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sprite253
Known Participant
February 5, 2026
Question

TOC and breadcrumbs disappearing upon publishing using RH's Frameless Studio Template

  • February 5, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 51 views

I have a parent project and several child projects. I generate output using the merged projects feature. Upon publishing the output, the TOC is visible in the left pane only for 2 of the child projects. When I access a topic from subsequent child projects, the TOC and the breadcrumbs disappear. I have customized the Studio template using RH’s UI to change the color settings, some font settings, etc. This issue didn’t occur until 2 weeks ago. I have tried using an unedited Studio frameless template and regenerating the merged output from scratch to a clean folder. I use the Topic Layout globally from the output preset in the parent project. I’ve included images for reference - tocBrdCrmbVisible, chld3TopicClk, and tocBrdCrmbDisappear.

    3 replies

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 5, 2026

    Can you share the merge? If you can, see the Contact page on my site.

    ________________________________________________________

    My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

     

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
    S
    sprite253Author
    Known Participant
    February 6, 2026

    I deleted the TOC in the parent project and recreated it. Then I regenerated the entire output to a clean folder. That fixed everything in the local output. The TOC stays visible as I browse through the content, the breadcrumbs update dynamically, and the Mini TOC links work as expected. Unfortunately, I encountered issues after I published the SharePoint output to our site via RH. The breadcrumbs update dynamically only for some topics, and for others, I must refresh the page. The Mini TOC links to the right do not work. Clicking a Mini TOC link opens a new tab with a 404 error. The main TOC stays visible on the left, though.

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 5, 2026

    Please clarify “I use the Topic Layout globally from the output preset in the parent project.”

    In a merge the template from the parent is automatically applied to the whole output. You simply need to have a template in each child so that you can generate it but it doesn’t have to be the same template or have the customisation.

    See https://www.grainge.org/RoboHelp/Merged_Help/Merging_New_UI.htm#:~:text=the%20merged%20output.-,Templates,-If%20the%20parent on my site.

    The fact it worked until two weeks ago suggests this is not the issue but maybe some change in the templates is causing it. Post back when you have checked that out.

    On my site there is a demo merge you can download. Check that works.

    You haven't said which version of RoboHelp you are using. Please always start a thread with this information. Go to Help > About to get the full version number.

    My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

     

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
    S
    sprite253Author
    Known Participant
    February 5, 2026

    I am using RH2026.01.11, and I use the same template in all projects. I’ve included images of the Parent and Child project Output preset Layout settings. I’ve been publishing using these settings without issues until 2 weeks ago: first, the breadcrumbs stopped updating dynamically. Eventually, the TOC and breadcrumbs disappeared altogether, except during navigation in a couple of projects. The only changes I’ve made to the template were through the UI, and that, too, only the colors and fonts. Does it matter if the ‘Use lowercase file names’ checkbox is activated? I‘ve also renamed the start page in each project to something other than index.htm.

    Your demo merge works as expected.

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 5, 2026

    Does it matter if the ‘Use lowercase file names’ checkbox is activated?

    That will depend on the server. Many are Linux based and case sensitive. If a link in one project is mixed case and the target is lower case because of the above, it will fail. In my topic I warn against using that option.

    I‘ve also renamed the start page in each project to something other than index.htm.

    I don’t think it will but why? Change them all back to index.htm if the above doesn’t fix it. It’s the only way to be sure.

    My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 5, 2026

    This is using the new RH2026.01.11 version, right?

    S
    sprite253Author
    Known Participant
    February 5, 2026

    Correct. However, the issue began before I updated, and it persists after the update.

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