TOC, Index, and Formatting Changes Disappearing in RoboHelp...

[bluenirvash]

Hi guys,

I recently learned how to link and synchronize Word documents with RoboHelp. However, I am having a few issues when I update the RoboHelp Project with the Word document's changes after I right click the file > Update inside the Project Manager pod.

The current issues I am experiencing are the following:

1. The Index I configured with various topic pages' selected words becomes empty after I update the Word document in Robohelp.
2. The TOC becomes blank after I update the Word document in RoboHelp.
3. I had to remove some excess space on some Topic Pages because it looked funny when previewing it. When I updated the Word document in Robohelp, the excess space I removed returned...
4. Another weird issue is that sometimes the changes I make in RoboHelp overrides any Word document changes. For example, if I added text to a particular topic inside the Word document and save it, Robohelp will not update the Topic pages' content with the Word changes even after I update the file inside RoboHelp...

I am not entirely sure how to workaround these issues or if I am doing something wrong. I really want to utilize the synchronization abilities of RoboHelp as it is more efficient for single source reasons.

Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

1. You don't use the project index for linked Word documents. You have to insert a placeholder for a separate index. See the pages on Linking on my site.
2. I'm now guessing you have no TOC other than the one from the linked document.
3. That is likely because the excess space is coming from the Word document. You need to fix it there.
4. So you make a change in RoboHelp and a different change in Word, when you update the RoboHelp change sticks and the Word one does not get applied? That can only happen if you protect your changes. Again, see my site.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[bluenirvash]

Hi Peter,

Ya I just revised your site's section regarding Linking in RoboHelp. That seems pretty interesting and explains why I had issues.

I can't seem to find the portion regarding protected changes that you mention in issue 4 though. Could you please provide more info or a link so I can read about it further.

Thanks for your help

[Peter Grainge]

I hope you reviewed my site and did not revise it, that's against the rules.

Sorry I thought I had covered that. Right click the document in Project Manager and select Properties. In the dialog that displays click the File Update Settings. You can pick topics to prevent them from being updated.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Remember Peter, some people "study" by "revising" ;>)

[bluenirvash]

LOL

Ya I am doing some tests to apply what you wrote on your site. I tried the placeholder tip you mentioned and it works well. No TOC and Index disappearing.

Definitely useful information and answers my frustrations why Word and RoboHelp updates weren't syncing properly.

Thank you!