repeated footnotes

[pdenchfield]

Flare 10, Windows 7

I need to point to the same footnote from multiple locations. For example, in the screenshot below, The L25e row needs to point to the same footnotes as in the L25 row above it.

No way to insert another pointer to the same footnote, so I’m reduced to “faking out Flare” by inserting numbers and applying a tag to make them superscript. This workaround presents a maintenance issue because if I insert other footnotes later, the numbering of all footnotes changes.

I submitted a bug. I'll update the forum when I hear back. In the meantime, if this issue is familiar to you, please share your tips and tricks. Thanks!

[techwriter31]

Yeah, this has been an annoyance for us too. We opted to go the route of displaying the footnote multiple times to reduce maintenance. But when sending PDFs out for review, reviewers always point this out and we just tell them it's a limitation of the software.

[pdenchfield]

Would an xref to the footnote work? Could there be an xref style that both reads the footnote identifier (such as 1 or a) and displays the xref as a hot link to the appropriate footnote?

I sent the above question to tech support. Will update this thread if/when I hear back.

[pdenchfield]

I have abandoned footnotes. Looking again at my requirements and low frequency of use, as well as table context, I am instead using xrefs to paragraphs in the table footer row. Each xref is formatted to be xref.footnote1 or xref.footnote2 (superscript pointer to "1" or "2"), and I add a space and comma between them (when needed) that are also tagged to be superscript.

[sdcinvan]

This is so annoying!

I am just baffled that such a basic requirement is not available in Flare (now in its 10th version).

This is an especially important requirement when working on legal documents that reference the same footnotes repeatedly. My gosh, this is a trivial matter in Adobe FrameMaker and *even* Microsoft Word (that is especially embarrassing).

This is like the whole lack of OTF font support all over again! Why isn't this a bigger issue?

[ChoccieMuffin]

Why is it not a bigger issue? Perhaps because only a sub-set of Flare users come across the problem because only that sub-set uses footnotes. I suggest you both (all?) put in a feature request and maybe, just maybe, it'll be dealt with in the next version. Meanwhile I'm very impressed with Pam's workaround though I do agree, it should be completely unnecessary.

[sdcinvan]

Why is it not a bigger issue? Perhaps because only a sub-set of Flare users come across the problem because only that sub-set uses footnotes. I suggest you both (all?) put in a feature request and maybe, just maybe, it'll be dealt with in the next version. Meanwhile I'm very impressed with Pam's workaround though I do agree, it should be completely unnecessary.

The work-around is perfectly acceptable for print versions but not for HTML output.

I have published by document and started my countdown when someone will ask why the 'duplicate' footnotes are not clickable.

[smajors]

Does anyone know if this is still an issue with footnotes?

I just came across this while working in a table, I have headings that are text pop-ups that I've choose to expand to footnotes in print output. However, it keeps numbering the footnote as 1 when it should go 1, 2, 3, etc. Is this a property I can change in the print stylesheet? I've tried changing the mc-footnote-number property to "page" and it still didn't change anything.

Flare table footnote number repeat.png

[sdcinvan]

Does anyone know if this is still an issue with footnotes?

I just came across this while working in a table, I have headings that are text pop-ups that I've choose to expand to footnotes in print output. However, it keeps numbering the footnote as 1 when it should go 1, 2, 3, etc. Is this a property I can change in the print stylesheet? I've tried changing the mc-footnote-number property to "page" and it still didn't change anything.

Flare table footnote number repeat.png

Sadly (and annoyingly) this is still an issue in v10.2.0.

Please raise this issue with MadCap, here: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx

I will do the same [again] after sending this message.

[smajors]

I have Flare V8 but am getting 10 soon so wasn't sure if another version made a difference. Thanks!

[sdcinvan]

Does anyone know if this is still an issue with footnotes?

Sent a feature request.

I explained that while the work-around is grudgingly acceptable for PDF output, web output is causing me problems. Because the 'fake' footnote values are inactive (i.e. no pop-up), I am now receiving messages from readers that are pointing out these inactive footnote numbers as web doc errors!

I requested that MadCap consider this a higher priority issue.

[sdcinvan]

I have Flare V8 but am getting 10 soon so wasn't sure if another version made a difference. Thanks!

You are welcome.

Are you aware of the work-around?

Basically... manually entering values using superscript. I don't know if there is a more clever way to accomplish this but if there is... either please share with me or if I find it, I'll be certain to share with you.

[smajors]

I'd rather not go through the work of a manual work around because the print output is only being used for SME reviews in meetings. The content is expected to be read as online help so footnotes aren't really necessary for the main purpose of this document.

I'll also put in a feature request.

[joy]

Same problem here. I managed to manually wrangle the numbers and spacing so that it looks okay in Flare, but now the target (HTML5) popups are inconsistently sized (either too small or too large) for the footnote text, and hyperlinks are disabled.

I'll also submit a feature request. This seems like it should be a pretty straightforward "feature".

[sdcinvan]

Same problem here. I managed to manually wrangle the numbers and spacing so that it looks okay in Flare, but now the target (HTML5) popups are inconsistently sized (either too small or too large) for the footnote text, and hyperlinks are disabled.

I'll also submit a feature request. This seems like it should be a pretty straightforward "feature".

Thanks for submitting a feature request. This is an embarrassing basic feature omission. I really hope this is corrected, in the next major release.

[techwriter31]

Another footnote bug I recently encountered is if using HTML5 and using the footnote feature in a table (rather than using cross-referencing or manual superscript workarounds), Chrome does not display the footnote number as superscript. Support has confirmed this is a bug.

[smajors]

@sdcinvan,

Do you know if Flare does mini releases/updates throughout the year to existing Flare versions, or do they wait to implement new updates and features in a totally new version? For example, if there is something minor that needs fixed in Flare v10, would they fix that and have a way for users to auto update Flare 10 with the updates, or would they wait until a Flare 11 came out to have anything fixed?

Thanks!

[sdcinvan]

@sdcinvan,

Do you know if Flare does mini releases/updates throughout the year to existing Flare versions, or do they wait to implement new updates and features in a totally new version? For example, if there is something minor that needs fixed in Flare v10, would they fix that and have a way for users to auto update Flare 10 with the updates, or would they wait until a Flare 11 came out to have anything fixed?

Thanks!

Hello and happy Friday!

There are minor releases throughout the 'version' year. For instance, for v10, they released four updates (two were actually patches). As expected with minor releases, they mostly fixed bugs.... but the release notes are quite long.

Flare's release notes are here:
http://kb.madcapsoftware.com/#Flare/Gen ... tes|_____1

With a year support contract, you are guaranteed, at least, one major release... Just past one year and the major release, from v9 to v10 was worth it.

Have a nice weekend.