Inserting Related Topics Links

There are a couple of methods to use for inserting related topics links. You can use the "drag-and-drop" method or the "Insert ribbon" method.

How to Insert a Related Topics Link Using Drag-and-Drop

  1. Open the content file.
  2. You can drag files from the Content Explorer or File List window pane:
    • Content Explorer If you are using the Content Explorer, click the Show Files button Click to show or hide files within a folder.. The Content Explorer splits into two halves. Then on the left half of the Content Explorer, locate and select the folder containing the topics to be included in the related topics link.
    • File List Window Pane If you want to choose files from the File List window pane, make sure you float and position it (see Customizing the Workspace) so that you can see both the File List window pane and XML Editor.
  3. In the File List window pane or on the right half of the Content Explorer, select the topics to be included in the link. You can hold down the CTRL or SHIFT key and click the topic file names to select individual topics or a range of topics.
  4. Drag the selected files to the appropriate location in the topic in the XML Editor. As you drag the files, a colored vertical bar shows you where the link will be inserted when you release mouse button.
  5. Release the mouse button. The Insert Related Topics Control dialog opens. The folders and topic files available in the project are shown on the left. The files that you selected are automatically added to the section on the right.

  6. (Optional) You can customize the related topics link in any of the following ways.

    Bookmark

    If you want a link to point to a particular bookmark within a topic, do the following.

    1. In the Selected Topics area on the right of the dialog, click on the relevant topic.
    2. At the bottom of the dialog click .

    3. In the Select Bookmark dialog, click on a heading or bookmark within the topic. If you select a heading, a bookmark will be created at that spot in the topic.

      Note If you want to remove a bookmark from the link, you can select the bookmark in this dialog and click . This removes the bookmark from the link only; it does not remove the bookmark from the destination topic.

    4. Click OK.

    Style Class

    If you want to select the style class (see Styles and Stylesheets) to be used for the control, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .
    2. In the dialog, click on the style class you want to use. The main style is "MadCap:relatedTopics," but if you create a class under that style in your stylesheet, it will be available for selection as well.
    3. Click OK.

    Label 

    If you want to change the text shown on the control, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .
    2. In the dialog, enter text in the Label field.
    3. Click OK.

    Popup Menu or List 

    If you want to specify that the links should be displayed in a popup menu (default) or as a simple list, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .
    2. In the dialog, click the down arrow in the Display topics in field and select Popup Menu or List.
    3. Click OK.

    Note For projects that are merged, the list option is supported for standard merging (e.g., linking to an FLPRJ file in the table of contents). However, it is not supported for automerging in WebHelp Plus output.

    Target Frame

    If you want to choose the type of frame used when the link is clicked, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .

    2. In the dialog, click the down arrow in the Target Frame field and select any of the following.

      • Page Default The destination file opens in the same window as the output window.
      • Parent Frame The destination file opens in the parent frame of the current topic while hiding that topic.
      • New Window The destination file opens in a new browser window.
      • Same Frame The destination file opens in the same window frame as the current topic.
      • Top Frame The destination file opens in the same output window, removing all other framesets. You might use this option, for example, if the destination topic has its own frameset.
      • Popup Window The destination file opens in a popup box on top of the current topic.
    3. Click OK.

    Custom Order

    If you want to specify that the links should be displayed in a custom order (rather than alphabetically), do the following.

    1. In the Selected Topics area on the right of the dialog, click on a topic that you want to move up or down.
    2. At the bottom of the dialog click or .
    3. Click in the Use Custom Ordering field and select Yes.

  7. Click OK. The related topics control is added to the topic.

  8. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

How to Insert a Related Topics Link Using the Insert Ribbon

  1. Open the content file.
  2. In the XML Editor, click in the topic where you want to insert the link (usually at the bottom of the topic).

  3. Select Insert > Related Topics Control.

    The Insert Related Topics Control dialog opens. The folders and topic files available in the project are shown on the left.

  4. On the left side of the dialog, either double-click a topic that you want to add to the related topics control, or select the topic and click . After doing this, the topic is added to the Selected Topics area on the right side of the dialog.

