Basic Working Procedures > Configuring Your Output > Browser-based Help

In this topic:

The options in this section define the layout of your Browser-based Help. This is a new section introduced in Help & Manual 4.3 and it includes some of the settings that used to be in the Navigation section.

You can now choose a three-pane layout and load your own header HTML file into the top frame for seamless integration in your own website.

Settings that used to be in the Navigation section:

In previous versions of Help & Manual 4 the choice between a dynamic and static TOC (Table of Contents) was made with check boxes in the Navigation section. This choice is now made by selecting a layout option in the Layout section:

•	"No frames, no scripts" replaces the option "Simple HTML pages"

•	"Two frames" replaces "Dynamic HTML with navigation"

Choosing your layout mode:

There are now three different layout modes to choose from. In addition to the no-frame and 2-frame modes that are exactly the same as Simple and Dynamic layout options in earlier versions, you can now also create a 3-frame mode for better integration in your own websites.

This replaces the Simple HTML Pages option in the Navigation section in previous versions of Help & Manual 4. It completely turns off the dynamic TOC and outputs your help as simple HTML pages without frames, without any scripting and with a single separate TOC page containing all the links to your individual topics.

Only choose this layout option if you want to integrate your individual HTML pages in your website yourself manually after generating it. The output generated with the Two frames and Three frames options will also work with older browsers and browsers with JavaScript support turned off – the dynamic features will simply be disabled automatically.

This replaces the Dynamic HTML with Navigation in the Navigation section in previous versions of Help & Manual 4.

Two frames is the default layout. It creates a stand-alone help project that is effectively a website in its own right. It is not integrated in another web page. Navigation is dynamic with an expanding and collapsing contents tree if the user's browser supports it and static if it doesn't.

This is the same as two frames but with an additional frame above for integration in your website – you can use the top frame to insert your standard website header components. Navigation is dynamic with an expanding and collapsing contents tree if the user's browser supports it and static if it doesn't.

You can edit the code for the top frame directly in the dialog or provide a reference to your own external HTML file that you want to load into the top frame.

Content of the head frame in 3-frame mode:

When you choose 3-frame mode you have two options for inserting your own top frame: You can either insert a reference to an existing web page that you want to load into the top frame or you can enter the HTML code for the top frame directly in the Layout dialog.

Choose the option Head frame loads external file: and enter the name of the HTML file you want to load into the top frame.

►	Help & Manual does not copy this file for you! You must make sure that the file and all the files it references (graphics etc.) are copied to the correct location on your server.

►	The HTML file does not have to be stored in the same directory as your help. If it is located somewhere else you must include the correct relative or absolute path to the HTML file in the dialog together with the filename.

Choose the option Edit head frame HTML code: and edit the code manually in the editor box that activates when you choose this option. You should have experience with manual HTML code editing to do this!

►	When you use this option the head frame HTML file is generated automatically and copied to your output folder together with the rest of your help.

►	You can reference graphics files and other external files in your code in the same way as you would in the other HTML template files. See Using HTML Templates for details.

There are three special variables that you can use in the Layout page's HTML template. See HTML template variables for details.