Expand tooltip availability to include words

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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Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Expand tooltip availability to include words

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Right now, I know that commands and graphics can be fitted out with tooltips.

Could there be a way to select a word in the main body of a help file and give it a tooltip?

This would be an alternative to popups or links, and could be useful for needs such as definitions or (as in Wikipedia) explanatory graphics and text.
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Tim Green
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Re: Expand tooltip availability to include words

Unread post by Tim Green »

Could there be a way to select a word in the main body of a help file and give it a tooltip?
To create a simple tooltip you can use the hyperlink tool as follows:

1) Select the text you want to have active for the tooltip.
2) Select the hyperlink tool and choose "Script Link".
3) Make sure that the option "HTML JavaScript" is selected and then in the Script: box enter:

void(0)

The 0 in the brackets is a zero. This command just does nothing, to make the link dead.

4) Enter your tooltip text in the Tooltip: field. This will then be displayed when the user mousovers the text.
5) Choose the formatting option you want and click on OK to complete.

Tip:
If you are also going to publish to RTF or PDF you want this link to be invisible in those formats:

1) Choose the "Text" formatting option for the link. This will show it as plain text initially.
2) Create a text style for formatting the link in Styles > Edit Styles. Set the Screen View options to display the text highlighted the way you want and set the Print Manual View options to display it as plain text. The Print Manual View options will be used in PDF and RTF.
3) Format the link with the style created in Step 2.

In the H&M editor, you can switch between the Screen and Print style views with the Screen/Print toggle button in the status bar below the main editor window.

Alternatively, you can try inline text toggles instead:

https://helpandmanual.com/help/index.ht ... s_text.htm

They can have tooltips and they will also expand with local formatted text. So you could have a briefer tooltip and a more descriptive version that appears when the user clicks. And no, they won't accept mouseover because they are toggles, which are click only. :)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: Expand tooltip availability to include words

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Thanks!
Much to consider and try here. Very much appreciated.
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Martin Wynne
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Location: West of the Severn, UK

Re: Expand tooltip availability to include words

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Hi Dave,

A thing which appears to be a link, but which when clicked does nothing, I would find infuriating, and seeming to be an error.

How about an alert box instead? That appears as a message box when the link is clicked, with a close button on it.

Create the link as a script link as Tim suggested, but instead of adding a tooltip, insert only this in the script box:

Code: Select all

javascript:alert('Blue bananas are sold out.');
Change the text to whatever you want.

Note that it must be in single quotes - double quotes or no quotes won't work.

To start a new line in the text, use \n. To insert a blank line use \n\n:

Code: Select all

javascript:alert('Blue bananas\n\nare\nsold out.');
cheers,

Martin.
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: Expand tooltip availability to include words

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Martin, more fun to try. Thanks!

Between you and Time, my bosses are about to be dazzled...
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