Inserting links to PDFs in Related Topics controls

[JRtechw]

Using: Flare 12 r2 on Windows 8.1.

Output: Single-sourced to HTML5 Top Nav and PDF User Guides.

Problem:

I have a largish library of PDF documents output with my Top Nav project, as many of our users still prefer a PDF User Guide instead of single articles. I would like to be able to include links to these PDFs meaningfully in a Related Topics control. [Ideally, it would be great to be able to do this with Concept Links, but you can’t insert PDF items into a concept group. Luckily, the replicability of a concept link control can be recreated by bunging a Related Topics control into a snippet, so no biggie.]

Solution 1

So:

1. Insert > Related Topics Control.
2. Change the file type in the top left to All Files.
3. Add some PDF files to the Selected Topics list.
4. Click OK.

Great. Except it seems that the link text is derived from the file name (minus the ‘.pdf’) which is not really what I want, especially since I use camel case for my guide names. So you end up with a list of Related Topics that looks like:

Related topics and guides

Set up a Day Surgery
Bill a Day Surgery Episode
SoftwareCo_v11_DaySurgeryUserGuide

which is just not going to wash. And I have no idea how to change the default text that appears in Related Topics popups and lists. I’m surprised there isn’t a column in the Insert Related Topics Control window for specifying the actual link text, if you wanted to override the default.

Is this something that people have also tried to do, and maybe sussed a workaround? I can’t be the only Flare user who wants to mix types in Related Topics controls. What if you wanted to link to an external site? A word doc?

Solution 2

Works, but what a palaver.

1. Create a TOC with the links to related topics and PDFs.
2. Create a HTML5 Menu skin and style it to look like a Related Topics control.
3. Create a snippet with a heading ‘Related topics and guides’ (Menu proxies have no headings).
4. Insert a Menu Proxy in the snippet and point it to the TOC from step 1.
5. Voila, DIY related topics control that links to anything a TOC can.

I don’t really want to commit to solution 2 though, as it means creating a TOC and snippet for every Related Topics group you want, and all of the TOC selection menus in the GUI will be four feet long.

Anyone got a better solution?

[ChoccieMuffin]

A quick suggestion that should be easy to try.

Can you open the snippet and take a look at what the RelatedTopics control looks like? Is there anything in there that you could edit, even if you're doing it manually?