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F
Faeneth
Inspiring
November 13, 2017
Answered

RoboHelp 2017 - Some links in Responsive HTML5 output are broken on iPhone

  • November 13, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 4413 views

Hello,

we are currently using Adobe RoboHelp 2017 to create the help system for our new product. We really liked the Indigo layout, so we customized it (heavily) and applied it. That is working great so far.

However, I noticed today that some of the links in the topics themselves are not working on iPhone (iPhone SE and iPhone 6). When I tap them, the same page is just reloaded and sometimes after the tap, the content is no longer scrollable.

I thoroughly tested the links on other devices (Android Galaxy S4 mini, iPad, Android Galaxy Tab S2, iMac, various Windows 10 browsers) and the links work everywhere else.

You can check this behavior yourself on iPhone: For example, in CELUM Marketing Project Management Help the links (light blue, bold text) in the section "First steps" don't work at all and only reopen the same page ("Get started") again, while the links in the bullet list on the same page work fine.

On other pages it is also wildly different between links and pages and I can't really see a pattern why some links are failing while others are not.

I would really appreciate your help with this problem, thanks very much.

Technical details:

RoboHelp 2017 Version 13.0.1.279 - I haven't installed Update 2 yet after I found out that the search is broken in that one.

We are also using the link_to_dropdown.js script provided by William Van Weelden, but the links on the "Get started" page don't lead to a dropdown, just to normal RoboHelp topics.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Faeneth

I was able to solve this issue now by taking a closer look at both the CSS for our customized RoboHelp template and the CSS for the topics (default.css with custom styles in it).

Turns out that something was wrong with my default.css which prevented the linking and scrolling to work correctly.

In case somebody has runs into the same problem, I recommend removing all styles from default.css, then testing the output, and then gradually adding the custom styles back in (with multiple output checks) to find out which CSS is at fault. Then work around or remove the faulty CSS statements.

3 replies

A
ahmed2302
New Participant
February 7, 2019

Hi Faeneth,

I am also facing the same issue, could you please guide me which CSS statement I need to check. Is it related to the Hyperlinks??

Thanks

F
FaenethAuthor
Inspiring
February 7, 2019

Hi Ahmed,

unfortunately I don't have the SVN history for the file from April 2018 anymore, so I can't tell you exactly what it was.

If I remember correctly, it had something to do with the styles for html and body elements, but I can't remember which statement.

My suggestion is to back up your default.css file, remove all your custom styles from the default.css (or revert it to the out-of-the-box version of the file), compile the help and see if the scrolling problem still occurs. If the scrolling problem is gone, you know that some of your custom CSS breaks it.

Then you can gradually add your custom styles again and recompile the help after every change to see if the problem reoccurs. As soon as it reoccurs, you can take a closer look at the last styles you added (remove and gradually re-add just those styles) and thus find the culprit.

Sorry I can't offer anything more specific.

Cheers!

F
FaenethAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
April 26, 2018

I was able to solve this issue now by taking a closer look at both the CSS for our customized RoboHelp template and the CSS for the topics (default.css with custom styles in it).

Turns out that something was wrong with my default.css which prevented the linking and scrolling to work correctly.

In case somebody has runs into the same problem, I recommend removing all styles from default.css, then testing the output, and then gradually adding the custom styles back in (with multiple output checks) to find out which CSS is at fault. Then work around or remove the faulty CSS statements.

Peter Grainge
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
November 13, 2017

Your link is just going to the RoboHelp forum, not your help.

However, whilst there are some problems with Update 2, there were problems before. Willam has provided a fix for the Update 2 issues at Tracker​

Personally I would apply Update 2 and then Willam's fix but that's your call.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring information

@petergrainge

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
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
November 13, 2017

Thanks to Rick for pointing out that the link in the thread works but if you click the "same" link in the email notification of the post, then it errors.

That said, the answer remains the same as I cannot test on an iOS device.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring information

@petergrainge

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.
F
FaenethAuthor
Inspiring
February 21, 2018

Just to add, the Adobe fix has not caused anyone else a problem so I am wondering if the issue you encountered is just related to your project.

Have you tried deleting the CPD file and reopening RoboHelp. That often fixes issues that cannot otherwise be explained. RoboHelp creates a fresh one on reopening using information in other files. That said, your new project is having issues too so I wouldn't hold my breath that this will fix it.

When you say The bad news is that the link behavior is still somewhat erratic you do mean in the new project don't you? I just want to be sure the new project is not 100% OK as if it is, then it would suggest different ideas.

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge


Regarding the problem with loadparentdata.js:

I retained the original files (thankfully).

However, I did apply the loadparentdata.js which is located in your zip-file. That means that I did copy this file into the Adobe <Robohelp installation directory>/RoboHTML/ResponsiveHelpExt/widgets/common/scripts and William Van Weelden's file was successfully overwritten with the version from your zip-file. The version from your zip-file has the same content as the original file which I made a backup of - I compared them. I also copied the other files from your zip file to the scripts directory.

I also just now deleted the .cpd file in the new test project and then recompiled the project. However, the same issue from the video is still there.

Maybe it has something to do with my computer? It is a Windows 10 machine with the latest Windows Update applied. Anyway, I will probably for now keep William Van Weelden's fix, because that works for the RoboHelp projects on my machine.

Regarding the linking problem:

"When you say The bad news is that the link behavior is still somewhat erratic you do mean in the new project don't you? I just want to be sure the new project is not 100% OK as if it is, then it would suggest different ideas."

Yes, I mean the erratic behavior happens for my new test project (the same one that stars in the videos I linked). It has only the uncustomized Indigo layout and the default.css applied, but without any changes to the styles.

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