Adobe 65030089 User Guide - Page 58

USING ROBOHELP HTML 9 52 Projects Inline styles and style overrides You can convert inline styles to CSS styles in RoboHelp. However, converting inline styles to CSS styles can lead to numerous styles that share the same formatting. See "Converting Word styles to RoboHelp styles" on page 55. Header and footer information RoboHelp can convert headers and footers. However, to ensure consistency across your topics, you can define a master page that contains the required header and footer information. By using master pages, you can also suppress page numbers in headers and footers. "Convert headers and footers in Word documents" on page 55. Chapter versus topic In printed documentation, the chapter is the logical and physical unit for grouping content. In online Help, the organizational unit is the topic, and users see topics one at a time. Although you can group the content into folders that expand when the user navigates the table of contents, only one topic appears on the screen at a time. Try to provide comprehensive information without adding redundancy by grouping related topics. See "Pagination and topic naming in converted Word files" on page 58. TOCs As you import Word documents, you can also import the Word TOC into the RoboHelp TOC. You can define the topic hierarchy and represent that hierarchy in the RoboHelp TOC. See "Importing a Word TOC, index, and glossary" on page 54. Context sensitivity In online Help formats, you can link specific topics to dialog boxes and other elements that users encounter in the application workflow. You can assign map IDs to topics in RoboHelp. However, you can also assign context-sensitive Help markers in Word documents using custom footnote entries. RoboHelp reads these footnote entries and assigns the map IDs to the generated topics. Ensure that topics in the source Word document are not overly fragmented. A topic must contain sufficient information to make sense as a standalone unit. For example, if a short task doesn't make sense without some introductory conceptual information, don't display that task as a standalone topic. To avoid overly fragmented content, assign context-sensitive Help markers to topics at a higher level. In this way, the generated Help topic can contain the concept, the task, and any relevant graphics. See "Convert context-sensitive Help markers in Word to map IDs" on page 59. Linking options for Word documents For linking Word documents to a RoboHelp project, you can specify one of the following options in the Import tab of project settings (File > Project Settings): Create A Reference You create a reference to an external Word document. In this case, the source Word document is not copied into the RoboHelp project folder. It remains outside the project. You can edit and update the Word document independently in Word. Later, in RoboHelp, you can update the topics generated from the linked document. Use the linking by reference option to bring in content that is shared across multiple projects. Because only a single copy of the document exists, any change in the source document is reflected in all projects to which this document is linked. Create A Copy And Link You create a copy of the source document and link to the RoboHelp project. In this case, a copy of the source document is copied into the RoboHelp project and is visible in the Project Manager pod. You can edit and update the Word copy without affecting the source document. You update the topics generated from the copied Word document whenever you edit the document. Use the Create A Copy And Link option to maintain the Word document in RoboHelp, and restrict access to the source document and allow editing only in the copy available in the RoboHelp project. For example, if you want to bring in content from a static Word document, link the document by copying it to the RoboHelp project. Note: This option is available only when you link Word documents. When you import a Word document, RoboHelp does not keep any link to the source Word document. Last updated 12/14/2011