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Known Participant
April 29, 2010
Answered

ZoomSearch Instructions for RoboHelp

  • April 29, 2010
  • 1 reply
  • 1987 views

Hi,

I'm using RH 7, generating WebHelp/context sensitive help.

I'm thinking of incorporating ZoomSearch into my RH project. I'm trying to follow Peter's instructions for ZoomSearch, but I'm confused.

I publish my project directly to a server, not to my hard drive. So in Step 2, do I still need to add the folder? If so, how can I add it to a server?

Thanks,

Julie

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Peter Grainge

Hi Peter,

So sorry to be muddled with my explanation. What I meant is: the application developer came to my computer and entered the server name on the WebHelp Publish screen in the servers box. That's what I meant by the application developer set up the publishing to the server. I'm under the impression that I'm not publishing to my hard drive; am I correct in this impression or am I still confused?

(I just have to say that after a year of working with RH, I should have pushed for taking a training class instead of trying to learn RH from a book. I am sorry that I have to keep asking these questions, and I thank you guys for taking the time to help.)

Thanks,

Julie


If you are publishing to the server, you need to add the extra files manually.

If you can see the server via Windows Explorer, you can use that. Otherwise you need to use FTP. If you show the relevant section of my instructions to your developer, they will be able to help you and it should not take long.

None of this would be in a RH training course as you are stepping outside what RH provides.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

1 reply

Captiv8r
Legend
April 29, 2010

Hi there

Just an observation. You said:

disneeprincess wrote:

...I publish my project directly to a server, not to my hard drive...

You should be working locally. This means your project exists on your local C drive in a location such as C:\Projects\MyProject and you output locally such as C:\Projects\MyProject\!SSL!\WebHelp.

From what you posted it would seem that your output location isn't local and is the server instead. This is asking for trouble and is why the Publish function exists.

If I'm understanding what you wrote correctly, you seriously need to reconsider your workflow.

Cheers... Rick

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Known Participant
April 29, 2010

Oh my. Now I have more confusion. I generate my output locally and the project is on my C: drive. When I publish, the application developer set it up to publish to the server. What am I supposed to do and why is it bad to publish to the server? This is context sensitive help for a web site. If we need to change the workflow, I will have to explain this to the application developer.

Thanks for your input,

Julie

Captiv8r
Legend
April 30, 2010

Hi Julie

Sorry if I caused confusion. Here's the deal.

Some folks think they can wisely save some time and effort by configuring the output location to be the server where the content lives. They think they can just skip the publishing step by simply generating directly to the final destination.

Perhaps an analogy will help here.

Consider generating WebHelp to be like baking a batch of cookies. Before you may bake a batch, the cookie sheet has to be empty, no? So a critical step is to clear the cookie sheet of existing cookies. In RoboHelp terms, clearing the cookie sheet is the action of deleting the files from the output folder.

So if your output folder is the server where folks may be actually using files, this could present an issue.

What threw me was your saying "You publish directly to the server". I mistakenly concluded that you were simply generating to the server instead of Publishing.

The act of publishing in RoboHelp is similar to taking the baked cookies from the cookie sheet and placing them into the cookie jar or the display case.

So as long as you generate output, then click a Publish button, your workflow should be fine.

Hopefully that helps clear anything up.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links

RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form

Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95!

Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training

SorcerStone Blog

RoboHelp eBooks