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TiffMhart
TiffMhart
Participating Frequently
April 1, 2016
Answered

Conditional Build Tags: What is the difference between TOC, Topic, and Content-level CBT? Best practices?

  • April 1, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 695 views

Hi. I am new to RH and we are attempting to use CBTs to identify which user groups will have access to certain online help. I understand the purpose of applying CBTs at the Topic or Content-level, but when attempting to applying CBTs at the Topic level, I was also given the option to add it to the TOC.  Can someone explain why I would apply it at both levels the TOC and Topic level?  Are there any GOOD resources out there that explain CBTs better? Everything I find just says "apply the CBT" which is frustrating!

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Correct answer Captiv8r

Hi there

When you apply a CBT, you most often do it in order to "leave out" information that doesn't apply to a certain build of the output. Your post seems to suggest you have this basic understanding. And at the Topic level, tagging words or images will cause them to be removed when you apply and later exclude a tag.

As you have said, a tag can also be applied to the topic itself. And if you do that, the entire topic is removed when you generate using the build expression that excludes it. If that topic is in the TOC, because it is excluded, it is also removed from the TOC and will not appear in the TOC when you generate.

And lastly, you also have the option of tagging individual TOC items. And, just like the other things, if a TOC book or page has been tagged, it is removed from the TOC at the time you generate your output.

For me, I tend to avoid tagging the TOC. I typically tag whatever the topic is that the TOC page links to. Because I know if the topic isn't there, the TOC node disappears. So tagging the TOC is overkill.

Does that help make better sense of it?

Cheers... Rick

1 reply

Captiv8r
Captiv8rCorrect answer
Legend
April 1, 2016

Hi there

When you apply a CBT, you most often do it in order to "leave out" information that doesn't apply to a certain build of the output. Your post seems to suggest you have this basic understanding. And at the Topic level, tagging words or images will cause them to be removed when you apply and later exclude a tag.

As you have said, a tag can also be applied to the topic itself. And if you do that, the entire topic is removed when you generate using the build expression that excludes it. If that topic is in the TOC, because it is excluded, it is also removed from the TOC and will not appear in the TOC when you generate.

And lastly, you also have the option of tagging individual TOC items. And, just like the other things, if a TOC book or page has been tagged, it is removed from the TOC at the time you generate your output.

For me, I tend to avoid tagging the TOC. I typically tag whatever the topic is that the TOC page links to. Because I know if the topic isn't there, the TOC node disappears. So tagging the TOC is overkill.

Does that help make better sense of it?

Cheers... Rick

TiffMhart
TiffMhartAuthor
Participating Frequently
April 1, 2016

Thanks, Rick, for your quick response. Since I am creating a ton of content, I didn't want to tag it incorrectly and have to go back through everything later. Your answer tells me that I don't need to tag to TOC but only at the topic or content levels.

One additional question, any thoughts on why someone would tag at the TOPIC level AND tag specific content within the topic as well?

Regards ~ Tiffany

Captiv8r
Captiv8r
Legend
April 1, 2016

Thanks again, Rick. I am aware of the content filtering using the CBTs but we aren't going to turn on that feature in RH at this time. Instead, we are going to code our system to map the CBT codes to our user roles and only show content based on the user's role. We didn't want to force the users to apply the content filtering on their own as our users have varying skills at using technology (as it is with most user groups).

I guess I'll figure out the combo tagging of topic and content as I work through my project. Thanks again.  Is there a way that I can "save" you as someone I can reach out to with questions directly?


Hmmm, sounds like I might need to take a better stab at it.

Suppose you have a help system for a software product. And further suppose that you have perhaps two different versions of the product.

Version A of the product has features 1, 2, and 3 while version B of the product has features 4, 5, and 6.

Now further suppose that you sell the product in a manner whereby the user might opt for features 1 and 2 but not 3. Or features 5 and 6 but not 4.

Assume that you have a single help project that covers everything. All features for version A or B of the product. You could quite possibly want as much flexibility as you can muster. So you want an ability to apply a CBT to the topics so that if you are creating help for version A only, you leave out the topics that only apply to version B.

So now that you can choose the entire topics to leave out, you might now need to tag content inside the remaining topics. For example, if your customer has Version A, but only features 1 and 2, you may need to remove references to feature 3. And maybe you have a topic that discusses each feature. So you tag content inside the Version A topic so you can generate an output that is only about Version A where features 1 and 2 are included.

Perhaps it will help to think of an analogy here. Imagine you are walking down the spice aisle of a grocery store. You have a multitude of spices that can be purchased. And only some may be used in very specific recipes. Likewise, we have this ability in RoboHelp to tag individual letters, words, paragraphs, TOC entries, Index entries and topics. Odds are that you would never need to add every conceivable spice to a recipe. And likewise, in RoboHelp, odds are that you may never need to tag everything in the project from characters to topics. But it's nice to have the flexibility to do so if the need ever arises.

As far as contacting me, I'm always more than happy to help anyone that needs it if I'm able at all. But like all the others here, I only pitch in when I can and am able. For example, this past Monday - Wed I was facilitating a RoboHelp class. So I wasn't hanging out here. I was tied up. So you are likely better off posting here where others can help as well. Now if you are interested in contracting for a class or whatever, I'm happy to discuss that offline. So if that's the case, feel free to shoot me a note to rickstone1975 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Cheers... Rick

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