Broswer Settings

[DurtyMat]

How can I test the WebHelp Output Browser settings? Trying to minimize the amount of IE/FF garbage around the webhelp.

[LTinker68]

What do you mean? What specifically do you want to test? By "garbage", do you mean the browser favorites/history pane that the user could have set, the appearance of the address bar and browser search bar, etc., or do you mean something else?

[DurtyMat]

i want to remove all of the IE/FF things outside of the webhelp, example below:

browse_ex.png

I just want to limit the amount of non-web help information / toolbars taking up space on the user's screen. Based on our minimum screen resolutions for our software, I would rather maximize the amount of information displayed on the screen.

Also, sorry the questions was very vague.

[doc_guy]

Why show the whole frame at all? When you do that, you are showing you browser preference and your operating system preference. Wouldn't it just be better to take a screen shot of the inside window itself instead of the whole browser window?

At least, that is what I do.

[DurtyMat]

Why show the whole frame at all? When you do that, you are showing you browser preference and your operating system preference. Wouldn't it just be better to take a screen shot of the inside window itself instead of the whole browser window?

At least, that is what I do.

If you are asking why I would include the browser settings in screen shots of the help system, I don't / wouldn't ... if I needed to take screen shots of the help system. I am trying to remove the browser settings from my users browsers to limit the amount of non-essential screen clutter and to maximize the amount of screen real estate the help system will be displayed in.

If my users have a 1280x1024 screen and I give them a help system that comes in a 800x600 window, i lose a 800x148px rectangle to IEs toolbar, address bar, and links/favorites, just seems like a big waste of space to me.

[alaltenburg]

I thought the browser settings are changed when the user themselves change their own browser settings on their own computer. I may be misunderstanding what you are trying to do, but the preferences shown are usually personal preference.

Andrea

[LTinker68]

So you want your help output to appear in a browser window but without the browser's address bar, search field, bookmarks pane, etc., correct? I haven't tried that myself because a lot of our applications are already browser-based, but if you disable the "use browser default settings" and leave the checkboxes below it blank, it should theoretically modify the skin of the output to not include those features in the browser window when the help is launched. However, like the little note next to that field says, those features will only be disabled (hidden) if the help is launched using JavaScript or a CSH call. If the user launches the help by clicking the default.htm file (or whatever you named it), then it'll show the help with all of the browser features that the user would normally see when he/she opens the browser window.

[DurtyMat]

So you want your help output to appear in a browser window but without the browser's address bar, search field, bookmarks pane, etc., correct? I haven't tried that myself because a lot of our applications are already browser-based, but if you disable the "use browser default settings" and leave the checkboxes below it blank, it should theoretically modify the skin of the output to not include those features in the browser window when the help is launched. However, like the little note next to that field says, those features will only be disabled (hidden) if the help is launched using JavaScript or a CSH call. If the user launches the help by clicking the default.htm file (or whatever you named it), then it'll show the help with all of the browser features that the user would normally see when he/she opens the browser window.

This is exactly what I was hoping to do, so I was wondering if anyone has been able to test it before and what the best method to implement it / test it

[doc_guy]

Sorry. I misunderstood. I thought you were taking screen shots. Now I read the whole thread over again, and it is clear that you aren't talking about screen shots at all.

Sorry 'bout that.

[DurtyMat]

not a problem, i would rather get a response then have a dead thread

[NorthEast]

On the skin's WebHelp Setup tab, by those Browser settings, there's a bit of text on the right and a link to a help topic that explains how to launch the help this way - How to use JavaScript to open WebHelp. Use this method to open help in a browser window without displaying the toolbar, menu, etc.

If for some reason you don't want to use Flare's javascript method, you can just make your own javascript link to do this. You'd use window.open to open a browser window and set which browser features are switched on/off - see http://www.w3schools.com/HTMLDOM/met_win_open.asp.

[DurtyMat]

yea i looked at the madcap provided info, i don't think i stared at it long enough to really absorb what i needed to do accomplish my goals, thanks for the link though.

[NorthEast]

I think the main concept to absorb is that it is the link to the help, and not the help itself, which controls what bits of your browser window are displayed when the help is opened. The browser settings will not have any effect if you just double-click on the Webhelp file to open it, you need to launch your help from somewhere, e.g. using a link/button on an HTML page or from an application.