MadCap Software Forums

This won't be a big deal for me until I begin publishing my docs online. Primarily because it is easy to fake a footnote in print but no so with the online pop-up footnote.

I was disappointed that the inability to use the same footnote number more than once per page or chapter is still not fixed so I contacted MadCap about this. Unfortunately, their response was even more bothersome. What I inferred from their response was that I might be the only one (or one of very few?) who has submitted a ticket for this issue. Therefore, it doesn't have enough priority.

What. Wait...

No one else is missing this capability? I don't believe I have ever had a technical writing job where this feature wasn't important.

If this issue is important to you, I urge you to fill out a feature request, here: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx

Original thread from bygone days: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19953&p=104340&hili ... es#p104340

Submitted:

"Allow a user to insert a footnote and then insert a link to that footnote in several places (a bit like having "* vegetarian option available" at the bottom of a menu with lots of items in the menu itself marked with *)."

sdcinvan wrote:I was disappointed that the inability to use the same footnote number more than once per page or chapter is still not fixed so I contacted MadCap about this. Unfortunately, their response was even more bothersome. What I inferred from their response was that I might be the only one (or one of very few?) who has submitted a ticket for this issue. Therefore, it doesn't have enough priority.

Well, I submitted a request already on 03 Dec 2010.

And I still want to have this possibility.
That is where Flare is for. To make the writing more intelligent.

DocuWil wrote:

sdcinvan wrote:I was disappointed that the inability to use the same footnote number more than once per page or chapter is still not fixed so I contacted MadCap about this. Unfortunately, their response was even more bothersome. What I inferred from their response was that I might be the only one (or one of very few?) who has submitted a ticket for this issue. Therefore, it doesn't have enough priority.

Well, I submitted a request already on 03 Dec 2010.

And I still want to have this possibility.
That is where Flare is for. To make the writing more intelligent.

I think what we all need to do is repeat feature requests until they happen. Maybe MadCap will finally add this useful ability just to shut us up.

I did it again scandivan.
I hope that others will follow us.

DocuWil wrote:I did it again scandivan.
I hope that others will follow us.

My feature request number is: 89127 (first submitted on Apr. 30, 2014). I also have another feature request number: 100278, submitted on March 30, 2015. Odd and frustrating to learn that I was the only one who had a problem like this. Huh? But I submitted this same issue a year ago!

This is especially frustrating when I am working with tables and need to reuse footnotes in multiple cells.

I will resubmit now.

How many others need this feature? The only other conversation I could find, in this forum, is: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=17006&p=110028#p110028

I certainly need it, primarily to get rid of a pageful of repreated footnotes in PDF.

Have submitted feature request.

BTW: How come you get a feature request number? I don't...

"Solved" my problem by using conditional text. First reference is normal; subsequent references to the same thing are "real" for WebOnly output, but fake for PrintOnly output.
Requires manual management, but does the trick... in my case, anyway.
-Niels

I just submitted my feature request to MadCap. Hopefully they can add this feature soon; the ability to repeat footnotes would save me so much time!

In the meantime, I am manually managing footnotes, since all of mine are table footnotes (which MadCap also doesn't automatically support), and often have repeated footnotes. I add the # and apply the superscript span. I then have a separate style for the footnote text, and I number the notes myself.

Thankfully, my guides are not footnote-heavy, or else maintaining footnotes would be a much bigger pain in the neck.

nielsf wrote:I certainly need it, primarily to get rid of a pageful of repreated footnotes in PDF.

Have submitted feature request.

BTW: How come you get a feature request number? I don't...

Sorry for the really slow response... you have to request the feature request number through support. Yes, too bad we do not automatically received this tracking number... but usually, if a feature request is completed in a future release, you should receive an automatic email specifically about the new feature.

In what is becoming an annual tradition, I have submitted a new feature request for 2016.

I am a bit miffed because I had to do a document update where I removed a footnote which then changed the footnote values and I forgot to manually update the "faked" footnote values... I released a document with the wrong footnotes. How annoying and embarrassing for me. It was my fault but it would not have occurred if Flare had this common and fundamental feature.

I was hoping this was resolved in Flare 12, with the enhanced cross-reference options. But I still can't make it work. Footnotes aren't a "style" per se, so it isn't available in the style list. I tried inserting a bookmark within the footnote and using {paranumonly} or {mc-footnote-number} as the Xref format, but it still doesn't "see" the footnote number. Anyone else had any luck with Flare 12 and making this work?
This is so frustrating and my specifications tables either look ridiculous with duplicated footnote text (up to 7 times) or I hard-code the superscript numbers (conditionalized as the footnote is a different number for different models) and run the risk of forgetting to update them if I add a footnote above.

Has there been any progress on "the inability to use the same footnote number more than once per page or chapter"? I don't see this as a minority requirement, especially when using long tables.