Skip to main content
Known Participant
January 28, 2019
Question

How to create panels with HTML?

  • January 28, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 891 views

Adobe Postulates on the FM 2019 product page: “

Interactive HTML5 dialogs for plug-ins

Make the customer experience richer by using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to make interactive plug-in dialog boxes.”

Now that I need to create a few dialog boxes (panels?), I‘d like to have a look at the requirements, limitations, and resources. Where can I find them?

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

Known Participant
January 28, 2019

Sorry, I should have called them "pods" (like the one for formatting text).

4everJang
Legend
January 28, 2019

I never liked the term Pod and tried to convince Adobe to start calling them panels but I think I lost that battle. Pods are things to plug into your ears. :-)

4everJang
Legend
January 28, 2019

Hello Thomas,

Yes, HTML dialogs can be created and made to look and work very user friendly. It is also a lot of work to get it right. I am planning to write an extensive blog post about this, but it may take a while before that gets published. There is a lot to take into account when creating more than just simple messaging. If your current projects are time-critical, I would keep using the dialogs as available in the Javascript tools that form part of the ESTK. Once the blog/tutorial is ready, that will help you get started with creating your own fabulous HTML dialogs. Of course we will expect you to brag about them once they are done - in blog posts and possibly posts on this forum.

Thanks in advance for your patience

4everJang

Known Participant
January 28, 2019

Klaus Köbel just phoned me and told me the same thing. I was thinking along the lines of InDesign extensions, so that was my expectation of using HTML just to design a template that the developers can bind their functions to. But I am not a programmer, just a techwriter doing some UI design, so I will pass that information to the people responsible.

Community Manager
January 28, 2019

I have moved this to the Scripting Forum. People like 4everJang have already done a lot of work with the HTML pods.

By the way, the FrameMaker Welcome Screen is an HTML Pod. The Customize DITA pod is also an HTML pod.