Numbering in topics created by importing a Word doc

Carol

I haven't done any RH7 specific testing so I cannot answer the question. Every other version has worked better though with the toolbar options.

Thank you, Peter. I had been to your site before, but didn't read the detailed articles about importing Word docs, because I thought they applied only to earlier versions of RoboHelp. Having reviewed them, I feel A LOT BETTER and have a better understanding of what's going on "under the covers." Also, I've now spent some time reviewing & modifying the stylesheet & HTML directly in the topics, so I'm better prepared to understand the HTML code you include.

Nonetheless, the original problem I posted still mystefies me. As you suggest, I'll have to so some experimenting to understand what's causing the first bullet or numbered item to be assigned a <p class=classname> rather than an <li class=classname>.

As I stated earlier, it may just be that this particular document's checkered past will require that I use your (thank you!) macro to remove the formatting of bulleted & numbered paragraphs & reassign bullets & numbering.

This leaves one final question: For RoboHelp 7 specifically, do you advise setting bullets & numbering using styles, or the Word toolbar?

Thank you again to all who share your experience & advice.

- Carol

There's a topic on importing Word documents on my site. Maybe that will help.

OK. I tried to clean up the styles in the Word document. I took one section out of the doc (its styles came with it), created new styles for the two types of bullet lists, saved it, and imported it into RoboHelp. The code is cleaner, but the problem I first described is still happening.

If I'm the only person this is happening to, it must be something I'm doing with Word styles.

Ah, now that makes sense. And sorry - I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth - just trying to understand.

I don't really see anything wrong with the styles in Word, but that doesn't mean there aren't problems that aren't visible.

I'll try what you suggest.

- Carol

Thanks for your replies, Leon and Chet.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the conversion of Word numbering styles into RoboHelp just doesn't work, and the common practice is to work around that by removing all formatting of lists in Word and then reformat them manually in RoboHelp. Is this correct?

Given that the HTML is wrong, but consistent, wouldn't it seem that a better solution for me at this point would be to write a script to repair the HTML? This would enable me to provide my client with an automated, repeatable workflow to single-source print and online help.

Thanks again for taking the time to advise me!

- Carol

Leon said:

I've found that best practice for lists in RH is this: no styles at all. Start with Normal style, select the list item paragraphs, and click the bullet/number toolbar icon. For sub-list items, select those paras and click the Indent toolbar icon. This method also enables your lists to look the same when you generate Printed Doc layouts.

I'll second that. Strongly.

Chances are, the style for that sample was applied improperly in Word.

I've found that best practice for lists in RH is this: no styles at all. Start with Normal style, select the list item paragraphs, and click the bullet/number toolbar icon. For sub-list items, select those paras and click the Indent toolbar icon. This method also enables your lists to look the same when you generate Printed Doc layouts.

If you absolutely must enforce some styles, use the OL and UL elements in your style sheet. (You can even use what's called descendant selectors (set styles for all UL lists nested within OL lists with an OL UL setting, for example). See the WWW site for tutorials.

You might want to strip all those styles from the Word doc before you import it. (Word is good at allowing global style changes through the Replace function.)


Good luck,
Leon