Confirm process for merging topics

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Curlyshell
Propeller Head
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2019 9:14 am

Confirm process for merging topics

Post by Curlyshell »

I'm doing some cleanup in my project, including merging topics that were automatically split apart when I imported from Word. Can someone please vet my process? I'm not sure that all steps are necessary—or sufficient.

Perhaps this will be helpful to others as well.

Page 1 is the one you keep. Page 2 is the one that goes away.
  • • In the TOC, remove Page 2 and SAVE.
    • Make sure all the <head> info in Page 2 is also present in Page 1. For example, table stylesheets. Copy anything needed into the Page 1 <head>, making sure the paths are correct.
    • In Page 2, copy everything between the <body> tags. Paste it into Page 1.
    • In Page 2, REMOVE any TOC and REF tags. These should have been copied to Page 1. (IS THIS NECESSARY? ALSO, HOW DOES THE TOC TAG AFFECT THE LEFT NAV?)
    • Save all.
    • If Page 1's name changed, go to the TOC and right-click the page. Choose Properties, then save. This will update the name.
    • In Content Explorer, right-click Page 2 > View Links.
    • In the Link Viewer (right side), look at the “Linked From” box.
    o Open each of the pages in that box.
    o Update the links to the new page. (IS THERE A WAY TO AUTOMATE THIS?)
    • Delete Page 2. DO NOT “remove links” when asked.
"I'm a technical writer, not a developer," she said...
doloremipsum
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:11 pm

Re: Confirm process for merging topics

Post by doloremipsum »

The step where you go into the Properties for the TOC item is probably not necessary (I think?), because it's just a display issue. If the title of Page 1 (for example) has updated, Flare should account for that when it builds the output. But just double check that assertion, I don't do a lot with web outputs.

Regardless, you can make that step a bit quicker by hitting F4-Enter instead of all of that clicking. That's just what I would do, I know not everyone likes using shortcuts.

RE updating the links from page 2 to now point to page 1, you could probably just run a find and replace. Search for <a href="*/Topic2.htm /> and replace with <a href="*/Topic1.htm />.

For your final step, if you've changed all of the links in the previous step there shouldn't be any links to remove, right? That should be your final check to make sure you've got them all.
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Curlyshell
Propeller Head
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2019 9:14 am

Re: Confirm process for merging topics

Post by Curlyshell »

Thank you! Here's the revised process for anyone who wants to copy it:

Topic 1 is the one you keep. Topic 2 is the one that goes away.
  • • In the TOC, remove Topic 2 and SAVE.
    • Make sure all the <head> info in Topic 2 is also present in Topic 1. For example, table stylesheets. Copy anything needed into the Topic 1 <head>.
    • In Topic 2, copy everything between the <body> tags. Paste it into Topic 1.
    • In Topic 2, REMOVE any TOC and REF tags.
    • SAVE ALL.
    • In Content Explorer, right-click Topic 2 > View Links. This opens the Link Viewer.
    • In the Link Viewer (right side by default), look at the “Linked From” box. Do one of the following:
    • o Open each of the topics in that box and update the cross references to the new topic.
      o If there are a lot of topics, do a find & replace with the new file name.
      Search for <a href="*/Topic2.htm /> and replace with <a href="*/Topic1.htm />.
    • Delete Topic 2. If you see the “remove links” query, you’ve missed a link in, so stop and revisit above.
"I'm a technical writer, not a developer," she said...
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