Increase the font size of the Search box entry field?

[beagley]

I'm sure this is in the Styles of the Skin editor, SOMEWHERE, but I can't find it.

How do I increase the font of the search box... where people type search strings, in the Search accordian item of WebHelp?

Right now it is so small I can barely see what I'm typing when I search.

-d

p.s.
Sorry if this is a dup. MadCap Forums don't like the words "search" or "font"...

[i-tietz]

I don't see how that would work. You can change the stylesheet, but the file toolbar.htm still has inline formatting for that (first red marker):

toolbar_sourcecode.gif

Inline formatting has the higher priority ...

I already complained about that because I would prefer a different height (other red marker) and that doesn't work via stylesheet but only via inserting images with a height beyond 28px. ACTUALLY the styles I apply should work ...

By the way - the styles without effect are available under:

toolbar_styles.gif

[LTinker68]

I already complained about that because I would prefer a different height (other red marker) and that doesn't work via stylesheet but only via inserting images with a height beyond 28px. ACTUALLY the styles I apply should work ...

You can set the toolbar height via the Styles tab of the Skin Editor.

As for the search field -- you do have to modify the Search.htm file in the output (under the Skin folder). What I usually do with after-build mods is make a copy of the files I want to modify and save them into another root-level folder in the project. (In other words, a folder called afterBuildMods that's at the same root level as Content, Output, and Project.) I then modify those files as I want, and every time I build the output, I copy those files back into the output folder to overwrite the ones generated in the build. A PITA, true, but at least it's a workable solution. In your case, make a copy of the Search.htm file, open it up in Notepad, scroll down until you find the style that's controlling the fonts, make the change, save the (modified) file, then copy that file back over the one in the output folder.

Unfortunately, every time you build the output you'll have to overwrite that file. Or if you're really gutsy, you can make the modification to the same file in the Flare installation folder, but doing so means it will filter down through all projects, not just that one.

And of course, make sure you submit a feature request at http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx.

[i-tietz]

Unfortunately, every time you build the output you'll have to overwrite that file. Or if you're really gutsy, you can make the modification to the same file in the Flare installation folder, but doing so means it will filter down through all projects, not just that one.

mmhh ...
1. Whenever I edit toolbar.htm in the Flare folder I cannot build a help ... are you trying to tell me, that search.htm is different? Or do I get those problems because I compile HTML Help?
2. I think it's important to mention: Changing stuff in the Output folder does NOT work for HTML Help!

[LTinker68]

1. Whenever I edit toolbar.htm in the Flare folder I cannot build a help ...

The toolbar setting in the skin is for the WebHelp toolbar. If you enable the option to include the WebHelp toolbar in your HTML Help output then you can control the height of the WebHelp toolbar through the skin. I'm not sure if there's a way to modify the HTML Help toolbar height. Maybe Pete or Dave or one of the other HTML Help gurus knows of a way to modify it for HTML Help output.

are you trying to tell me, that search.htm is different? Or do I get those problems because I compile HTML Help?

Again, search.htm is used by WebHelp output (which is the forum we're in and I assume what the original poster was referring to). As you mentioned, it does nothing for HTML Help output. Again, not sure if there's a way to modify the search field for HTML Help output.

[beagley]

Hi guys,
I think you're all talking about the Quicksearch box in the toolbar.

I need to change the font of the Search box, not the Quicksearch box. I mean the one in the Search panel? It appears when you click on the Search accordian button in Web Help and you use it to search the entire project. Maybe it is the skin I started off with or something, but it looks like 8pt font to me.

I don't know which file to edit and can't find it in the skin's styles.

-d

p.s.
Quicksearch only searches within the currently active topic, right? I never include it in my toolbar. I can't imagine a user who would find it useful... my topics are never more than a couple of windows long and I figure the nerd types all know ctrl-F anyway....

[LTinker68]

When I mentioned modifying the Search.htm file in the output, I was referring to your issue of modifying the font size of the input field in the Search pane. The font size of the Quick Search I believe can be set via the skin directly, although I never include that field in my toolbar, so I'm not positive. (Like you, I think it creates too much confusion having it in the output.)

So for your issue you'll need to modify the Search.htm file every time you do a build.

[i-tietz]

Quicksearch only searches within the currently active topic, right? I never include it in my toolbar. I can't imagine a user who would find it useful... my topics are never more than a couple of windows long and I figure the nerd types all know ctrl-F anyway...

Thinking about it... you're right - it doesn't make sense with WebHelp ... lucky You!
In HTML Help it's useful if you have dropdowns. QuickSearch finds the string in the topic, opens the dropdown if the string is inside it and marks the string ... useful.

[beagley]

This one was a breeze!

For anyone hunting for this later, I compiled and then edited Output\PROJECTNAME\Skin\Search.htm.

Here's the part I edited:

Code: Select all

            <table id="SearchFormTable">
                <tr>
                    <td style="padding-right: 10px;">
                        <input name="searchField" title="Search text box" style="font-size: 14px; width: 100%;" type="text" />
                    </td>
                    <td style="width: 70px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;">
                        <input id="SearchButton" type="button" value="Search" onclick="StartSearch( false, null, null );" />
                    </td>
                </tr>
            </table>

I set my Search text box style to 14px font. The default was 10px, which (for my browser and screen resolutions, etc.) was way too small.

-d