IE8 and Security Warning dialog box

[greenannseth]

I've tried to find the answer to this on this forum and elsewhere on the Internet.

I am using Flare 6.1. I mention that only for context. IE8 is really the problem.

Our SaaS application (HTTPS) is fully functional only when using IE7 or IE8. My Help system (WebHelp) is delivered via a link in the application. Every time someone using IE8 tries to open the Help system, the IE Security Warning dialog box opens. (Text: Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely?)

Is there any way to turn this off so that my users who use IE8 do not get this?

Thanks.

[RamonS]

Is the help hosted on a server or is it accessed on the (local) file system? I assume the help works in a properly designed browser, but the app is IE-only, correct?

[greenannseth]

Yes, the application and its Help are hosted on a server. Of course, I can "turn this off" in my IE. I'm concerned about users getting the dialog box and not knowing what to do with it.

[greenannseth]

I also meant to say that the Help system works as expected on other browsers, such as Firefox. (independent of the application)

[RamonS]

Is the help on the same server as the app?
Other than that, I can't think of anything else at the moment. With IE you run into these issues anyway as each user's configuration can be different. I think it is just something that comes with using IE as a browser.

[greenannseth]

Yes, it's all on the same server.

I suspected that might be the case (that is, this is what we get with certain browsers), but thought I'd check in case anyone had encountered the same and found a workaround.

Thanks.

[LTinker68]

There are some issues if MOTW is enabled and the help is served from a server instead of the user's local computer, which is what the MOTW is intended for. Do you have MOTW enabled? If so, disable it and rebuild.

[greenannseth]

No, MOTW is not enabled.

[LTinker68]

Hmmm. I don't know if there's a way around the issue. I have seen that type of message when going to a banking site, for example, where only a portion of the site uses https (an iframe, I'm guessing) but the rest of the page doesn't. I don't know if that's still common since I tend to use Firefox except when I'm forced to use IE. And I don't know how many Flare users have their help hosted under https -- I don't recall it being discussed much before, so it's hard to say if it's a setting on the server or something in the actual Flare output that could be causing the problem. You might have to talk directly to MadCap Support.

[Alvaro Mancero]

Hello,



The security warning dialog box comes up when the help file is stored on a SSL server (secure https) and a setting in the Skin file is set to "none" (any setting, images, buttons, etc.) We are looking into this issue at the moment but for now the workaround is to set these settings back to default.


Cheers,

[greenannseth]

Thanks for the information.

However, Alvaro (and madcap), I'm not understanding the settings you are referring to. (I am using the Smoke skin.) Nor am I understanding what the "default" setting was/is.

Is this an example of one of these settings (set to "none")?
<Classes>
<StyleClass
Name="TOC">
<Properties>
<Property
Name="Icon">none</Property>
<Property
Name="Label">Table of Contents</Property>
</Properties>

Thanks,
amg

[pe_thiemann]

Hi there,
is there already a solution to this? Because it also occurs on our customers machine.

[Alvaro Mancero]

Hello,



Yes, that is the code that is causing the problem. The "Smoke" Skin is a customized Skin therefore, it does not have "default" settings. As a workaround, you can use a transparent image (instead of using "none") I have attached a custome transparent image for you to use.
Donwload the attached image and replace the "none" settings in your Skin with the image.



Cheers,

[greenannseth]

Thank you Alvaro and madcap. I've incorporated changes and now I am waiting for our next build of the software to test it out. I will post again when I get the results.
amg

[GinnyR]

THANK YOU!!!! Been struggling with this for months. Went through my custom skins, searched for any images set to "None," and changed them. Problem solved. No more security warnings with https. My client is now happy with our conversion from robohelp to flare.

[greenannseth]

YES! Thank you Alvaro and madcap! It works great!!!! I'm going to apply this to all my projects!

[pe_thiemann]

With Flare 5 this solution worked. With Flare 6 i am not so sure. Sometimes it workes, somestimes not. It is not predictable, after which generation the security warning will appear. Are there any other reasons, why this error message appears?
Thanks a lot in advace