generating webhelp with v3 skin

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olgarev_tw
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generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by olgarev_tw »

Hi,
I'm thinking about using the v3 skin instead of the Webhelp Responsive skin, which I use now.

I work on several Agile projects, so I have to update the help files almost every day, changing 3-5 topics per day in each project. Each project contains up to 400 topics and up to 2000 files in total (including images). I publish the webhelp to my local PC first, test it and then copy the modified files to the web server.

When I publish the updated project with the old Webhelp Responsive skin, only modified topcs are updated in the Publish folder, so I can sort them by the file date (descending), and copy to the server only 20-30 modified files with the today's date. But when I publish the updated project with the new v3 skin, all the 400 html files are modified and have the same date in the Publish folder, and all 400 files in the jstopics folder also. So I have either to remember the names of all the topics that I have modified today, in all my projects, or to copy all html and js files to the server (it takes time). Is there any way to update only the modified topics in the Publish folder, so I will be able to use the v3 skin and still work in my usual way?
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Tim Green
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Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by Tim Green »

olgarev_tw wrote:When I publish the updated project with the old Webhelp Responsive skin, only modified topcs are updated in the Publish folder, so I can sort them by the file date (descending), and copy to the server only 20-30 modified files with the today's date.

That is a misunderstanding! Generally speaking, this is not something you should do with any skin, because you can very easily end up with errors and conflicts on your web server. For example, if there is a change in the HTML page template, ALL the topic files in the output will include the changes, but only the topics that you have edited will have new dates. Similarly, when there are changes in any topic files all the search index files will always change and must always be uploaded. Also, any changes in the table of contents can also propagate throughout the entire project in some ways.

You can change the setting for this in your project in Configuration > Publishing Options > WebHelp > HTML Export Options, with "Apply date/time stamp of topic to corresponding HTML file". In the V3 skins, however, this is set to disabled in the skin because it is even more important there to have all the matching files uploaded, and much more likely that mistakes will be made if they aren't. This setting in the skin overrides the setting in your project.

At your own risk, you can change the skin setting by editing the skin in Toolbox. Open the skin in Toolbox and select the HTML Options button. Then change the value of "Sync Topic Timestamps" from 0 to 1.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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olgarev_tw
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:07 am

Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by olgarev_tw »

Thank you for the quick reply! Certainly, I update the search files every time, they have today's date too. That's why when I modify only 3-5 help topics, I export 20-25 files to the server. And if I change the html page template (which I do rarely enough), I will update all the folder. I will try to switch the "Sync Topic Timestamps" and see, thanks a lot!
olgarev_tw
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:07 am

Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by olgarev_tw »

Just one more question - is there any way to publish js and images into the general Publish folder too, not into their separate images and jstopics folders?
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Tim Green
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Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by Tim Green »

olgarev_tw wrote:Just one more question - is there any way to publish js and images into the general Publish folder too, not into their separate images and jstopics folders?
No. That is also absolutely final. There are no tricks, workarounds or exceptions for this. It is an absolute requirement that cannot and will not be changed. Customers have been complaining for years that there are no sub-folders in WebHelp. Now we have implemented them and we are not going to change that again. Not ever. 8)
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olgarev_tw
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Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by olgarev_tw »

OK, thank you for explaining. May be this is for good and I will get used to it )
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Martin Wynne
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Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Tim Green wrote:No. That is also absolutely final. There are no tricks, workarounds or exceptions for this. It is an absolute requirement that cannot and will not be changed. Customers have been complaining for years that there are no sub-folders in WebHelp. Now we have implemented them and we are not going to change that again. Not ever. 8)
Hi Tim,

If I publish Webhelp without using a skin, everything is in a single flat output folder. Is that going to change?

It's important, because I have some external links to the images.

regards,

Martin.
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Tim Green
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Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by Tim Green »

Martin Wynne wrote:If I publish Webhelp without using a skin, everything is in a single flat output folder. Is that going to change?
No, this will continue to be skin-related. Only skin types that specifically set a folder structure (at present V3) will use one, otherwise it will be the standard flat file structure.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: generating webhelp with v3 skin

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Thanks Tim.

Martin.
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