How do I change conref color?

[Capt_Janeway]

Hi,

I'm a new user of FrameMaker, but have used Arbortext for the past three years. I've just wasted my entire morning trying to figure out how to change my conref color from blue to black. (blue? why blue? and why no simple way to change it?). I've read everything google pointed me to, but nothing seems clear or relevant enough (old versions of FrameMaker, unexplained procedures, etc.)

Please, somebody, have mercy on me and give me clear, concise instructions on how I can make the text color of my conreffed content default always to black.

Thanks!!

[Capt_Janeway]

PS: I've tried using the Conditional Text pod to change the color, but I can't seem to make the change stick. I change the color from blue to black, but can't make it save that way. It always reverts back to blue.

[Capt_Janeway]

Oh wait, maybe I have it. You select the color and THEN click Edit??? Seems to work....so far...

[ScottPrentice]

As noted in your other post .. these changes need to be made to the structure application's template file, not the document itself. Since XML doesn't store the formatting information, it is lost when you save the file. See this post for more info ..

     http://forums.adobe.com/message/3744721#3744721

Cheers,

...scott

[saurabhatadobe · Accepted solution]

Hi,

There are few ways to get the desired behavior.

Approach 1

In the XML, change the color definition of “DITA-Conref” conditional tag to use Black as color.

1. Open the XML file that has conref

2. Select “Special>Conditional Text > Manage Condition”

3. Select “DITA-Conref”

4. Select Edit

5. Set Color to Black

6. Save File

This setting is persisted in XML file. After doing the above steps, conref’s in the file will always be displayed as black, even on subsequent opens.

Approach 2:

1. Open the XML that has conref

2. Check Off  “Special > Conditional Text > Show Conditional Indicator”

This setting is not persisted in XML file. So you can SavAsPDF and next time you open the file, conref’s will always be blue.

PS: This will switch off visual indicators for all conditions in your file (in case you are using conditional tags)

Approach 3:

Modify the template to switch conditional indicators. This will result in all conrefs in all XML files being displayed as Black always.

1. Open template file at “C:\Program Files\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker10\structure\xml\DITA_1.2\app\technicalContent\template\topic.template.fm” (assuming you are authoring a topic)

2. Check Off  “Special > Conditional Text > Show Conditional Indicator”

3. Save the file

After doing the above steps, if you open the topic xml files, they will always display conref’s as black

PS: This will switch off visual indicators for all conditions in your file (in case you are using conditional tags)

Hope the above information will help.

Regards,

Saurabh

Adobe FrameMaker Team

[Capt_Janeway]

WOW! Thanks!!

Maybe you can help me with my other question about the shortdesc background color too?....

[Stephanie.Marris]

Thanks, Saurabh! I successfully used Approach 3 in my structured app.