"mailto:" form not compiling in Flare 10

[Paul Griffiths]

I wonder if anyone else has had this problem?

We currently use a simple form with a mailto action to allow users to email us comments about the WebHelp.

To ensure the form is available from every topic it's included in the WebHelp's master page (although hidden until needed).

It's not an elegant solution but it (mostly) works.

Until we upgraded from Flare 9 to Flare 10.

Now the WebHelp won't build. As soon as Flare 10 tries to apply the master page to the first topic, the build fails with the infamous "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error. I've traced the problem back to the form element, which (as I say) worked fine in Flare 9.

Any suggestions?

[NorthEast]

I don't think Flare has a problem with forms in general, provided it's valid XHTML (not HTML), and mailto will work as a form action.

I guess it probably depends on the code in your form - perhaps try and isolate exactly what part of the form is causing the build error, and contact MadCap support.

[Paul Griffiths]

UPDATE

Finally got around to isolating this.

The form element works fine when directly present in a topic.

An identical form element causes a compile error if it is included in a topic via a snippet.

Seems like a bug to me.

[phriend_o_phlair]

Hey Paul - I was wondering about this very thing. Pulse is not an option for us, but I would like to gather feedback. I was planning on using Google analytics and some sort of a feedback mechanism. Here's a little sample of two skins I've been working on:

feedback.png

I've been pondering the value/potential in:

• Including a dedicated "feedback topic" which contains a form and is linked from a button in the toolbar.
• Concocting some sort of feedback button/hyperlink that is embedded in each topic that will pull up a new email, but somehow reference the topic as well.

What are your thoughts? Has this worked for you? Are you able to share the help where you've implemented this?

Thanks!