Conditional content in WebHelp plus two PDF outputs

[Nina Esile]

Okay, here's what I have to configure:

Help system with two major sections (User, Admin). User to be published as WebHelp and separately as PDF. I've assigned the conditional setting to the Admin section so that it isn't generated with the WebHelp, so I've got that all set.

Next thing I need to do is create two PDFs: one User and one Admin. Both will employ a separate CSS from the WebHelp version. This is where I get confused. I need to know how to set up the two Targets, one for each PDF and how to assign the CSS to each one.

Thanks!

[KGaetz]

First, set up a TOC for each target.
Second, create two targets: User and Admin.

Now open the Target Editor for User and work your way through the tabs.
On the Basic tab, select the Output Type (WebHelp), select the Master TOC that you created for the User target, and select the Master Stylesheet you want to use.
On the Conditional Text tab, set the conditions to include and exclude.
On the Advanced tab, if you were using a single stylesheet for both targets, you could set the medium here (Print for PDF and Default for WebHelp).

Next, open the Target Editor for Admin and again work your way through the tabs.

[Nina Esile]

See, I was thinking I could have just one TOC that contained everything, but then mark the different TOC entries conditionally.

I get a bit confused about the meaning of target and the meaning of destination.

Maybe, if we start with a little explanation of target and destination, it'd make more sense to me how to set it up.

Thanks!

[GregStenhouse]

A target is a deliverable or the output files that you produce, e.g. webhelp, PDF, html help etc. You must have a target defined to be able to "build" something (i.e. take all the Flare content and produce your desired output). You can have 1 target per output type, or multiple targets for only 1 output type that differ in, for example, conditional text.
A destination is used if you select "publish" after building your target (e.g. via Build>Publish). A destination can be a network location, or a web server. You don't need a destination, you can go into the "Output" folder of your project and manually copy the built files(s) to wherever you want.

Regarding your question, as you have discovered in Flare there are many ways to achieve similar things. For example, you can have separate stylesheets for print and online, or you can use mediums within a single stylesheet. For conditional text you can apply a condition to a topic itself, to a folder of topics, or to TOC entries. I would argue against making TOC entries conditional. The reason is, for online targets, topics will still be included in the help system and available via search, even if excluded via a condition in the TOC. Instead, apply the condition tag to the topic(s) or folder(s) via the Content Explorer.

For print, conditional text entries in a single TOC may work, but I personally prefer to have separate TOCs so you can see at a glance what the PDF(s) will look like, and it makes it slightly tidier if adding things like different title pages, page layouts etc.

Regardless of the conditional text approach, you will need to have multiple targets (Project>Add Target), as KGaetz described.

[Nina Esile]

Starting from the inside out, from what I perceive to be the closest to the files and text and moving out toward my end result:

I want to mark certain topics (I don't have conditional text at the text level only at the topic level) to be part of the User content and other topics to be part of the Admin content. They don't overlap in any way at this point. So for conditional markers, I have only two: User and Admin.

On the User side of things, I want to generate both the WebHelp system and a PDF. Does this mean I have two targets on the User side?

On the Admin side, I want to generate only a PDF. Does this mean I have one target on the Admin side?

Making it three targets?

I guess, as you can see, I'm having difficulty with the concept of a target. Is it the document itself, whether that's a help system, a PDF, or whatever?

Thanks, as always, for your help!

[KGaetz]

Hi,

That's right. You decide what you want to create (in your case, you have three "deliverables": a User WebHelp, a User PDF, and an Admin PDF). Then, you have to generate (or build) each one separately.

You specify which one of these you want to build and that's where the Targets come in.

Look at the "Build Primary" button on your toolbar. If you have multiple targets defined, they appear as options on the "Build" drop-down list.

You can specify any one of the targets to be the Primary target by going to the Project Organizer > Targets folder. Right-click on the one to want to be the Primary target. You can change the Primary designation at any time.

BuildOptions.png

Hope this helps,
Kathy

[Nina Esile]

Kathy,

It does help.

Thanks to everyone for helping me get it straight!

GB