Flare: Open Full Help From Single Topic

If you have HTML help (specifically Tripane), sometimes someone will create a link directly to a specific topic. This link opens the topic without the TOC or the header.

Use the following procedure to automagically open the full help when a single topic is accessed:

  1. In the skin Setup tab, enable Show navigation link at top of topic.
    If a single topic is opened, this adds a link to open the full help.
  2. In your master page, add this script before the closing </body> tag:
<script>
	/* <![CDATA[ */
	$(document).ready(function () {
	if (($('.MCWebHelpFramesetLink:visible').length))
	{
	window.top.location = $('.MCWebHelpFramesetLink>a').attr('href');
	}
	});
	/* ]]> */
</script>

Republish and try it!

Adding Google Analytics to Flare

Use this procedure to add Google Analytics tracking code to your Flare HTML5 target.

1. Log into your Google Analytics account and create a new property.

2. Get the XML code from Google for tracking. It looks like this:

		<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
		https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-ABCDE12345
		<script>
			window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
			function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
			gtag('js', new Date());

			gtag('config', 'G-ABCDE12345');
		</script>

3. In Flare, navigate to Content > Resources > MasterPages.

4. Open the Master Page that you use for your webpages.

5. Insert the above XML just before the closing </head> tag.

6. Save the file.

7. If you get an error on saving (about a “src” tag), change async to async="async" and save it.

8. Publish your HTML.

That’s it!

Adding Newlines in Excel

There are several issues with newlines in Excel. First, how do you add one as you are typing in a cell. And second, how can you use Find and Replace to add newlines?

When Typing

Simply use “Alt+Enter” to add a newline in the current cell.

      Using Find and Replace

      To add a newline with Find and Replace, let’s assume we have the following cell:

      First, open the Find and Replace window (using Ctrl+h).

        In our case, we have a semicolon between each letter. So, enter “; ” as the Find what.

        In the Replace with field, press Alt. Then type 010. Then let go of the Alt key. You won’t see anything different in the field, but trust me, it is there.

        Click Find Next and then Replace or just click Replace All.

        Note that to see your results better, you might need to select your cells, and then click Format > Autofit Row Height.

        Who Am I? Using AI to Write a Summary

        In my search for a new job, someone asked me for a blurb about myself. I sat down to write the paragraph, but then decided to have some fun with ChatGPT. I first posed a simple question to it:

        Who am I?

        The result was a nice, fluffy response:

        You’re you! Each person is unique, with their own set of experiences, thoughts, and characteristics. If you want to explore who you are more deeply, you might consider reflecting on your values, interests, and the things that make you feel passionate or fulfilled.

        (Also, I asked Copilot to create the above image based on “Who am I?”)

        Continue reading “Who Am I? Using AI to Write a Summary” →

        Wilty Wilt, What?

        I came across a term today that I haven’t seen before. At first I read it as WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). But, it didn’t make sense and I read it again – WYLTIWLT. What is that?

        First, we need to understand the context. I was researching the best way to write text for buttons within a user interface. For example, should you write an okay button as “OK” or “Ok” or “ok”?

        Continue reading “Wilty Wilt, What?” →

        MoSCoW Priorities

        There are various prioritization classification systems used to specify how urgently a task needs to be completed, especially in Agile systems. For example, High, Medium, and Low. Or P0, P1, P2, and P3.

        The problem that arises is how does one know what each level means? The user needs to consult a lookup table to see that P1 means that at the end of the sprint we want to have this task done, but there might be higher priority tasks ahead of it.

        Continue reading “MoSCoW Priorities” →

        PowerPoint Kills 7

        There’s an interesting article about how a PowerPoint presentation led to the death of 7 people. The article is here.

        Basically, on January 16th 2003, NASA Mission STS-107 launched the Columbia shuttle. During launch, a piece of foam broke off and collided with the underside of the left wing, damaging a protective tile. During re-entry, this damage caused the wing to overheat, and in turn, the shuttle disintegrated, killing the 7 crew members.

        Continue reading “PowerPoint Kills 7” →