Icons in navigation

[Jamie Bodley-Scott]

In HTML help I would like to use some of my own icons for chapters and topics.
In your help I found..........." Only supports the icons displayed in the Change Icon list. These are an old set of icons dating from Windows 98 that are still hard-wired into the Microsoft HTML Help CHM viewer".
If I am not using CHM is it possible to add some icons to the 'change icon' list? If so where should I place them and what format/size should they be?

Loving H&M - it is a great tool
Thanks.

[Tim Green]

Hi James,

If I am not using CHM is it possible to add some icons to the 'change icon' list? If so where should I place them and what format/size should they be?

When you publish to WebHelp Help & Manual actually already uses an updated icon set of its own that is a little nicer than the outdated CHM icons. These are the icons that are actually shown in the Help & Manual interface, which you can select with the right-click Icon option in the table of contents.

There are two ways that you can use your own iconds for WebHelp and EWriter eBooks (which are WebHelp packaged with an integrated viewer): The official way and the unofficial way.

The official way is to configure a set of three icons (Open Chapter, Closed Chapter and Topic). You do this in Configuration > Publishing Options > WebHelp > Navigation -- in the project if you are not using a skin and in the .hmskin skin file if you are using one. (You can edit skins just like normal projects and everything can be found in the same place as in a normal project.

That only gives you a set of three standard icons for everything, however. Any custom icons you set in your TOC will be overwritten by these three. If you want more variation, you need to choose the custom icons in the TOC and replace them in the output with your own. To do this, first select custom icons for all the topics where you want to use them and publish to WebHelp.

Look in the WebHelp output folder and locate all the PNG files with the name "cicon" followed by an individual code. Make copies of those and produce your own PNG icons with the same characteristics and dimensions, using exactly the same "cicon" names as the originals. If you want the +/- parts those must be included in the icon file with alpha transparency.

Then select the Project Files > Baggage Files section of the project (if you are not using a skin) or the skin (if you are). Add all your custom files to the Baggage with the Add File option in Project > Manage Topics. When you publish, everything in the Baggage is exported last. This makes it possible for you to replace anything in the output with your own version of it -- and that is what will then happen with your custom cicon icons.

[Jamie Bodley-Scott]

close.png

open.png

top.png

Tim
I had a go at the first route.......with the 3 attached.
All 16x16 pngs.
But none appeared at all when I published. Only the text and all left justified.

[Tim Green]

Hi Jamie,

I had a go at the first route.......with the 3 attached.
All 16x16 pngs.
But none appeared at all when I published. Only the text and all left justified.

Did you do it in your project or in the skin? If you did it in the project and published with a skin it won't work.

[Jamie Bodley-Scott]

Tim
I used the UI in the Skin to add the 3 pngs.

[Tim Green]

Hi Jamie,

I used the UI in the Skin to add the 3 pngs.

I know this may be a silly question, but did you also select the edited version of the skin when you published? Make sure that you are not still using the default copy (that isn't editable) in the Help & Manual program folder.

Also: Add the icon files to Project Files > Baggage Files in the skin to make sure that they are always available and can be found.

[Jamie Bodley-Scott]

Failure to put them in the baggage files.
Still learning...........
Thanks.