Single-sourcing Glossary Terms within Drop-Down Snippets

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jryanatwork
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:31 am

Single-sourcing Glossary Terms within Drop-Down Snippets

Post by jryanatwork »

Hi all,

My "basic" question is: How can I take advantage of Flare's single-source capabilities to use any of my countless glossary terms (and definitions) within topics? I know there's the hyperlink, popup, and expanding text options, but ... is that it? Are those the only ways to recycle all of my glossary terms? I was hoping to use some of them as snippets within drop-down text in various topics throughout my project.

Any and all help is welcome. Thanks!
kwag_myers
Propellus Maximus
Posts: 810
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:36 am
Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Re: Single-sourcing Glossary Terms within Drop-Down Snippets

Post by kwag_myers »

I don't know of a way to do it automatically, but then I can't recall ever using Flare's Glossary feature in a project. I've played with it and think they've done a great job developing it. But my Glossaries are usually a topic that I create manually near the end of the initial development (when I have had a chance to really get to know the subject). This approach would make it easy to create snippets.

As a matter of writing style, I always try to keep the topic as concise as possible (less is more), e.g., Go here, click that, here's a reference table, etc. The Index, Glossary, and (for web outputs) Search features are there for novice users desiring more information. Forcing all readers to go through additional, and perhaps repetitive verbiage I think is a disservice to anyone but a novice. To an experienced user who just needs to perform a task they are not familiar with, you may have just sent them to a coworker for advice.
"I'm tryin' to think, but nothin' happens!" - Curly Joe Howard
kathryngz
Propeller Head
Posts: 75
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 11:31 am

Re: Single-sourcing Glossary Terms within Drop-Down Snippets

Post by kathryngz »

jryanatwork,

I wanted something similar--mainly because I want to include HTML links in some glossary terms that lead to more information. I'd hoped to find a way to put the glossary term in a snippet (or something similar) and then include it, HTML link and all, in the glossary.

What didn't work was editing the flglo file in a text editor and adding links manually. The HTML was stripped out when the target was built. Oh well, had to try :)

I haven't found anything that works yet, but I'm still looking.

Kathryn
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