Skip to main content
F
Freespirit-ST
Known Participant
May 29, 2019
Answered

"Curly Quotes" Display Issue in Chrome

  • May 29, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 3792 views

We are using RoboHelp 2017 (with upgrades) and a Responsive HTML5 output and layout (Charcoal Grey). 

We just noticed that some help topics displayed in Chrome have text that is appearing with symbols instead of quotation marks - only when the quotes are "curly quotes". I strongly suspect that this issue occurred when text was copied from Word documents (though we do try to avoid doing that).  So the result is that the HTML5 cannot resolve the "curly quotes", but can of course resolve the text when the &quot. tag surrounds the text.  This issue does not occur in our old WebHelp format, or in IE 11. But now that application to which the help is attached is now available more in Chrome browsers, so we are correcting any Chrome issues we find.

Here's what this issue looks like (sorry if this example is small):

Here's what the HTML is for the text.  You can see the quotation marks vs the &quot. tag.

A related issue, which also puts in symbols in Chrome, is a word with an apostrophe followed by a space - such as users'

So, we need help with:

    1. Finding all occurrences of this issue with the "curly quotes", so we can resolve.  Any ideas on what to search for to find these instances, or a good way to search? Note that this help system is humongous (technical term!), so it would be very difficult to go page by page of the help. Not sure if searching a Word document output would find them. 
    2. Any "magical" way of somehow resolving this problem using RH 2017 features.  I don't know of any functionality that can do this, but maybe someone knows of something we can try.
    3. Any scripting that someone knows of, that would help.

I would really appreciate any ideas or experiences with this issue in Chrome and HTML5.  It is important that we resolve this for our beloved help system  We are a bit desperate here.

Thanks so much!

Susan Tabnik

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Peter Grainge

Click the icon next to Hide Advanced Features and it will read Find rather than Begins With. Paste in there.

In replace paste in " because need to work a code level.

Make sure you tick Find in Source Code.

With Current Project selected, it should work through the whole project.

Get it wrong and you can wreck things so do make sure you back up.I always recommend creating the backup as a zip file. That prevents you opening it accidentally and working on it before you realise it was the backup. This way you always have a clean backup that can be used to create a new clean copy time after time.

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

1 reply

Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 29, 2019

I set up a Word document with some curly quotes and pasted it into RoboHelp 2017. Then I added some text with quotes typed in RoboHelp. That gives the following which is what you have posted.

<p>“curly quotes”</p>

<p>&#160;</p>

<p>&quot;ordinary quotes&quot;</p>

Difference is they are fine in Chrome.

RoboHelp's Find and Replace seems to find the two types of curly quotes (paste them in) and the replace is the same for both. There is a Replace All option. Do back up your project first though.

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
F
Freespirit-STAuthor
Known Participant
May 29, 2019

Thanks, Peter!!  So, just to make sure I'm understanding..

I copy the "curly quote" - the actual quotation mark - and paste it in the Find and Replace window, in the Begins With field.

Are the other settings here OK?

If I want it to search to find it in all topics - or the find / replace - what do I select?  When I tried it just now, the Find seemed to only find it within the topic that I had open.  Maybe I should try closing out all topics, then try the Find.

After I back up - to use Find and Replace, for the Replace value, do I type in a quotation mark (not curly) from RH?

Thanks so much!

Susan

Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 29, 2019

Click the icon next to Hide Advanced Features and it will read Find rather than Begins With. Paste in there.

In replace paste in &quot; because need to work a code level.

Make sure you tick Find in Source Code.

With Current Project selected, it should work through the whole project.

Get it wrong and you can wreck things so do make sure you back up.I always recommend creating the backup as a zip file. That prevents you opening it accidentally and working on it before you realise it was the backup. This way you always have a clean backup that can be used to create a new clean copy time after time.

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices