Navigation Issue (Again)

[frjohnson76]

In the article Providing Context-Sensitive Help for Web Applications John Daigle's method of creating context sensitive help uses the Show link to access the TOC. But, my issue is what happens when a user clicks this and the CSH topic is still in the pane with the Close button visible. Is there a simple way to fix this. I've been trying to grasp merging projects but I'm having problems. There has got to be a simpler solution.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Providing Context-Sensitive Help for Web Applications

[Captiv8r]

Hi Felicia

From what you have posted, it would seem that you wish to link to a Context Sensitive Help topic and NOT have a "Show" link, no?

If you click File > Generate Primary Layout, you should see the first of a series of dialogs that allow you to choose different options. Click the Next > button and you should find a check box labeled "Show Navigation Pane Link in Topics". If you DE-select that option, the Show link should disappear.

Cheers... Rick

[Peter Grainge]

Or is the problem that the user clicks Show and only gets the TOC for the child project?

[frjohnson76]

Thanks for your responses.

Unfortunately, if there is no "Show" Link, the user will not be able to get to the rest of the help topics. I was trying to see if there was a way I could design a project with all help topics in the same project (CSH and others), where the CSH topics had "Close" buttons.

However, I want it where once the user clicks on the "Show" link in the CSH topic and the navigation pane displays this Close button no longer displays. Or, the CSH topic would close and the Get Started topic displays with the navigation pane.

I have not created parent/child projects. I was trying to avoid having to do this. But, it's starting to look like this may be my only option. .

I'm just finding descriptions of how to do this rather complicated and it's hard for me to grasp 1) how I would set this up and 2) how I would do it without making work for developers

[Peter Grainge]

Trying to follow the requirement here.

Sounds like you want the Show link and a Close button that disappears if the Show link is clicked instead.

If that is it, then parent / child projects would have the same problem plus only the child TOC would show so I don' think they would help.

Otherwise, perhaps you could explain it again.

[frjohnson76]

Yep. That would be correct. Is that possible?

[Peter Grainge]

Let's go back to your first post.

... uses the Show link to access the TOC. But, my issue is what happens when a user clicks this and the CSH topic is still in the pane with the Close button visible. Is there a simple way to fix this...

If you are talking about a custom Close button how are you getting your Close button to appear in the first place in a way that does not occur when the user calls a topic from the TOC, the index or a hyperlink?

If you are talking about the Windows X, then when the user clicks Show, that topic stays visible when they click Show, they just get the extra panes. What do you want them to get?

[frjohnson76]

"If you are talking about a custom Close button how are you getting your Close button to appear in the first place in a way that does not occur when the user calls a topic from the TOC, the index or a hyperlink?"


I created the Close button with a table cell and javascript. I use a Close and a Print button in the CSH topics only. The other topics have Back, Next, and Print created with the same method.

"If you are talking about the Windows X, then when the user clicks Show, that topic stays visible when they click Show, they just get the extra panes. What do you want them to get?"

If they click the Show link, I don't want that CSH topic to display anymore, I want my Get Started topic to show in one pane and the TOC in the other.

[Peter Grainge]

You would have to locate how Show works and mess with that. Good luck.

I did think of two buttons in the CSH. One would be the existing Close button. The other would have to close the topic and open the help at the default topic. Trouble is the script would likely stop once the CSH topic closes.

Maybe you can think of something along those lines.

[frjohnson76]

Thank you.