    You can use the "multi-view" to locate topics.

    Shows all of the files in the project in a list below. Click the button again to switch to a folder tree view. You can click the File, Type, or Path column headers to sort the list alphabetically by that column data.

    Click to show or hide folders where files are kept.

    Shows or hides the folders that the files are stored in.

    Click to show or hide files within a folder.

    Shows or hides the files. If you click this button when the Show Folders button Click to show or hide folders where files are kept. is selected, the area splits into two. The folder is shown on the left side, and the files and subfolders within it are shown on the right.

    Click to move up one folder level.

    If the Show Files button Click to show or hide files within a folder. is the only one selected, you can click this button to move up one folder level.

    Lets you filter the kinds of files shown below. Depending on the task you are performing, this field may already be populated with the most appropriate file type(s).

  5. (Optional) You can customize the related topics link in any of the following ways.

    Bookmark 

    If you want a link to point to a particular bookmark within a topic, do the following.

    1. In the Selected Topics area on the right of the dialog, click on the relevant topic.
    2. At the bottom of the dialog click .

    3. In the Select Bookmark dialog, click on a heading or bookmark within the topic. If you select a heading, a bookmark will be created at that spot in the topic.

      Note If you want to remove a bookmark from the link, you can select the bookmark in this dialog and click . This removes the bookmark from the link only; it does not remove the bookmark from the destination topic.

    4. Click OK.

    Style Class 

    If you want to select the style class (see Styles and Stylesheets) to be used for the control, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .
    2. In the dialog, click on the style class you want to use. The main style is "MadCap:relatedTopics," but if you create a class under that style in your stylesheet, it will be available for selection as well.
    3. Click OK.

    Label 

    If you want to change the text shown on the control, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .
    2. In the dialog, enter text in the Label field.
    3. Click OK.

    Popup Menu or List 

    If you want to specify that the links should be displayed in a popup menu (default) or as a simple list, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .
    2. In the dialog, click the down arrow in the Display topics in field and select Popup Menu or List.
    3. Click OK.

    Note For projects that are merged, the list option is supported for standard merging (e.g., linking to an FLPRJ file in the TOC). However, it is not supported for automerging in WebHelp Plus output.

    Target Frame

    If you want to choose the type of frame used when the link is clicked, do the following.

    1. At the bottom of the dialog click .

    2. In the dialog, click the down arrow in the Target Frame field and select any of the following.

      • Page Default The destination file opens in the same window as the output window.
      • Parent Frame The destination file opens in the parent frame of the current topic while hiding that topic.
      • New Window The destination file opens in a new browser window.
      • Same Frame The destination file opens in the same window frame as the current topic.
      • Top Frame The destination file opens in the same output window, removing all other framesets. You might use this option, for example, if the destination topic has its own frameset.
      • Popup Window The destination file opens in a popup box on top of the current topic.
    3. Click OK.

    Custom Order 

    If you want to specify that the links should be displayed in a custom order (rather than alphabetically), do the following.

    1. In the Selected Topics area on the right of the dialog, click on a topic that you want to move up or down.
    2. At the bottom of the dialog click or .
    3. Click in the Use Custom Ordering field and select Yes.

  6. Click OK. The related topics control is added to the topic.

  7. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

What's Next?

If you want to change the way the control looks, you can modify the style of the related topics link. See Editing Related Topics Links.

You also may want to apply an "online only" condition tag to the paragraph tag holding the link. The main reason for this has to do with creating print-based output. When you generate print-based output, Flare automatically removes any Help control links in your topics, since they do not make sense in print output. However, this may leave an empty <p> tag at the end of that topic. This means that there will be an extra empty paragraph, where you might not expect there to be one. For example, in print-based output, you might notice that a particular topic ends near the bottom of the page. Let's say that on the next page, a new heading should start. Furthermore, let's say that the heading style specifies a page break before it. If you have an empty paragraph after the text on the first page, you might end up with a blank second page before the new heading starts on the third page. Applying a condition tag to the paragraph holding the Help control link will ensure that an empty paragraph does not occur in that location. See Applying Conditions to Content.