Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

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Marco Haber
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Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:34 pm

Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Marco Haber »

I am using one of the Premium Pack WebHelp skins (SlateGrey to be precise), and I would like to control the amount of characters that can populate the Title tab that appears at the top of the content window (next to the tabs menu) when you load a topic. When most of the topics in my system load, the topic title (or, at least, a good portion of it) will display in the topic tab. Evidently, there is a character threshold however, and if the title contains too many characters without a space break, the tab will populate with an ellipsis (...). I would like to change the skin settings so that this does not happen. In other words, even if I load a topic with a longer name (without space breaks), I want at least a portion of the letters in the name to display. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
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John Waller
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Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by John Waller »

Have you updated to the latest version of the Premium Pack skins?

Currently 2.02: http://helpman.it-authoring.com/viewtop ... =5&t=11894

The algorithm for smarter truncation of topic titles was tweaked in 2.01
http://helpman.it-authoring.com/viewtop ... =5&t=11806

Don't know if it fixes your specific scenario though. If not, can you provide specific examples of where it's not working for you?

"Topic title shortening in tabs
Topic titles need to be shortened in tabs to prevent the tabs from being too wide. The shortening algorithm has now been updated so that the titles are only shortened at word boundaries. If more than 5 characters must be added to the maximum title length for tabs the title will be shortened at the previous word. In addition to this, the titles in the drop-down tab menu at the left of the tab menu bar can now be up to 60 characters long."
Regards

John Waller
v.6.2.2 Build 2636
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Tim Green
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Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Marco,
In other words, even if I load a topic with a longer name (without space breaks), I want at least a portion of the letters in the name to display.
Sorry, but the answer to that is a definite no. After much discussion and many complaints about truncation in the middle of a word it has been set up to truncate at word boundaries and that is how it is going to stay. I think it would be counterproductive to have yet another option for something as minor as this. 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Paul Elbertse
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Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2004 12:44 pm

Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Paul Elbertse »

Hi,

H&M version:
Premium pack version 2.02
Output: Webhelp

If a toc entry contains 16 characters (in 1 word), the entry is not shown in the tab, it only shows three dots (...).
See screenshots.

Up until 15 characters, at least the first word is shown, which is ok for me.

Can you have a look at it.

Thanks,
Paul
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Tim Green
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Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Paul,
If a toc entry contains 16 characters (in 1 word), the entry is not shown in the tab, it only shows three dots (...).
That's odd... I'll check it and fix it for the next update. Thanks for reporting this! :)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Marco Haber
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Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:34 pm

Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Marco Haber »

Indeed, my question had to do with the same issue that Paul is having. The first word in one of my topics exceeds 15 characters, and therefore, the topic tab displays three dots, and consequently, is rendered useless as an identifier. A workaround or future fix would be great. Thanks for all the responses.
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Tim Green
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Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Marco,

It's a simple logic bomb in the shortening algorithm. The fix will come in then next update. This will also include the ability to open up to 5 specified topics in tabs automatically on startup and to save the user's open tabs and reopen them (also up to a maximum of 5) the next time they return to the help. Smartphone skins will have the option to open at the TOC instead of the first topic, and to preload topics when they are selected in the TOC for faster switching to the topic (at the moment they are only loaded when you switch from the TOC to the topic, which saves bandwidth but can be a little sluggish).
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Marco Haber
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Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:34 pm

Re: Topic tabs with Premium Pack WebHelp Skin

Unread post by Marco Haber »

Thanks Tim. Looking forward to the update.
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