Setting Up Templates and Styles for DHTML Expanding Text and Popups

There are four new jump options under the HTML tab.

• Expanding block

  Uses Dynamic HTML (DHTML) to show and hide (or "expand" and "collapse") the fully formatted text of the destination topic. Clicking the link will make the topic expand and appear in a block below the paragraph containing the anchor text, and clicking it once more will make it disappear again.

• Expanding inline Uses Dynamic HTML (DHTML) to show and hide (or "expand" and "collapse") the fully formatted text of the destination topic. Clicking the link will make the topic appear inline and in the same paragraph immediately following the anchor text, and clicking it once more will make it disappear again.
• Popup on click
  

  Uses Dynamic HTML (DHTML) to display the fully formatted text of the destination topic in a popup window. The popup is activated on clicking, and remains open until closed. It can be closed by either clicking the link again, or by clicking the close button in the top right corner.

• Popup on hover

  Uses Dynamic HTML (DHTML) to display the fully formatted text of the destination topic in a popup window. The popup is displayed when the mouse is hovered over the anchor text, and disappears when the mouse is moved away.

All libraries created from the Default (A4).adl or Default (Letter).adl Library templates distributed with version 4.1.453 (or later) contain the templates and styles that are necessary to use the new DHTML expanding text and popup functionality, but if your library was created prior to this, there's a couple of things you need to do before you can take advantage of these features:

1. Create the necessary styles, and
2. Create the templates

If you're using the Enterprise Edition, the new styles and hypertext link templates are available in XML Format which can be downloaded here and then imported into your library to create the necessary objects automatically.
Alternatively, if you're using the Desktop or Workgroup Edition, you can use the Import from another library option to import the new objects from the updated default libraries. The libraries can be downloaded here.

Creating the Styles:

Style objects are necessary to control the appearance of the text being linked to. It's a good idea to use a different style for each link type, and if you want your viewers to be able to differentiate between the regular topic text and the text being linked to, avoid using the style in your regular topic text. This can also lead to formatting problems as you could get some rather unusual results if you were to define your new Popup On Hover template to use the Body Text style.

The style also helps your viewers to focus on the information you are referring them to. As well as defining an appropriate font, consider giving the style/s a border, a background color, setting the spacing, and applying an appropriate width to control the layout.

Creating the Templates

When creating a Hypertext Link object, you'll need to choose a template to base it on. Your choice will depend mostly on the type of link you want in your various outputs and the nature of the topic you are linking to. Create a template for each jump type you want to use, taking care to choose an appropriate alternative jump type for the Document and Winhelp options.

The default combinations we've selected are as follows, but you can create or adjust these to suit your specific needs.

• Expanding Block Template: This option is great when you have long topics with large screenshots and diagrams or other elements that take up a lot of screen space and you want to give the viewer more control over the display of elements on screen, or for topics with lengthy procedures where your viewers can click a link to expand a step for more detailed instructions.
  • In your Printed output, the topic being linked to is inserted as an embedded topic. If the hyperlink occupies the entire paragraph it is replaced, otherwise a new paragraph is created following the one containing the hyperlink.
  • In your WinHelp output, the destination topic is opened in another help window, using the settings defined in the Procedure media object.
  • In your Web outputs, the fully formatted text of the destination topic is inserted as an expanding block below the paragraph containing the anchor text.
• Expanding Inline Template: This option is best suited for short topics or definitions terms as the text appears right where the viewers focus is directed.
  • In your Printed output, the unformatted text of the destination topic is inserted as a footnote
  • In your WinHelp output, the link is created as a popup.
  • In your Web outputs, the fully formatted text of the destination topic is inserted inline and in the same paragraph immediately following the anchor text.
• Popup OnClick Template: Ideal for shorter topics, where you want to direct your viewer to further information, without losing focus of the main topic.
  • In your Printed output, the link is inserted as a page number cross reference.
  • In your WinHelp output, the link is created as a popup.
  • In your Web outputs, the link is created as a popup and is activated on the click event.
• Popup OnHover Template: Ideal for shorter topics, where you want to direct your viewer to further information, without losing focus of the main topic.
  • In your Printed output, the link is inserted as a page number cross reference.
  • In your WinHelp output, the link is created as a popup.
  • In your Web outputs, the link is created as a popup and is activated on the hover event