Zoom Search and dropped meta tag

[Moranis]

I'm using the Zoom Search engine with my Web help and I like it very much. I'm now trying to use Zoom's category feature. I can't base the categories on the url, so I'm using the zoom meta tag instead. However, when I go to publish the Web help, RoboHelp seems to have a bad habit of dropping the Zoom meta tag, thus rendering my categories useless.

I can always go back into the individual .html files afterwards and re-add the Zoom meta tags, but this is kind of a tedious process. So I was curious if anyone out there found a way to stop RoboHelp from dropping my Zoom meta tags or at least found a simpler, less-time-consuming work around?

Thanks in advance.

[MergeThis]

[Using the JavaScript output, and a lot of ZOOMSTOP and ZOOMRESTART tags as well as ZOOM META tags.]

I run Zoom against the source files (skipping all the ProjectName.xxx files, etc.) on my machine and kick the output files to my WebHelp output folder on our server. In the Offline mode tab, set the Start directory and the Output directory (and the Base URL to ./). Because I'm indexing a merged project, I change projects/ to mergedProjects/ in the Indexing Options tab (Rewrite links panel); you need a recent version of Zoom to have this option.


Good luck,
Leon

[Captiv8r]

Hi Moranis

In addition to what Leon offered up, I've noticed that RoboHelp was eating (dropping) one of my own favorite meta tags that I use quite often. My tag was one used to redirect. And I later discovered that if I took care to place the tag lower in the list of meta tags, it left it intact. So now I ensure that when I add it, it's the last one in the list. Since doing this, RoboHelp seems to leave it alone.

Note that it may not need to actually be last, but certainly it was a problem if it was among the first three or four.

Not sure if this will help in your situation, but it may be worth looking at.

Sincerely... Rick

[Moranis]

Indexing amongst the source files is so far working great. Thanks!


Captiv8r,

I tried doing that. I put the Zoom meta tags at the bottom of the list. However, when I save the file and go back and look at the HTML source, RoboHelp seems compelled to just move my meta tag into the middle of the list. I really have no idea why.

It's a very odd thing.

[Captiv8r]

Hi Moranis

The middle is probably okay as long as it doesn't cause the total elimination of the tag when you generate. And that's the question I see remaining here. Initially you said the process was clobbering the tags. So does a different placement avoid the tag clobbering?

Cheers... Rick

[Moranis]

When the tag is in the middle of the list, it still gets clobbered.

I haven't been able to test other placements (i.e. what happens if the tag is at the top of the list or bottom of the list) because RoboHelp feels compelled to just move it to the middle of the list. I guess it's just peculiar quirk.

[Guest]

Did you ever find a solution to RoboHelp insisting on removing the ZoomDescription meta tag?

I'm fighting it now in RoboHelp 7 and it's very frustrating.