Help with topic-level Mini-TOC in WebHelp?

[chevenga]

Hi, all.

I'm creating WebHelp output in Flare 4. I'd like to automatically put a list of the <h2> and <h3> headings into some topics -- something like "Here's what you'll find in this topic:"

I checked Flare help, and the "About the Mini-TOC Proxy" topic says that this can be done, but only for print outputs:

For print-based output formats, you can insert a mini-TOC proxy into any topic where you want to generate a small TOC.

example—styles method
Let's say that you want to use the default method, where the mini-TOC entries are based on headings using the <h1> through <h6> styles in your project. Perhaps you have created a lengthy topic, with the <h1> style applied to the first heading in that topic and several subheadings below it that are using the <h2> and <h3> styles.

I went ahead and tried the topic-level mini-TOC for WebHelp and HTML Help output, but no luck. (It does work for Word output that I created just to test this.)

Any suggestions on how I could get this to work in WebHelp without having to add links manually?

Thanks!

Jeyen

[LTinker68]

The mini-TOC only works if it's in a topic a level above those that you want to appear in the mini-TOC. In other words, if you have a book with four topics beneath it, then the book has to link to a topic that's not one of the four sub-topics. What I do is have an "intro" topic that contains the mini-TOC, and that intro topic is what the book links to. It then automatically pulls all of the topics within that book into the mini-TOC intro topic. If you have a book beneath that book, then the first book will include the topics in the sub-book if you tell it to go down 2 or 3 levels (however many you have). But the mini-TOC topic always has to be a level "above" the topics you want included in the mini-TOC.

The following example works because the intro.htm page linked to in Book A is a "level" above Topics A, B, and C in the TOC.

Code: Select all

Book A --> intro.htm with mini-TOC
    Topic A
    Topic B
    Topic C

This setup will not work because Topic A is at the same "level" as Topics B and C.

Code: Select all

Topic A --> includes mini-TOC proxy
Topic B
Topic C

[chevenga]

Thank you for the suggestion, Lisa.

However, a mini-TOC based on styles within a topic is unrelated to and unaffected by the main TOC.

You can see an example of this in the "example: styles method" section of the "About the Mini-TOC Proxy" help topic.

The only components that affect the mini-TOC within a topic are the heading tags (h1, h2, h3, etc.).

This works for me in Word output.

What I'd like is suggestions for making it work in WebHelp.

Thanks again.

[LTinker68]

All of my top-level books in my TOC point to topics that have mini-TOC proxies in them. Those topics display correctly in both WebHelp and print outputs. So mini-TOCs can be used in WebHelp output, if that's what you're asking for.
The mini-TOC is built based on heading styles in topics (indented) below that mini-TOC topic, but the appearance of the mini-TOC is controlled by the p.MiniTOC1, p.MiniTOC2, etc., styles (and the MadCap|miniTOCProxy style). So you can have the mini-TOC look one way for online output and another way for print output.

EDIT: I guess you're talking about a mini-TOC inside a topic with content. I'm pretty sure that works in WebHelp output, too. I'm about to test it.

EDIT 2: Yeah, I couldn't get it to work either, even though the Preview window showed an example of it. The example in the help you reference doesn't actually state that it's for print-only (the previous two examples expressly stated that they were for online output and print output, but the third example didn't make that distinction). So either mini-TOCs can't be used inside a content topic for online output, or something was broken in v4. Or there's something else that needs to be done to set it up correctly.

Sorry I couldn't help.

[chevenga]

Thanks for giving it a shot!

Maybe someone will get inspired and make a script or something.

[Sharon_G]

Hi,
When I read the Help it said that you should use a Master page to insert a mini-TOC proxy into a topic when you wanted to display a mini-TOC in that topic in the Help. I thought that this might solve your problem so I tried it out - sorry, it doesn't work using that idea either.

But now I'm wondering, thanks to the extremely useful information in this thread, since I can get the mini-TOC to show up in both the print and non-print versions of the topic by just adding the proxy to the topic directly - why would I want to add it by using a master page that only applies to on-line versions of the topic?

It's not that I don't understand the advantages of using master pages - I've been using them in Frame for years, it's just that the Help implies that this is the ONLY way to get a mini-TOC in the online version of your document. As a result I wasted time creating a master page, applying it to the topic, and conditionalizing out the proxy that was already there (making it print-only) - only to find that the work was not necessary for the result I require. However, as a new user it was a useful learning experience, so no harm done.

Perhaps a little clarification is in order for the next rev of the docs?
Just a suggestion.
Sharon (yes, I read the Help) Gilmour