unzip and extract it before opening the topic.

You could send the WebHelp output html page file alone. It can't have any graphics or require other external resources. That means your dropdowns won't work, unless you embed the appropriate javascripts in the file, which would be a hard thing to do.

As you discovered, you must embed the style sheet within the file, or at least enough of it to take care of styles you applied.

Another angle would be to make all text Normal style and apply in-line or embedded styles for variations. The RH help topics talk about this. It probably will read OK, depending on the reader's browser.

Here's a way to do it without dropdowns or popups:

Put headlines only, or the first few paragraphs at the beginning of the newsletter. You could use the template to organize them. Insert a bookmark (anchor) with each item (explained later).

Add the "more info" sections -- call them "jumps" -- after all the headlines, or after the template, with a bookmark at the beginning of each one.

With each headline include a "Read more" text link to the appropriate bookmark below. At the end of each jump, insert a "Back to top" text link to a the appropriate bookmark.

Hope this helps.

Harvey

[mr_scribbler]

...or you could try pasting the js you need to get the hotspots working into your html page. Try pasting the contents of ehlpdhtm.js into a <script> tag in your html page.

mike

[Chet Zeshonski]

Mike: I copied the entire contents of the ehlpdhtm.js file into the top of my HTML page, sandwiched between two script tags. Nothing changed.

Harvey: Graphic appear normally on the user's end, even though they're referenced locally. The jumps are a good workaround, but they don't really suit the purpose: producing an initial page that is shorter than the expanded page. (They'd actually have the opposite effect.)

Thanks for the help. I'm still plugging away.

[Linux Rules]

Hmm, guess I wouldn't be reading your product manager's newsletter as my workstation is set to only display plain text - rendering html email is not an option. Same with Flash - not allowed - and now AIR will be blocked as it embeds Flash.

If your product manager wants customers/potential customer to begin reading his email ASAP, keep it simple - keep it plain text with links to Web site content (gee, what a concept).

Regards,
GEWB

[Captiv8r]

Hi Chet

I was just about to reply with something similar to what GEWB suggested. Why not do the blurb where the "Click here for the rest of the story" would take your user to a WebHelp page? This would allow you to easily aggregate and organize past newsletters in RoboHelp.

Just a thought... Rick

[HKabaker]

I puzzled over this for a minute until I realized Rick is not suggesting that you send WebHelp with the email.

Rather, you put the expanded information on your Web site, or on a custom domain, and link to it from the email.

RIght?

Harvey

[Captiv8r]

Give that Harvey dude a cee-gar!

That is precisely what I was suggesting.

Cheers... Rick

[Guest]

Now RICK - of course you mean a suitable non-carcinogenic cee-gar substitute, right?

[HKabaker]

So long as it's from Cuba, please.

H