Is there a way to auto-insert bolded "Note:" text

[Monkey Girl]

I want to create a Note style similar to Flare's online Help note style (with color-shaded background and bolded "Note: " at the beginning). Is there a way to set up the style so the bolded "Note: " text is included automatically when you select the style? My goal is to be able to select the p.note style and immediately start typing my note text without having to take the time to type and format the "Note: " part every time I add a note.

[Nita Beck]

Welcome!

Easy to do. You need to set up an auto-number for the class of <p> that you are using for your notes. From the Stylesheet Editor in Simplified View, open that class's Properties dialog and switch to the Auto-number tab. There you can type "Note: " up in the "Enter format" box. Any paragraph you tag with this class with have "Note: " automatically added at its start.

If you want the "Note: " to always be formatted a distinctive way, such as bold, you'll need to add a span class to control that formatting. Close out of the Properties dialog to get back to the Stylesheet Editor. Add that span class and style it the way you want, and then close its Properties dialog. Then, reopen the Properties dialog of your notes class. On the Auto-number tab, select the span class from the Span Class drop-down list. Now the "Note: " will always be formatted as defined by the span class.

I hope this gives you enough to get started. (Sorry, I'm on my way out the door...)

[LTinker68]

Simple formatting options, like bolding and italicizing and font color, I think, can be done directly in the mc-auto-number-format field. I tend to go with the span option that Nita mentioned, but if you're just bolding the text and nothing else, then you can specify a bold effect directly in the format field.

[Nita Beck]

Lisa's right (of course!) that you can apply the bolding right in the auto-number format. But like her, I do prefer the span class approach. I single-source Help and print docs (and differently formatted print docs at that) from the same project. I might have "Note: " bolded in the Help, but in one or more of the print doc formats, I've got it bolded and italicized and in a color (such as a client's corporate color -- orange -- oh, joy). With the span class approach, I can easily change how "Note: " gets rendered.

[Monkey Girl]

Thanks for the replies! Not sure which approach I'll use for the bolding, but good to know about both options.

[DurtyMat]

Lisa's right (of course!) that you can apply the bolding right in the auto-number format. But like her, I do prefer the span class approach. I single-source Help and print docs (and differently formatted print docs at that) from the same project. I might have "Note: " bolded in the Help, but in one or more of the print doc formats, I've got it bolded and italicized and in a color (such as a client's corporate color -- orange -- oh, joy). With the span class approach, I can easily change how "Note: " gets rendered.

you change your note style based on clients? oh lord. i do not envy you.


check this out: http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... f=6&t=5840

its about creating a note style ... its like 2 years old but should still work

[techwriter31]

Lisa's right (of course!) that you can apply the bolding right in the auto-number format. But like her, I do prefer the span class approach. I single-source Help and print docs (and differently formatted print docs at that) from the same project. I might have "Note: " bolded in the Help, but in one or more of the print doc formats, I've got it bolded and italicized and in a color (such as a client's corporate color -- orange -- oh, joy). With the span class approach, I can easily change how "Note: " gets rendered.

I'm still new to CSS. I've played around with using the span class approach, but haven't actually implemented it. For Nita's scenario, could the same effect be achieved for single-sourcing by using the mc-auto-number-format field method, but changing the format based on the style sheet medium? I will be single-sourcing as well, so I'm trying to figure out the best approach.

[LTinker68]

The formatting styles that are available directly in the mc-auto-number-format field can also be specified differently between the mediums. So in the default (online) medium the mc-auto-number-format field could be set to bolded and blue, and in the print medium the field could be set to bolded but black. However, the span approach does provide more flexibility overall in the design of the auto-number format.

[techwriter31]

Ah...make sense. Thanks for the explanation! There's so much to figure out...