Hyperlink formatting

[Guest]

Not sure if this is possible in HTML help project...

I am using RHX5.0.1 and have various types hyperlinks used in my projects (e.g., standard hyperlinks in the content as well as hyperlinks for "Back to Previous" , links to "Examples" and "Related Topics"). Each of these types of hyperlinks has a specific format that I need to apply (standard uses same as what would be in the CSS formatting, but the others are specialized with smaller fonts and no underlines).

I have defined formatting for the standard hyperlink styles (active, hovered, unvisited, et al) but I need to override that formatting for things like "Back to Previous" (from a bookmark area). For those hyperlinks that I want to modify, I select the text and reformat using Format=>Font and it looks fine on the WYSIWYG. When I compile the project into HTML help it ignores my customized formatting and takes on the formatting defined for the Hyperlink styles in the CSS file associated with the topic. Also, there are several different hyperlink formatting I want to use on each topic, so a custom CSS to handle this will not work.

This method of manually reformatting hyperlinks has worked fine when the project outputs to WebHelp but for some reason doesn't work when compiling into an HTML help file.

Are there any formatting tricks that someone can share to override the formatting defined for the Hyperlinks in the CSS style sheet?

As always, thanks for any assistance.

[MergeThis · Accepted solution]

As you've no doubt realized by now, HTML has its own default styles for major elements like hyperlinks, lists, etc. However, you can create any number of classes to address this issue (see this w3 web site for plenty of good info).

The .css link sample below would be called in your topic as:

<a class=MyLink href="MyTargetTopic.htm">.

Note that although you can combine two or more pseudo-classes, separated with commas, they must appear in the "LoVeHAte" order: Link, Visited, Hover, Active. (I don't bother with Active, as seen in my example, but some folks do.) You'll notice in the default.css, which is provided for every project, that there are classes used for A.expandspot (expanding text) and A.dropspot (dropdown text).

This method will allow you to use only one .css file for all your topics, as you call only the class you need at each hyperlink.

Good luck,
Leon

[Guest]

Thanks Leon -- that seems to have solved my problem!