Unable to share html published output

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betsyparmerter
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Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:53 pm

Unable to share html published output

Unread post by betsyparmerter »

I have successfully created a H+M help project that works great when I launch the published index.html output locally. However, when I try to share the output on our company Intranet, the index.html page looks scrambled and essentially blank.

What could be going wrong here?

Betsy
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Tim Green
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Re: Unable to share html published output

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Betsy,

Are you sharing it on the intranet with a web server or are your users just opening the HTML file by double-clicking on it? You can tell by looking in the address bar in the browser: If the address starts with file:// instead of http:// or https:// then you are not on a web server. A web server is needed for WebHelp to work properly, because current browsers will block many features on complex pages like WebHelp without it.

If you are on a web server other possibilities are that you didn't upload all the files from your output folder to your web server, or that your browsers have restrictions on JavaScript and CSS that could be causing the problems.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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betsyparmerter
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:53 pm

Re: Unable to share html published output

Unread post by betsyparmerter »

Thank you for the suggestions. I will double-check with our IT team and let you know.
betsyparmerter
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:53 pm

Re: Unable to share html published output

Unread post by betsyparmerter »

The link I am trying to share with our workteam for internal review and comment does have an http:// address. Here it is.
http://127.0.0.1/C:/Users/betsyp/OneDri ... index.html

Does this help with the troubleshooting? Am I able to share from the cloud? or maybe the cloud isn't a web server.

Betsy
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Tim Green
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Re: Unable to share html published output

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Betsy,

That is just the local web server that Help+Manual uses for testing directly after publishing. It will only work on your computer directly after publishing, nowhere else. To share with your other users you will need to copy the contents of your WebHelp output folder to your own web server, either on your local intranet or on the Internet, depending how you are set up.

If you don't know how to do this you should contact the IT person in your company, who will know how to handle it. :)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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betsyparmerter
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:53 pm

Re: Unable to share html published output

Unread post by betsyparmerter »

Is the output folder for the WebHelp only the HTML folder? I am not seeing a folder that is named "Output."
Also, does the WebHelp generally work on a SharePoint site that uses URL page addresses?

Betsy
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Tim Green
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Re: Unable to share html published output

Unread post by Tim Green »

betsyparmerter wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 3:59 pm Is the output folder for the WebHelp only the HTML folder? I am not seeing a folder that is named "Output."

The output folder is wherever you choose that your output is going to go. It is not specified by Help+Manual. It will have whatever name the folder you choose on your computer has. That is completely up to you. It should be an empty folder initially, and when you publish to the same folder again you should choose the option to delete its contents before publishing so that you always get a fresh updated version.

output_folder.png
Also, does the WebHelp generally work on a SharePoint site that uses URL page addresses?
You need to check this with your IT person responsible for managing your SharePoint site. Generally, WebHelp needs to be on a proper web server with full support for HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript according to current web standards. If SharePoint can provide that functionality without interfering, then it will work.
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Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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