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memobug
New User
Jun 5, 2002, 12:46 AM
Post #1 of 11
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Docbuilder is an attractive program, but it lacks a couple of important features. I would like to be able to use it as a faq but these are limitations: - Having a search capability in any information tool is critical. Its a little ironic that a keyword search feature is available to the admin, (who is presumably familiar with the all the content), but isn't available to the end user, who really needs it! That seems really wrong somehow, doesn't it?
- Having the ability to collapse the document tree in the leftside navigation is important from the standpoint of making faq more inviting, and presenting the most important level of content first. Presented with 100 nested choices in menus and submenus, a user is likely to run screaming into the darkness rather than venture into the tree.
- Some type of template system for header and footer would be appreciated to better integrate the program with the existing site design.
Regards,
Matt
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Dave
Staff
/ Moderator
Jun 10, 2002, 10:32 PM
Post #3 of 11
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I was just going to add that's it's actually possible to add javascript to the templates as they are and add collapsible/expandable document tree functionality. I've seen this done before, and we've had a few requests for it previously... I might see if I can whip up something and post it here in the next few days.
And regarding the header/footer template system, there are two template files "_doc_header.html" and "_doc_footer.html" that can be completely customized. How were you thinking we could make that easier to integrate into existing site designs?
Finally, about the search engine, yes, we've got enough feedback that we now know that everyone wants a search engine in everything that we may build! : ) It's definitely on our feature request list for all our current and future products.
Thanks for your feedback.
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com
(This post was edited by Dave on Jun 10, 2002, 10:32 PM)
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memobug
New User
Jun 11, 2002, 12:42 AM
Post #4 of 11
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It sounds like you are headed in the right direction with this. I will definitely be interested in seeing what can be done to collapse the navigation.
In my view the Faq should not be intimidating, and having dozens of nested pages visible upon entry could frighten a lot of users away. I understand there are some users that have only a few pages and might like to see them immediately accessible.
The header and footer templates sound fine. That would be completely workable. I just didn't see that feature at first.
RE: search, If you have just a dozen questions, it's no big deal. If you have a couple dozen it becomes a nice-to-have. Once you hit about 3 dozen it becomes a necessity, and if you want to use a script as a knowledge base, it's probably more important than the navigation.
Regards,
Matt.
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Dave
Staff
/ Moderator
Jun 13, 2002, 1:17 PM
Post #5 of 11
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Here's my prototype, all comments are welcome:
http://www.interactivetools.com/staff/dave/js_tree_menu/
I know one of the things I don't like about collapsible menus is when I want to find something that's buried deep in one of the branches I have to click a zillion times to find it. I added a "Open All" and "Close All" links so people who still want to can open up the whole tree. : )
Let me know if you guys like this. If you do, we can probably have DocBuilder update with it included released next week.
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com
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memobug
New User
Jun 13, 2002, 2:13 PM
Post #6 of 11
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I like it very much! 
I think the [Open all][Close all] links might need to be at the top, cause if you had more than ten or so top categories, these links wouldn't show in the menu unless you scrolled to the bottom, would they?
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Dave
Staff
/ Moderator
Jun 21, 2002, 11:54 AM
Post #7 of 11
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A status update on this for anybody who is watching the thread.
Chris is currently working on a update for DocBuilder which should be available next week. We're including the following new changes:
- new javascript collapsible menus (old menus still available in _doc_menu_oldstyle.html file)
- easy to edit login screen graphics (moved to /images/ folder)
- new setup options field to change the "footer bar" text.
Stay Tuned.
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com
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chris
Staff
Jul 2, 2002, 11:54 AM
Post #8 of 11
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I'm pleased to announce that we've updated the program: DocBuilder 1.07!
The default template set now includes a smart-looking JavaScript collapsible menu. We've also put all the login images in the /images folder so you can edit them, and added a setup option for "Footerbar Text" to allow you to change the "Powered by" text displayed at the bottom of the control panel. Additionally, we've added a checkbox in the setup options to turn off the "meta generator" tag and the "timestamp" which DocBuilder adds to its published pages by default.
If you're interested, please fill out our Upgrade Request Form, and we'll send you an upgrade by email.
Chris
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Dave
Staff
/ Moderator
Jul 2, 2002, 11:57 AM
Post #9 of 11
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Thanks Chris! If anyone wants to try out the demo just go here:
http://www.online-demos.com/setup.cgi?demo=db_demo
You can add & remove categories and see the results by clicking on the "Published Pages" link at the top.
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com
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memobug
New User
Jul 2, 2002, 12:44 PM
Post #10 of 11
(5657 views)
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If this faq had a search engine, I would buy it.
I think the collapsible menus are great, but when you click Expand or Contract on an item category, the right side frame should switch to that topic, too.
For example. If you click on the [+] expand button next to heading #5, let's call it "Important Information" it should switch to that Important Information heading in the detail frame, too. Right now it stays on Welcome. It's like opening a drawer you can't see into. Clicking on a [*] could at least bring up the detail frame in the right window.
I'm not sure I would have a need for a distinction between expanding and browsing (between the [+] [*] and Text link.) I think if the text link just toggled the expand collapse status and opened that heading in the main window, it might be more straightforward.
Sorry I didn't comment on this before, but there wasn't sufficient depth to the demo database to learn now it operated when you clicked a different heading expand link.
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Dave
Staff
/ Moderator
Jul 2, 2002, 1:04 PM
Post #11 of 11
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Thanks for your comments! It would actually be pretty straightforward to modify the template and have the javascript link toggle the branch open or close AND change the URL of the other frame.
The one thing with changing the main window everytime is it might slow you down when you're browsing the tree.
If anyone has DocBuilder or decides to buy it and wants to modify the menu links to work like that (open the current link in the new window on every click while you're toggling expand/collapse) let me know. I'd be happy to give you a hand with it.
I've seen these types of menus implemented a number of different ways, the nice thing is that now most of the javascript code is in there already it should be fairly easy to customize it to work differently for a specific site.
As far as the search engine, it doesn't have one, but if you pick up our "Search Engine" product the benefit is that you can have it search all the content on your site, not just DocBuilder. You can even set it up with search categories (search FAQ, search products, etc).
Anyways, back to work for me! : )
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com
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