Pop-Up Blocked Message Appears

[Guest]

Hello,

I'm about to release a help file created in WebHelp 6.0, and some (not all) of my testers are receiving the Pop Up Blocked message bar at the top of the help file page when the help file is initially opened. I am also receiving the message. The help file does open, but the project skin's funcitonality is not at 100%. Once I allow the pop up, then the skin is fully functional as it should be. I have tried the fixes suggesting I turn off the Pop Up Blocker and also have modified the Pop Up Blocker setting in the Tools menu. (My machine is on IE 6.) Nothing works.

I have another person trying to open the help file, and the first time he tried to open it, he simply got a message saying the pop up is blocked, but the help file didn't open at all. The second time he tried to open it, nothing happened; there was no error message nor did the help file open. (He is also on IE 6.) I did have this problem earlier with some testers where the help file wouldn't open at all, and I modified the project settings by selecting Pure HTML in the Navigation Preferred Format settings dialog box. That seemed to do the trick, until yesterday when he couldn't open the help file.

Does anybody know of a fix to these two issues? I'd really appreciate any help I can get!

Thank you,
Danni

[Peter Grainge]

Are the testers viewing the help from a local drive or a server. Locally they will have problems unless the help was generated with Mark of the Web applied.

There are other solutions and reasons why they are getting different results but that is the correct and easiest fix.

[HKabaker]

While you're checking around, find out (if you don't already know) whether your company has a policy on IE security settings. That's a likely next step.

Harvey

[Guest]

The help file is being viewed from a server, and my company is rather strict with IE security settings, however, the programmer and network admin claim that only I can fix this, and they can do nothing about it. I thought that maybe the IE security settings could be the problem here.

[Peter Grainge]

If the help is being viewed from a server, it is not the cause I thought.

Are the testers seeing a yellow bar above the help? If they click on that is Allow Active X an option?

[Guest]

Actually, I think the help files are being downloaded onto the user's machine from the server once they open the help file. Sorry about that. I've applied Mark of the Web to see if that does the trick; I won't know till I publish it to the testers again.

I work remotely from home and I need to log on to VPN and Terminal Services to view the company's internal program (that the help file is written for.) When I access the help file from the program, I do not get the pop up blocker. If the problem was Mark of the Web, wouldn't everyone trying to get to the help file have the problem? Even though I don't get the pop up blocker when I'm in Terminal Services, I get it locally on my machine once I view the help file after I generate.

Danni

[Guest]

I did not get the pop up blocker this time (when viewing it after generation.) Hopefully that does the trick when I publish it. I will keep you posted. Thank you everyone!

[Peter Grainge]

They are downloading webhelp? You sure? Why would they do that?

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure. I formerly used HTML Help, and when the user opened the program (that the help files are written for), the help files were automatically downloaded to their local machine. I thought they weren't downloaded, because I didn't see the WebHelp in the folder I thought they would be if they were downloaded, but did find them in another place. I have to confirm with the programmer when he gets in.

Is there harm in having WebHelp downloaded to the user's machine?

[Peter Grainge]

It needs Mark of the Web, as you have found, and that does not play nicely with links to PDF files. Also the download will be many files so you have to consider how they get downloaded and placed in the right place retaining the structure.

Plus if your developers have created links to a CHM, they won't work any longer. Make sure your life assurance is paid up.

[Guest]

ooooh - where can I buy that there life assurance?!?!?! How many years will it get me?

😛

[Guest]

Ugh - now I'm getting nervous. I remember now that's why I disabled the Mark of the Web feature because of the troubles I was having with my pdf files. Question: since it's WebHelp, I thought there was no chm involved. Why would the programmer be linking to a chm in WebHelp? I've got to talk to the programmer now about this issue.

Is there another fix to the pop up issue besides mark of the web?

[Peter Grainge]

I thought that currently the developers may be pointing to a CHM and you were generating WebHelp.

If it is webhelp and that is what the developer is linking to, then he/she does not need to change anything. However, you have the issues I mentioned.

It is normal nowadays for CHMs to be on a local drive and WebHelp to be on a server but subject to issues surrounding both, you can do that the opposite way, that is WebHelp locally and a CHM on a network. The latter is not recommended for reasons covered on my site.

Hope that clarifies things.

[HKabaker]

Danni,

In some ways, it makes sense to auto-download a .chm to the user's PC. As Peter points out, HTML help works better on a local PC. When you updated the .chm on the network, did the new one get downloaded to overwrite the old one? That would be a nifty way around the main drawback: Help files on the user's PC can become obsolete pretty fast.

If your developer is downloading WebHelp files to the user's PC just because that's how they did it before, he should know he is making several mistakes:

1. If you don't download the entire WebHelp package every time, the user's files soon become stale.
2. Then there's the volume of traffic across the network. Probably the management would not like to put such stress on bandwidth resources.
3. WebHelp files, as you have found, work on the local PC, but with some annoying glitches.
4. (This is related to No. 2) With WebHelp on the network, the user takes up minimal resources to download a topic, even a big one, with graphics. The developer is passing up a really significant opportunity for actually lowering traffic volume on a day-to-day basis. You should feel fairly strong in having this point on your side.

Maybe there's some overriding requirement to forbid user access to help files on the server. I'd like to hear it. They're already using a more powerful application there, right?

An early client of ours worried that if a user can roam around the help topics unfettered, she might be able to access parts of the application where she should not go. The client thought we should limit access to topics according to the application's privileges structure. Of course, we know you can't build -- or it would be extremely difficult to program, and probably would bump into the application's security -- a back door into the app from a help topic.

Harvey

[Guest]

I'm sorry it took so long to reply back - I was waiting to hear back from the programmer. The WebHelp files live on the server - they are not downloaded onto the user's machine. Thank you for your help! I appreciate your time on this.

Danni

[Peter Grainge]

With webhelp on a server, the only way the popups are going to get blocked is via a blocker such as Google or whatever is built into whatever browser, to the best of my knowledge. Anyone know different?

[Guest]

Can you elaborate on that? What do you mean that Google may be blocking the pop ups? I don't believe that Google is part of the download package at my company. They download IE, but that's about it. They don't want their employees on the internet, so they give them the basics.

[Peter Grainge]

I said "a blocker SUCH AS Google". I don't know what you may or may not have loaded.

Are you still having this problem?

If so, send me a screenshot via my website.

[HKabaker]

Peter,

Assuming you meant 'the only way," other than by IE 6 Security and Advanced options, I'm adding this.

Danni, what are the "basics"?

Please consult IE help for explanations of the Security and Advanced tabs under Tools > Internet Options, and "Block pop-ups" under Privacy.

Even with strict policies on Internet browsing, the "Trusted Sites" function might help you.

Harvey