Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Please post all questions on Help+Manual 8 here

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
Sean Godley
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:10 am

Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Sean Godley »

Hi all,

I'm having an issue where content looks fine in the manual when I am writing it, but after publishing to Webhelp there are layout issues. I have used the TAB key to make content even in the manual - and it looks perfect before publishing, but afterwards it is very wonky. Does anyone know how I can resolve this issue?

Many thanks,

Sean
John Johann
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:35 pm

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by John Johann »

Hi Sean,
I use styles with indenting for this sort of thing.
You can find info here:
https://www.helpandmanual.com/help/hm_r ... ndent.html
Horst_Reichert_PN
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:41 pm
Location: Landsberg, Germany
Contact:

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Horst_Reichert_PN »

Hi Sean,
I preffer to work with tables to get consistent layout in different output formats.

regards Horst
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Sean,

The problem here is that tab characters don't exist in HTML. The entire concept of tabs is foreign to HTML because of its fluid layout paradigm. Tabs will only work in PDF and Word; they are unknown in all other formats. Because of this, it's best to not use them at all, unless you are only exporting to PDF and Word. There is only one place in Help+Manual where a tab is universally OK, and that is between the left and right parts of a hanging indent. It is actually required there, and will be converted to HTML formatting automatically in HTML-based output.

Also don't use spaces instead for formatting, because that won't work in HTML either -- browsers simply truncate multiple spaces automatically.

Use tables for tabular data, but remember also that tables are fixed-width content like images, and unlike images you cannot make them responsive, so they will tend to break your layout on mobile devices.
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.
Sean Godley
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:10 am

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Sean Godley »

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the information. So let's say I want to reproduce something like the layout of this page:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... t-pictures

in Help and Manual. How am I meant to create the spaces in the tables without using the tab key, or entering spaces? I don't want to create a table for this purpose - I would like it to appear exactly as it does at the link above.

Many thanks,

Sean
Sean Godley
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:10 am

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Sean Godley »

John Johann wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 5:10 pm Hi Sean,
I use styles with indenting for this sort of thing.
You can find info here:
https://www.helpandmanual.com/help/hm_r ... ndent.html
Thanks for the input - I will take a look.
Sean Godley
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:10 am

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Sean Godley »

Horst_Reichert_PN wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 7:16 am Hi Sean,
I preffer to work with tables to get consistent layout in different output formats.

regards Horst
Thanks - I tried using tables but my manager wants the appearance to be exactly the same as, for example, on this page:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... t-pictures

Best regards,

Sean
Horst_Reichert_PN
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:41 pm
Location: Landsberg, Germany
Contact:

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Horst_Reichert_PN »

Sean Godley wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 11:24 am Thanks - I tried using tables but my manager wants the appearance to be exactly the same as, for example, on this page:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... t-pictures

Best regards,

Sean
Hy Sean,
this layout can be achived by a table with first column fixed size and second column flexible size taking the rest of the size width

regards Horst
Sean Godley
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:10 am

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Sean Godley »

Hi Horst - okay thanks, that sounds like it might work. Could you please explain where these settings are? I had a look in the properties etc but I could not find them.

Many thanks,

Sean
John Johann
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:35 pm

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by John Johann »

Hi Sean,
Put the cursor in a cell in the first column
In the Tables ribbon, click on Select column
In the Tables ribbon, click on Properties
Switch to the Selected cells tab
Select Preferred width and set it to what you need
Horst_Reichert_PN
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:41 pm
Location: Landsberg, Germany
Contact:

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Horst_Reichert_PN »

Sean Godley wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:02 pm Hi Horst - okay thanks, that sounds like it might work. Could you please explain where these settings are? I had a look in the properties etc but I could not find them.

Many thanks,

Sean
Hi Sean,
have a look at
https://www.helpandmanual.com/help/hm_w ... idths.html
it might not be easy to understand what absolute and relative column width work in respect to web output tables. But once you understand it is very powerful.

regards Horst
Sean Godley
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:10 am

Re: Formatting issue when publishing after using TAB

Unread post by Sean Godley »

Great - it's working now and looks awesome!

Thanks a million everyone,

Sean
Post Reply