Feature request: When content is selected, go to that point

[chuck_aruba]

Never mind that to get to code view of a topic is the entirely unintuitive "Send this file to the test editor" (the way Dreamweaver handles design, code, and split views should be your model), currently, when you select any content in design view and go to the code window, you're sent to the top of the file. Worse. what's selected isn't highlighted. (But for some reason, a portion of the XML declaration at the beginning of the file is.)

The way it should work: Highlight text in design view, go to code view, the code goes to that point and keeps the same content highlighted (so it's easy to find).

I'm sure many (most?) would consider this to be a feature request, but I actually see this as a usability bug. I think what I'm asking for better fits the user's mental model of what they'd expect to happen in this situation. Any MadCap'ers (Mike, do you read these forums?) care to respond?

[JohnB]

I agree, it's a major usability issue for me. RoboHelp has long supported this functionality, and why not.

[Nita Beck]

Hey Chuck! Welcome to the forums.

Yep, I used to appreciate the feature you describe in RoboHelp!

To put in a feature request, please use MadCap's request form at https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx. That is the official mechanism, and the more people who request the same enhancement, the better chance MadCap will act.

[SteveS]

... Any MadCap'ers (Mike, do you read these forums?) care to respond?

This is a user's forum and as such Madcap staff don't always respond to topics. Unlike many users forums sponsored by an organisation, however, madcap staff do visit the pages and make the odd contribution.

[chuck_aruba]

... Any MadCap'ers (Mike, do you read these forums?) care to respond?

This is a user's forum and as such Madcap staff don't always respond to topics. Unlike many users forums sponsored by an organisation, however, madcap staff do visit the pages and make the odd contribution.

As we've learned recently, if a company that provides forums such as these don't read them and don't participate on them, they risk others being defined as authorities on their products. The "odd contribution" is not a good approach for customer engagement and satisfaction. And the doc team especially should be leading the effort and making engagement here a significant part of their content strategy.

[RamonS]

Chuck, if you need direct responses contact MadCap support. This forum is for peer-to-peer support. Companies like Adobe and Corel host the same style of peer to peer boards and monitor them, mainly to delete any critical comments. At least that is how they 'ran' those boards in the past. The folks that hang out here try very hard to help a fellow tech writer and there are bazillion of cases where this happened. For an official response from the company you need to use the more applicable channels. As far as authorities on Flare are concerned, there are plenty of MVP and non-MVP board regulars who help out on a daily basis and who could easily take on an 'official' support job with MadCap. There is nothing wrong with having others be as savvy and helpful as the official support. What we cannot do is fix the code for you and cut you a new build, but neither can support. As far as the "odd" contribution goes, support monitors and reads the posts, but they do not post a reply for most of them unless they can help out right away with a tip. And in most cases Steve, Lisa, Inge, Dave, and plenty others have the right answer available. They do that to be nice and to help others. These folks are the ones who rightfully could care less of your problem, but they suggested an approach anyway.
If you think this is a feature request, use the link provided above. If you think this is broken and a product defect then report it as a bug here: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/Submit.aspx. Feel free to report in both places if you are unsure. In some cases a missing feature can be considered a bug, in fact, anything that negatively impacts the user experience is a bug in my book. Many of these reports got rolled into update builds that come out several times a year.