Creating Related Topics

Adding Functional Elements to Online Content : Creating Related Topics

Creating Related Topics

Topics the author feels are similar to the current topic or that may be of additional interest to the user are called related topics. Related topics may be configured to display on the click of a button or both on the click of a button and as a list of links within the topic.

For example, let’s say that you have a section called Creating Web Pages. Throughout your Help system, you will probably have multiple topics – such as HTML tags, formatting, and Cascading Style Sheets – that relate to creating Web pages. It would be beneficial for users to know that there are other topics they can reference that will provide them with more information on creating Web pages. Typically, using cross-references within the text of the section (e.g., “For more information, see Using HTML on page 35”) would provide you with this functionality; however, using cross-references might not be the most efficient way to present this information to the user. By utilizing related topics links, you are combining the capabilities of cross-references with the efficiency of a related topics button.

Related topics links are essentially cross-references to other corresponding topics within your Help system. Instead of displaying cross-references directly in your output, you can create a list of related topics links.

There are two ways related topics can display in your output:

1.	Related Topics button only – In your online content, the related topics list will only display within the related topics popup menu when the user clicks on the related topics button.

The following illustration shows online content that displays only the related topics button. When the user clicks on the related topics button, a popup menu of related topics links will display.

2.	Related Topics button and Related Topics links – In your output, you can display the related topics list within a related topics button as well as within the body of your content.

In the following illustration, the related topics list displays from a popup menu, and it is also included within the content of the topic.

In our previous example, we had a section on creating Web pages; now, let’s say that we want to include a related topics button in our online content. To do this, in our source document, we would first need to create a paragraph style that we will specifically apply to our related topics lists; then, we would need to create a list of related topics links for our Creating Web Pages section. Remember that related topics links are essentially cross-references, so in this case, we would need to create cross-references to our sections on HTML tags, formatting, and Cascading Style Sheets.

To create the related topics list:

1.	Identify the topic in which you would like to insert a related topics list.

2.	Create a unique paragraph style that will be used specifically for the related topics list.

3.	Identify the various topics to which you will be linking from this topic.

Generally, you should only create one related topics list for each section of your source document that corresponds to a Help topic. For example, if you have specified in your ePublisher Pro project that there will be a page break at each Heading 1 section, then you should only create one related topics list for each Heading 1 section within your source document.

4.	Create and insert the list of cross-references to the topics you have chosen in step 2.

5.	Apply the paragraph style you created in step 1 to the related topics list.

6.	Save the document(s).

Once you have created the related topics lists in your source document, use the following steps to specify how you would like ePublisher to handle your related topics lists.

In ePublisher Pro:

1.	Using either the Style Designer or Document Designer, select the paragraph style that you have assigned to your related topics lists.

2.	Click on the Options tab.

3.	Find the related-topic option.

4.	Click on the drop-down arrow to display the related-topic options.

Choose define if you want the related topics list to display both within the body of your topic and when the related topics button is clicked.

Choose define-no-output if you want the related topics list to display only when the related topics button is clicked.

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