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C
Col Hogan
Participant
July 1, 2020
Answered

Can I publish RoboHelp files as pages on a website?

  • July 1, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 565 views

I'm not a RoboHelp expert -- I'm trying to update our website.

I want to retain my websites global navigation while the visitor access the RoboHelp generated help files.

 

The current solution being used takes the visitor completely out of the website experience while they view the help files.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Col Hogan

    I figured out what would work best for me...

    1. Publish using ResponsiveHTML5
    2. Modify the home page (index.htm by default) and topic.htm with the necessary changes for a global header/footer/nav
    3. With future updates, never overwrite (or re-update) those 2 files.

     

    Modifications (for both index.htm and topic.htm)

    So far I've made the modifactions necessary when the page doesn't narrow, i.e. desktop.

     

    Insert your header code between <div class="header" role="banner"...> and <div class="header-project-info">

    * RoboHelp does allow for a global header of sort, but the changes are limited. I opted to exclude those, and roll my own.

     

    The default footer just had a copyright, so I removed it, and inserted my own footer instead.

    <div class="frontpage-footer footer" role="contentinfo" data-html="@KEY_LNG.Copyright">My footer code here</div>

     

    If you want left navigation, it takes a bit more work, but possible.

    Assuming you want that left nav to be the entire page, you need to force the header over.

    1. Return to <div class="header" role="banner"...> and add style="margin-left:110px !important;"
      The width is of your choosing of course.
    2. Add a new <div> section above the header with your navigation code.

    5 replies

    C
    Col HoganAuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    September 1, 2020

    I figured out what would work best for me...

    1. Publish using ResponsiveHTML5
    2. Modify the home page (index.htm by default) and topic.htm with the necessary changes for a global header/footer/nav
    3. With future updates, never overwrite (or re-update) those 2 files.

     

    Modifications (for both index.htm and topic.htm)

    So far I've made the modifactions necessary when the page doesn't narrow, i.e. desktop.

     

    Insert your header code between <div class="header" role="banner"...> and <div class="header-project-info">

    * RoboHelp does allow for a global header of sort, but the changes are limited. I opted to exclude those, and roll my own.

     

    The default footer just had a copyright, so I removed it, and inserted my own footer instead.

    <div class="frontpage-footer footer" role="contentinfo" data-html="@KEY_LNG.Copyright">My footer code here</div>

     

    If you want left navigation, it takes a bit more work, but possible.

    Assuming you want that left nav to be the entire page, you need to force the header over.

    1. Return to <div class="header" role="banner"...> and add style="margin-left:110px !important;"
      The width is of your choosing of course.
    2. Add a new <div> section above the header with your navigation code.
    A
    Community Expert
    AmebrCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 9, 2020

    All of the internal links within the help file are relative unless you change  them, so if the iframe links to the index.htm file, then all your navigation within the help file should remain inside the iframe.

     

    Unless you actually mean you want context sensitive help for a web application?

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 8, 2020

    Relative URL rather than absolute?

     

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
    A
    Community Expert
    AmebrCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 3, 2020

    A master page wouldn't help, I don't think, as that is designed to affect the topic content, not the skin of the help.

     

    The only thing I can think of is if your website admins create a page with an iframe where the page content would normally be, that links to the help index.htm file from Robohelp. That should theoretically display the help within your website branding. But I haven't tried it and am not sure of the implications of doing so.

    C
    Col HoganAuthor
    Participant
    July 8, 2020

    Thanks for the reply!

    Because the help pages themselves need their own URL, I don't see how inserting into an iframe would work. The first link clicked within the docs would take it out of the iframe.

     

    I can't be the only one that has ever tried to do this.

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 2, 2020

    Using 2019 New UI and a frameless skin, each page has a unique URL as you can see in the RoboHelp Tour but it's still full screen. Not really my area but could you do something so the pages appear within some DIV tags so that what you see is contained within something keeping the appearance of your site?

     

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
    C
    Col HoganAuthor
    Participant
    July 2, 2020

    Thanks for the idea.

    Due to the unique URL per page (which is great for direct links and bookmarks), I can't embed the pages into the site directly.

     

    I was thinking there must be some capability to add includes for code (security/sign-in) and site header/footer. 

    C
    Col HoganAuthor
    Participant
    July 2, 2020

    I was able to find master pages.

     

    “A master page is a template for HTML topics. You can define the placeholders for header, footer, and topic. You can include breadcrumbs, Mini TOC, snippets, variables, fields, and symbols. You can also apply condition tags to a master page.”

     

    ”A snippet can be a para­graph of text, a piece of code, an object such as an image, or an entire topic itself.”

     

    Does anyone have experience using master pages for this purpose?

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