How do I link a topic to another one?

[Tansy]

I forgot how to do this and can't find it in the Help. I need one and the same topic to have different titles in different builds. I have two sets of topics with identical content, so when I change the content of a topic it changes in its counterpart as well. How do I add a new chapter in the same way? (and I don't want to use snippets). Please help!

[Tim Green]

Without snippets -- bad solution
With this method the topic title will only be different in the TOC and you will also have navigation problems (Previous and Next in WebHelp and CHM won't work correctly). Create a new topic but instead of entering a new topic ID enter the ID of the topic you want to "duplicate". HM will ask you if you want a separate TOC entry for the existing topic. Then you can have different titles in the TOC for each TOC entry and you can use build options to decide which one to use.

With snippets -- good solution
With this solution you can have different titles for both the TOC and the topic header and each topic will have its own unique ID. Create a new topic with its own ID. Insert the original topic as a linked snippet. Use build options to decide which copy will be used.

[Tansy]

Thank you Tim. I think I used yet another way earlier? My chapters have the same ID and I can edit the text in either topic - in the original topic or the duplicate one. And both the TOC and the topic header of the duplicate are the same (and different from the original topic header).

When I use a linked snippet, the snippet text is not editable, right? And in my previously created topics it IS editable.

And I think I originally created a new topic for the duplicate, and what I did next I do not remember. Does it make any sense?

[Tim Green]

I think I used yet another way earlier? My chapters have the same ID and I can edit the text in either topic - in the original topic or the duplicate one.

Then you are using the first method. You can edit everything in both but everything you edit in the topic itself or the header will change automatically in both. This is because it is not two topics, it is the same topic in both instances. There are just two TOC entries pointing to the same topic.

You can change the text in the TOC entries and make them different, because those are two, but everything in the topic itself will always be the same. It is like two doors to the same room: If you enter through door A and move a chair in the room, and then go out and go back in through door B, the chair will still be moved because it is the same room.