Landing page or home page

Please post all questions relating to Help & Manual 6 here!

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
Kathleen Laughlin
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:47 pm
Location: Cary, NC USA

Landing page or home page

Unread post by Kathleen Laughlin »

Okay, I'm trying to set up a new project. I haven't done this before because I inherited an existing project and that has until recently been my only experience with H&M.

Sometimes when I publish the new CHM file, the project opens on a page that says "This page can't be displayed. Make sure the web address //ieframe.dll/dnserrordiagoff.htm# is correct."

So I have no idea how to set the landing or home page, and I certainly never created a path with this URL. I have searched and searched the H&M Help files, but find nothing for defining the landing page when the CHM file opens. This is also the error message that displays when I click the link for Top.

I need to send a sample of this project to a customer. The project looks fine once you select one of the pages from the TOC, but I can't send it with the wrong page displaying when the user opens the CHM file. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Kathleen,

Before doing anything else, please make sure you are using the current version of the program, which you can check with Help > About. The current version of HM6 is 6.5.2 Build 3002. You can download the installer here (just install on top of your current version to update if you are using an older version):

http://www.helpandmanual.com/downloads.html

Then check which topic is set as the default topic. This is configured in Project Explorer (on the left) > Configuration > Common Properties > Language Settings. If there is an old reference to a topic that no longer exists there you will get an error.

However, this error almost certainly won't happen with your customer. Try double-clicking on the CHM file to open it to see how they will see it and you will probably find that it opens normally. What is happening when you test is that Help & Manual is opening the CHM automatically at the topic you are currently editing directly after publishing, and if that is invalid in the output version you will get an error. Older versions of Help & Manual sometimes sent something incomprehensible if a topic was not selected (that is why I asked you to update).

Important: If you are going to send the CHM to someone by mail warn them that it may be blocked initially when they open it. Windows knows when a file has been mailed and it blocks mailed CHMs. If this happens, the user needs to right-click on the file in Windows Explorer, select Properties and then select "Unblock" at the bottom of the dialog displayed.

This won't happen when a CHM is installed as part of your installation procedure. Another way to prevent it is to mail the CHM in a zip, but that only works if the zip is unpacked by a third-party program and not by Windows Explorer. Also, some email servers look inside zips and block the attachment if they contain CHM files, just as they do with EXE files.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Kathleen Laughlin
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:47 pm
Location: Cary, NC USA

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Kathleen Laughlin »

Thank you so much, Tim. This worked, though I must say, I never would have thought to look under Language Settings for this!
Also, thank you for the information about mailing the CHM file, which is what I will probably do. I need to impress this guy, so your tip is appreciated.
Kathleen Laughlin
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:47 pm
Location: Cary, NC USA

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Kathleen Laughlin »

One more related question. I created a page template that includes a logo that displays at the top of every page. Right now the path to this logo is:
<td><img src="file:///C:\Fusion FX Help\Images\logos\Fusion Logo.gif" alt="2020 Fusion logo" width="150" align="right"></td>

Is there a way to send this graphic with the CHM file?

By the way, Microsoft would not even show the CHM attachment. I had to test it by placing it on a shared server, which a coworker opened from there. He did not see the logo.
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Kathleen,

Instead of putting your logo externally, include it directly in the CHM. Also, the space in the logo name makes it invalid in HTML, so most servers and browsers (and the CHM viewer is a browser really) will not be able to display it.
  1. Change the name of the logo to remove the space. Also never use any accented characters, special characters or any other non-alphanumeric characters in file names used in HTML.
  2. Add the logo file to the Baggage Files section of your skin. Select Project Files > Baggage Files > Baggage in the Project Explorer on the left, then select Add File in the Project > Manage Topics tab and add the logo file.
  3. Edit the template with the logo reference and change it to just the name of the logo file, exactly as it is in the file name (including upper and lower case). Since the file is accessed locally within the CHM you don't need a path or http:// or anything like that. Just the file name.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Kathleen Laughlin
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:47 pm
Location: Cary, NC USA

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Kathleen Laughlin »

Does this mean I need to select a skin, because I have not and the image is not showing now.
Kathleen Laughlin
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:47 pm
Location: Cary, NC USA

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Kathleen Laughlin »

Never mind, I figured it out!
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Landing page or home page

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Kathleen,

If you're using a skin (generally this is a better option) you need to do the editing in the skin. If you're not, then in your project. :)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Post Reply