Frameless Favorites Synchronization

[RoboMan]

Two questions surrounding frameless output favorites (RoboHelp 2022, latest and greatest).

1. How/where are frameless output end user favorites stored - if not browser cookies, how/where? I'd like to provide my end users with guidance on what not to do (e.g., don't delete browser cookies!) so they don't accidentally delete their output-saved/managed favorites.

2. Is it possible to sync frameless output-saved/managed favorites between 2 or more devices via synched browsers. For example, if an end user syncs Chrome for Android on their phone with Chrome for Windows on their desktop PC, is it possible to also sync output saved/managed favorites between the two browsers? If it's possible, does anyone know which browsers it's possible for - specifically, what about Safari, Edge, Firefox, and Chrome? And if it is possible, I assume it's NOT possible for cross-broswer, for example, Chrome < > Edge (between each other), correct? 

Appreciate any insight on this. Thanks!

[Peter Grainge]

1. Browser cookies are not used, RoboHelp uses local storage but I'm not clear on quite how. I have reached out to an Adobe contact for more.
2. The short answer is none of that is possible. The storage is local per device.

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

[RoboFan]

1. As I understood and expected regarding cookies (though I swear in my testing, clearing cookies results in no saved favorites). I look forward to hearing back so I can advise our end users. Thank you, Peter!
2. Not surprised. Not sure how it could or would be technically handled, but would be VERY cool if it did.

[Peter Grainge]

See HTML Web Storage API (w3schools.com)

________________________________________________________

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

[RoboFan]

Okay, so the technical explanation is that it's stored in HTML web storage, not cookies. That's good to know. However, the practical guidance I'll need to provide to end users is that they shouldn't clear "Cookies and other site data" (that's the formal name of the function in Chrome - other browsers will be similar) if they want to retain their output-managed favorites. 99% of them won't care that it's the "other site data" where it's stored and not the "Cookies" part - the advice that they'll hear/take away is "don't clear cookies" - which I suppose is fine. At least we know!

As always, greatly appreciate the insight and guidance, Peter! Thank you!

[Peter Grainge]

My understanding, which I haven't checked, is that deleting cookies should not delete the RoboHelp favourites. If you are finding otherwise, then I suggest for this one you need to go to Adobe Support. See https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/enterprise-support.other.html#robohelp for your Adobe Support options. The email link tcssup@adobe.com is recommended as it reaches a team dedicated to Technical Communication Suite products including RoboHelp.

________________________________________________________

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

[RoboMan]

Just ran a test against the latest/current version of Chrome (Windows) and RoboHelp (Windows). Selecting the "Cookies and other site data" function (image below) in Chrome DOES delete all my saved favorites from my RoboHelp output. Now, it may be true that favorites are NOT saved/managed in browser cookies, and they are instead saved/managed in "other site data", but the practical effect is that my non-technical audience/end-users will need to be advised NOT to delete/clear cookies (and other site data!) to retain their favorites. (This applies to Chrome, and likely Edge since it's Chromium-based. I haven't tested Firefox or Safari.)

[Peter Grainge]

A simple test confirms your findings. My understanding however was that RoboHelp was designed to prevent this. I have reached out to an Adobe contact but it will be a while before I can post the answer.

I suggest you report this as a bug.

________________________________________________________

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

[RoboFan]

I just tested Firefox. It provides a little more granular control over clearing/deleting things via the UX. Here are my results for selecting and testing, one at a time:

• History>Cookies: Did not clear/delete favorites.
• Data>Site settings: Did not clear/delete favorites.
• Data>Offline website data: DID clear/delete favorites.

I did not test any of the other settings.

[Peter Grainge]

This is what I have been advised.

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The favourites are saved in local storage for Frameless output. Local Storage data will not get cleared even if you close the browser. However, how local storage is managed is browser specific. In Chrome and Edge, it is managed under Cookies and other site data. On clearing this data, the favourites information will be lost.

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A further enquiry has been made to see if there is a way in the browser settings to add an exception so that this data is not deleted.

________________________________________________________

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