Inspiring

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Design editor in RH2015 showing topic preview; how can I return to the default?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
September 18, 2023
5 replies
686 views

I am using RoboHelp 2015 with a project file that has had no problems in years. Today the Design editor view in the project is showing expanding dropdowns and expanded text (similar to a previewed topic) instead of the usual design view where you click a dropdown or expanding text to see the content.

I searched for previsous posts about anything similar to this problem.

Appreciate any assistance!

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer fiddle07

Peter, Adobe Support is assisting but no resolution. I did have an acknowledgement from Adobe and several chats and remote access to my project and file sharing. Thank you for reminding me about being cautious of third-party versus Adobe.

SOLVED. I solved this problem by uninstalling all Adobe programs and in Windows Registry renaming HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Adobe>RoboHelp>12.00 subfolder & 8.00 subfolder to append '_old'. Then I reinstalled RoboHelp 2015.

Thank you again Peter and Amebr for your assistance with this issue.

A

Amebr

Community Expert

I'm weirded out that the dropdowns show immediately below the dropdown heading, instead of the stupid little dialog box that vanishes if you click in the wrong place. 🙂

I'd thought all Classic versions used it, but my memory might be playing tricks and perhaps it was an "improvement" in RH2017.

I do remember that there were things we could change by poking around in the registry in the old versions but there was never any comprehensive documentation, so I couldn't say if there was some setting there that would affect the dropdowns.

If you've definitely poked into every menu, dialog box and clickable button in the interface and can't find anything relevant, you could poke through the registry settings, but I know many IT departments take a dim view (and there is a resonably high risk of breaking something if you make the wrong change (although usually this is by deleting an entire folder tree, in my experrience 😛 ) ). The relevant section is probably somewhere like HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\RoboHelp in the registry editor.

fiddle07Author

Inspiring

Thank you, Amebr, for your reply. I am working with Adobe support for a resolution.

Will post again after this is solved.

fiddle07AuthorCorrect answer

Inspiring

Peter, Adobe Support is assisting but no resolution. I did have an acknowledgement from Adobe and several chats and remote access to my project and file sharing. Thank you for reminding me about being cautious of third-party versus Adobe.

SOLVED. I solved this problem by uninstalling all Adobe programs and in Windows Registry renaming HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Adobe>RoboHelp>12.00 subfolder & 8.00 subfolder to append '_old'. Then I reinstalled RoboHelp 2015.

Thank you again Peter and Amebr for your assistance with this issue.

Peter Grainge

Community Expert

I'm pretty much out of ideas as I have never seen or heard of this happening.

One observation though. Duplicating an SSL duplicates any corruption. With things working, create a new SSL line by line.

Second profile?

________________________________________________________

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

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Peter Grainge

Community Expert

One last idea but you might not like it.

Ask IT to create a second Windows profile for you without removing your existing profile. Open RoboHelp with the new profile and see what happens. Sometimes your Windows profile can corrupt and I have seen it cause issues.

The bit you won't like is if it works all your settings for all your programmes will be lost.

________________________________________________________

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

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

fiddle07Author

Inspiring

Peter, thank you for all your suggestions with this issue. I will try the second Windows profile.

Peter Grainge

Community Expert

I believe a setting in RoboHelp was unintentionally changed because I opened another project from a writer on my team who is not experiencing this problem, but on my computer I still have the problem.

I am not aware of any such setting but it does appear something has changed.

I also opened a backup from weeks ago when I did not have this problem, and it occurs in that project as well.

That rather confirms the above. That said, contrary to that, Travel the Whirls is OK until you add tags. You hadn't mentioned tags before. Try the other sample to see what happens. No tags though for now.

Note that the day before this happened, I generated Printed Documentation of the entire project (4000+ topics) as a .doc file. Is there a file that controls the appearance of the Design Editor that might have changed. I have checked all my .css files and the file dates match pre-problem file dates.

I don't believe there is any way that would change the source files.

I am generating .chm files and WebHelp (which does work with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge).

I'm surprised the WebHelp is OK. Do check all the topics in the output regularly. This brings us onto the key question. Are things OK in the output?

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What makes it difficult to diagnose this one is the problem is inconsistent. If it were not such an old version I would suggest a reinstall. My concern here though is you could then run into an installation problem and it will not be possible to reactivate.

Compare the sample where things work until you apply tags with a project where they don't work. Look at the source code.

________________________________________________________

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

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

fiddle07Author

Inspiring

Peter, sorry I failed to mention conditional tags earlier. The project uses many and I was focused on the expanded dropdowns and expanding text in the Design Editor even though the tagged content was hidden. To answer your last Qs:

Try the other sample to see what happens. No tags though for now.
I opened the Employee Care sample project; reviewed structure and most topics; the Design Editor was functioning correctly. I then added an HTML folder with a new topic using the EmployeeCareStd master page and added content in that topic including a dropdown and expanding text. The Design Editor functioned correctly. After I saved the new topic, opened an existing topic, then reopened the new topic, the Design Editor is showing the dropdown and expanding text expanded (same issue I first reported). Note that I did not add any conditional tags in my new topic.

Are things OK in the output?
I opened the project on a remote PC running RoboHelp 2015. The Design Editor behavior is correct. I generated all chm files and tested; no problems with that output.

Any other suggestions I can try?

Peter Grainge

Community Expert

Does it still happen if you close and reopen the project, RoboHelp itself or even reboot the machine?

Does it happen in the supplied sample projects if you create dropdowns and expanding text?

The only thing I can suggest if it persists is with the project closed, delete the CPD file and reopen the project. It shouldn't cause any problems but create a backup if in doubt.

I don't recall it being a problem and it's not listed on my site as a known issue. Using RoboHelp 2015 (grainge.org).

It's now a seriously old version so I doubt there are many users who can comment.

What output are you creating? CHMs should still be OK but WebHelp is not likely to work well with modern browsers.

________________________________________________________

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

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

fiddle07Author

Inspiring

Peter, thank you so much for your reply. Your website has been a wealth of knowledge for many years. I searched it yesterday but could not find a solution.

Answers to your Qs:

It still occurs after I close the project, exit RoboHelp, and after I reboot my computer.

My project is set to recreate the CPD when opening; and it occurs after I reopen the project.

I believe a setting in RoboHelp was unintentionally changed because I opened another project from a writer on my team who is not experiencing this problem, but on my computer I still have the problem.

I also opened a backup from weeks ago when I did not have this problem, and it occurs in that project as well.

I am generating .chm files and WebHelp (which does work with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge).

Note that the day before this happened, I generated Printed Documentation of the entire project (4000+ topics) as a .doc file. Is there a file that controls the appearance of the Design Editor that might have changed. I have checked all my .css files and the file dates match pre-problem file dates.

Screen captures of the Design Editor are attached.

fiddle07Author

Inspiring

Peter, I added a topic in the Travel_the_Whirls sample RH project. In Design Editor, the dropdown & expanding text shows normally (where you see the hotspot and click to see the dropdown or expanding content). When I add content with a conditional tag (such as AuthorContent or Canada), the content becomes hidden in the Design Editor (which is not normal behavior).

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