Hi all,
Working on a webhelp project created by someone else. This project has a number of legacy topics which are not displayed in the TOC but are able to be found if the user enters the right text in the search box. Those topics are not linked to from any index term or any other topic but the client would prefer not to remove the topics from the project "just in case". How can I ensure they cannot be found at all by a user...will conditional build tags accomplish that?
Thanks for any help.
Diane
Will conditional build tag make a topic unsearchable?
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Nita Beck
- Senior Propellus Maximus
- Posts: 3669
- Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
- Location: Pittsford, NY
Re: Will conditional build tag make a topic unsearchable?
Not only will a conditional build tag make a topic unsearchable, it will keep it out of the output altogether.
I suggest you create a condition tag called something like “Obsolete” or “Legacy.” Apply that condition to each of the topics you want to keep out of the output. Set the target to EXCLUDE “Obsolete” or “Legacy.”
In my own projects, I have a folder called “Obsolete” and I move obsolete topics into it. Then I apply the Obsolete condition to the entire folder, instead of to each individual topic.
Every so often, maybe once or twice a year, I purge stuff out of the Obsolete folder once I’m really convinced that they’re never coming back to life.
Finally, I keep all my projects in source control and, therefore, I can always go back and get my fingers on an obsolete topic that I had deleted but that, lo and behold, a client wants to resurrect.
——
Well, another “finally”...
Since the dawn of Microsoft’s HTML Help Workshop in the mid ‘90s (or maybe it was even earlier), the assumption was that ALL topics in a project will, by default, be in the built output. This paradigm has been carried forward to the present by many Help Authoring Tools (HATs), including Flare. A good many years ago, MadCap added a target setting in Flare called (and I’m paraphrasing) “Exclude content not linked directly or indirectly to the target” that, if set, stipulates that only those topics that are on the target’s TOC will be included in built output, along with any other topics that those first topics are linked to.
It sounds to me that that target option has not been set in your target. You might want to consider using it. You can learn more here: http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare201 ... argets.htm.
——
And another finally....
One can also elect to include a topic in output but keep it from being searchable. I don’t think this will solve your particular concern, but I wanted to bring it to you attention anyway. Learn more here: http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare201 ... Search.htm
I suggest you create a condition tag called something like “Obsolete” or “Legacy.” Apply that condition to each of the topics you want to keep out of the output. Set the target to EXCLUDE “Obsolete” or “Legacy.”
In my own projects, I have a folder called “Obsolete” and I move obsolete topics into it. Then I apply the Obsolete condition to the entire folder, instead of to each individual topic.
Every so often, maybe once or twice a year, I purge stuff out of the Obsolete folder once I’m really convinced that they’re never coming back to life.
Finally, I keep all my projects in source control and, therefore, I can always go back and get my fingers on an obsolete topic that I had deleted but that, lo and behold, a client wants to resurrect.
——
Well, another “finally”...
Since the dawn of Microsoft’s HTML Help Workshop in the mid ‘90s (or maybe it was even earlier), the assumption was that ALL topics in a project will, by default, be in the built output. This paradigm has been carried forward to the present by many Help Authoring Tools (HATs), including Flare. A good many years ago, MadCap added a target setting in Flare called (and I’m paraphrasing) “Exclude content not linked directly or indirectly to the target” that, if set, stipulates that only those topics that are on the target’s TOC will be included in built output, along with any other topics that those first topics are linked to.
It sounds to me that that target option has not been set in your target. You might want to consider using it. You can learn more here: http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare201 ... argets.htm.
——
And another finally....
One can also elect to include a topic in output but keep it from being searchable. I don’t think this will solve your particular concern, but I wanted to bring it to you attention anyway. Learn more here: http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare201 ... Search.htm
Nita
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
Re: Will conditional build tag make a topic unsearchable?
THANK YOU!! Exactly what I needed.