Change the appearance of topic popup

[johnbwriter]

Hi,

Is there any way to make a topic popup look like a text popup? I want to have popups that are linked to my definition topics, but I don't want them to have vertical scroll bars or borders. I want them to be flat colored rectangles containing the contents of the definition topic.

Thanks,
John B.

[LTinker68]

If you use the topic just as a popup and not also as a standalone topic, then you can create a custom body class and set its background color to whatever color you want. In the topic that's going to be popped up, apply the custom body class to the body tag. In the topic that's going to be calling the popup, insert the topic popup effect and save the topic. Then open the topic in the Internal Text Editor, and add the necessary code to force the scrollbars to be hidden. I don't know the Javascript off the top of my head, but you should be able to Google it easily enough.

If you want to specify the dimensions of the popup window, then either modify the popup class under the <a> tag in the stylesheet (and specify that class when inserting the popup effect), or specify a custom html class and apply it to the topic being popped. (See this topic for more info on the latter option --> http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... =12&t=5518.)

[johnbwriter]

Thanks for the answer LTinker68, but that's much more difficult than I'd hoped. I'm just testing out Flare, and I'd hoped to get the effects I want without having to write custom javascript. Something in addition to specifing the dimensions of the popup window (add/remove borders, add/remove scroll bars, set the background color of the popup window) would be helpful.

Thanks,
John B.

[LTinker68]

Doing it by Javascript allows you to do it on a case-by-case basis.

There are properties in CSS to do what you want. On the custom html class, you can specify the background color and the window size. There is an option also to turn scrolling off, although I don't remember the actual property field at the moment. If you want varying window size, however, you'll need to create multiple html classes, one for each set of dimensions.

[johnbwriter]

Hi LTinker68,

I looked into the CSS, and found what seem to be the relevant properties. I think that the "overflow" property may control the scrollbar, but I can't tell because changing the CSS for the project doesn't seem to affect the output (I'm messing around with the popupBody style, which seems as if it should be the relevant style, but I can't even get the background color to change). Rather than spend a day or two of trial and error, is there any reference on where and how styles are applied for HTML help?

Also, is it possible to modify the default CSS for the style to change the appearance of the popups without having to create a custom class?

Thanks,
John B.

[LTinker68]

Rather than spend a day or two of trial and error, is there any reference on where and how styles are applied for HTML help?

There probably is. I don't build HTML Help, so I don't know what's supported and what isn't, since it's older than CSS (I think). You can probably Google it.

Also, is it possible to modify the default CSS for the style to change the appearance of the popups without having to create a custom class?

If you're doing topic popups, no, because it's loading the entire topic, including its styles. If you're doing text popups, then you can under the popup styles in the stylesheet.

[johnbwriter]

Hi LTinker68,

If you're doing topic popups, no, because it's loading the entire topic, including its styles. If you're doing text popups, then you can under the popup styles in the stylesheet.

Ah - that's just the kind of information I mean by a reference -- not an HTML reference, but a Flare reference to where the syles are applied. How would one know that the popupBody style applied to text popups, and not topic popups? Well, OK, I could search the help for "popupBody" but it would be nice if there was one help topic (or a section) that listed the various styles and where they are used.

Thanks,
John B.

[LTinker68]

Wait until you start playing with the glossary styles. They're in three or four locations in the stylesheet.

[johnbwriter]

Thanks for the warning

John B.

[johnbwriter]

Found the answer, or rather it was given to me by a helpful person at Madcap. There is a patch located at http://kb.madcapsoftware.com/default_CSH.htm#PATF3103 that fixes the scrollbar and beveled window edges for Flare 3.1

Thanks,
John B.