Page number links in print version

Nothing is perfect! This is where you can post your ideas and wishes for functions you'd like to see in Help & Manual. Current version only please (H&M7).

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Shaun Humphreys
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Page number links in print version

Unread post by Shaun Humphreys »

It would be great it H&M had an option when inserting a link to include a page number link in the printed manual. eg:
[ ] Include page number link?

The resulting link in the print manual would look something like this:

"For more information see the section on exiting the program (page 36)."

In HTML help:

"For more information see the section on exiting the program."

Just an idea :)
SH
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Yes yes yes! Please! Me too! :P
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Anton Santa
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Unread post by Anton Santa »

Me too!

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Anton Santa
AJM
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Me too!

Unread post by AJM »

This really is necessary if we are going to have manuals that look and read like manuals, not just printed-out help topics.

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Olivier Beltrami
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Unread post by Olivier Beltrami »

I agree for the need ... but how to implement it ? Not technically (that is not my problem ;-) but conceptually ? I have perhaps 10-20 hot-links per topic. Do I really want all of these to have an extra (p.30) appended ? This could really break the flow.

Another solution would be footnotes. This would not break the flow.
Olivier Beltrami
https://www.qppstudio.net
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AJM
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Unread post by AJM »

If it is an option, then you would not need to select it for every link.

I envision this as an option in the Topic Link window. For example, there could be a check box to select Display page link in Word/PDF, and the link would look like this:

See "Introduction" on page 1

where the author could edit the text part (see...on page), and perhaps fiddle with the fields also (as in FrameMaker).

Also, it would be nice to simply remove the underlining from text links in the Word/PDF version.
TomHenehan
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Unread post by TomHenehan »

Me too, too.

Some of my documentation will always be used primarily in printed form, and any feature that enhances the printed version of an HM3 file is more than welcome. It's especially intriguing to consider features that could generate different text (no matter how slight the difference) in the online and printed versions of a common source.

Maintaining that common source is important, too, as so is online/on-screen access to the same material that also appears in print -- hence our interest in H&M.

Why do we think we still need printed manuals in the 21st century?

Our company offers a number of software products linking handheld computers operated off-site to office-based PC "host systems." The office personnel working on PCs, obviously, have access to online Help, but the drivers operating the handheld units need instructional/reference materials, too. The drivers have no access to a PC screen on the truck during the day, when they would need a problem solved or a question answered, and the obvious solution for them is a good old-fashioned user manual.
Tom Henehan
CompuVend, Inc.
Makers of DEX Buzz Box®
3322 Hessmer Avenue, Suite 201
Metairie, LA 70002
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Olivier Beltrami
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Unread post by Olivier Beltrami »

My user's manual (thanks to HM3) comes in CHM and PDF (over 700 pages). The first thing my users want to do when they get my doc is to print it out.
Olivier Beltrami
https://www.qppstudio.net
Worldwide Public Holidays and Calendar Data
Wiebe Vos
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Page number links in print version

Unread post by Wiebe Vos »

Excellent idea.
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Alexander Halser
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Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Excellent idea.
This is meanhwile implemented in version 3.2
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
Wiebe Vos
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Page number links in print version

Unread post by Wiebe Vos »

Thanks Alexander.
How does it work? (We do not mean page referers)
We're using build 3.20.702.
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Alexander Halser
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Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Just opt in to include page referrers in the manual.

For the print manual, this option is in the print dialog box,
for PDF export, this option is in Project|Properties -> PDF.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
Wiebe Vos
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Page number links in print version

Unread post by Wiebe Vos »

Sorry, we mean the following:
We want (only in the printed manual) on a certain place in the help "text"
refer (via the appropriate pagenumber) to another place in the text.
John Smith
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Unread post by John Smith »

That works.

Instead of using the RTF format use the PDF format, with 'Similar to a Printed Manual' and 'Insert Page Referrers' turned on.

Not to sure of the format, of the page referrer. It looks good, but is quite small.

I would like it to say 'on page **' as suggested by others in this thread, and be the same size as my font, . At the moment the graphical representation of the page is the same size as the font, but of course the page number is then smaller.

I intend to leave the page referrers in my interactive PDF, so if a customer wishes to use it online or print it out, it works for both.
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