TOC doesn't expand after being published

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rdietzhdms
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:56 pm

TOC doesn't expand after being published

Unread post by rdietzhdms »

I have a project with several topics/sub-topics/sub-sub-topics.

Everything was working fine, and then i published the project a few days ago and now clicking on the topics does not cause them to expand to see the sub-topics. Is this a setting that i inadvertently changed? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
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Tim Green
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Re: TOC doesn't expand after being published

Unread post by Tim Green »

This is normal if you try to open WebHelp locally on your computer without a web server. As its name indicates, WebHelp is for the Web, and must be on a web server to work correctly. Modern browsers will block communication between the components of complex pages like this when they do not have the protection of a web server because scripts in the page would then be able to use the same type of communication to access your local file system, which would be a massive security vulnerability. Once your WebHelp is loaded to your web server on your intranet or the Internet and accessed via a normal http URL with your web browser you will not have this problem.

You can test locally automatically by activating the checkbox in the Publish screen to open the WebHelp after being generated by Help+Manual. As long as Help+Manual is still running, you can also test in other browsers by copying the URL from the Address: field of your default browser and pasting into the Address: field of the other browser. Then it will work, because that uses the address of the mini web server that Help+Manual uses to open WebHelp automatically.

If you need locally-installed documentation without a web server you need to use a different format. If the documentation is going to be installed on a Windows computer you can use Help+Manual's eWriter format, which is WebHelp packaged in a single file with its own standalone viewer. You can use all the same formatting, appearance and layout skins as in WebHelp, but for local use. The restriction is that it must be on Windows since the eViewer is a Windows application. See here for details:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/help/inde ... writer.htm
https://www.helpandmanual.com/help/hm_w ... s_exe.html

Alternatively, you can use the new V3 and V4 Responsive skins from the Premium Pack add-on. These use new technologies that allow local use without a web server in all browsers. See here for details:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/products_hm_pluspack.html

Finally, you could also use a local web server and integrate it in your help system. There are a number of free mini web servers available with which this is possible, and they also make it possible to display Webhelp locally. Help+Manual's own mini web server is called HM2Go, and you can also integrate it in your WebHelp to be able to deliver it locally without a fully configured server environment. It is a single file less than 2MB in size. You can include this server with your own products and documentation free of charge and it even works on optical media like CDs and DVDs. See here for details:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/help/hm_w ... hm2go.html
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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