RE: RoboHelp Q

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

I switched from RoboHelp when Adobe was aggressively sending out their
"we're not supporting this product anymore" signals, and have been using
MadCap Flare, so I might be using the terminology a little differently. 

The startpage.html is the entry page for your WebHelp, and is much as
Rick describes. At some point in the HAT interface, you get to tell it
which specific WebHelp topic it should use when constructing that
startpage.html. 

Normally, you'd point your customers/users to that startpage.html,
because that's the one that will (as Rick points out) set up all the
frames and navigation stuff, whereas if you point to another random page
in your Help, you'll get just the page without all the handy nav aids
surrounding it.

If you do as I do, and use an external start here page, you can create
some specific links that will invoke the CSS/frames first and then
display the chosen topic properly inside that structure... effectively
duplicating what the startpage.html page does.
If you don't have a home-brew start-here page, then users/customers
naturally go looking for something that says "start" or whatever in its
name. Some people point to a  "Hi! How are ya?" page as their default
topic. Others are brutal and unkind and point to the EULA or disclaimer.
The lawyers like that, but the user sure as hell doesn't appreciate it
after the first time or two....

Cheers,

 - Kevin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rick Stone [mailto:rstone75 -at- kc -dot- rr -dot- com]
> Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 12:30
> To: McLauchlan, Kevin
> Cc: Zen C; techwr-l List
> Subject: Re: RoboHelp Q
> 
> Hi all
> 
> Sorry, but I'm compelled to offer the following.
> 
> I see so many RoboHelp users become extremely confused between the
> "WebHelp Start Page" and the "Default Topic". They almost always
> incorrectly believe they are one and the same.
> 
> The WebHelp Start page is what the user links to to open the help. It
> has many functions, such as sniffing the browser, dividing the browser
> into different frames, etc. And the last action that occurs is that
the
> Default Topic is presented in the Topic pane of the Frameset.
> 
> So for anyone reading this thread, what Kevin is referring to is the
> Default Topic, not the WebHelp Start Page.
> 
> Cheers... Rick :)
> 
> McLauchlan, Kevin wrote:
> > Our WebHelp is not context-sensitive - it's standalone - so I do two
> > things:
> >
> > 1) My startpage.htm can be the disclaimer page, with (both) further
> > links from there on the page itself, and the standard navigation
pane to
> > the left for further journeying into the WebHelp
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