Bug in the management of links in the online help interface

[Pyanepsion]

Hello everyone.

There is a bug in the online help interface.

If you write the Google sequence:

Aide Affinity dictionnaire

It’s OK. You get the link:

https://affinity.help/publisher/fr.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Text/hyphenationInstalling.html?title=Installer%20des%20dictionnaires%20de%20c%C3%A9sure

but if you click on one of the internal links in the Affinity Help, for example on this page:

Césure

You get the hyphenation help, but the link to the page is not changed.

This situation is of course disastrous for indicating a specific page in the help… And for referencing, let's not talk about it.

[walt.farrell]

I think you're saying that the address in the browser's Location Bar is not changing. And yes, that's true. It does make it difficult to get a true link for posting elsewhere. You need to copy the link before you follow it.

Thanks for reporting this. I'm not sure why I never thought to do so.

[loukash]

6 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

And for referencing

… right-click on the TOC link in the left-hand column of the page and select "Copy Link Address" (or similar) from the context menu.
It's been like this since the launch of https://affinity.help

[loukash]

5 minutes ago, loukash said:

https://affinity.help

… which is technically nothing else but the MacOS help system that is also located in /Applications/Affinity [XYZ].app/Contents/Resources/AffinityPhoto.help/Contents/Resources/[language version].lproj folder

And my gut feeling is that the programming of these help files must follow certain rules in order to be compatible with the MacOS Help Viewer. Serif would thus possibly have to rewrite their online help if they wanted a different approach.

For what it's worth, since the MacOS help viewer actually sucks, usually I view the help files locally via bookmarks to the above in the web browser…

Edited January 27, 2023 by loukash

[Pyanepsion]

Every time a link in the help is clicked now, or right-clicked, the current URL does not change although the content does. This is something new.

 

 

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, Pyanepsion said:

This is something new.

That's how the online Help worked for me in V1, too. The location bar is never updated when selecting new topics, and never has been.

[Pyanepsion]

I have received direct links to the help on a few occasions, but in any case, the fact that the link does not appear is still a bug.

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, Pyanepsion said:

I have received direct links to the help on a few occasions

And I have provided many such links to users. But they must be created by right-clicking in the results list and copying the link there, or by right-clicking on a "see also" topic and copying the link from the Help page. They cannot be obtained from the browser Location Bar.

I agree it's a bug.

[loukash]

21 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

the current URL does not change although the content does. This is something new.

21 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

I agree it's a bug.

No, this is how HTML inline frames work:
w3schools.com/html/html_iframe.asp

[Pyanepsion]

And?

This does not change the fact that this is a major malfunction.

In fact, inline frames are strongly discouraged by all search engines.

[loukash]

20 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

this is a major malfunction.

Please look up the definition of the words "bug" and "malfunction".

Your thread is in the feedback section. That's all it is. I only gave you the explanation what it is, and my "quarter-educated" guess why it is so.
Now it's up to Serif if they consider this to be a "major issue" so that they would waste staff resources on reprogramming the online version of the help files which they need to provide within the MacOS offline help system.

[Pyanepsion]

Integrating an iframe may seem like an easy way to achieve a smooth user experience, but it is important to note that this method has several important drawbacks. Firstly, it can be difficult to reference inline text frames, which can lead to a drop in external visibility and therefore a loss of traffic. In addition, the <iframe> tag is often criticised for greatly increasing the resources needed to use a page, especially when nested. This can slow down page loading and affect the user experience. It is therefore important to weigh up the pros and cons of using an iframe before making a decision. There are more modern and effective alternatives, such as live content solutions, which can be used to enhance the user experience while maintaining good external visibility and performance.

It is also important to note that both internal and external SEO are key elements in improving the visibility of a site on search engines. Internal SEO is the process of optimising a website's pages for search engines to improve their ranking in search results for relevant keywords. External referencing, also known as netlinking, consists of obtaining links to a website from other quality and relevant sites. These links are considered by search engines as "votes" for the content of a site and can have a considerable impact on its ranking. It is therefore important to consider both aspects when setting up an SEO strategy for a website.

[MikeTO]

iFrames are just a tiny bit inconvenient, it's easy to get the URL for a page. This is not a bug, it's as designed. A lot of companies generate their online help with Robohelp (now owned by Adobe) and until the 2019 version they used iFrames so iFrames for online help are very common.

While websites don't normally work this way, I'm just glad it's available on the web.

SEO: this used to be a concern, not today.

Resources: Affinity.help is a very lightweight website, its iFrames are not slowing down page loading.

[loukash]

@Pyanepsion, let me try it this way:

What you're seeing on https://affinity.help are the exact offline help files as used by the MacOS Help Viewer. This is what you'll see if you click the Help menu > "Affinity [XYZ] Help". Within the MacOS Help Viewer, all those pages, links, etc., work as expected. (Frankly, those of us who are familiar with Apple's crappy Help Viewer app, don't really expect that much.) No idea what kind of offline help system is used on Windows.

Accordingly, if I open the following local URL file:///Applications/Affinity%20Publisher%202.app/Contents/Resources/AffinityPublisher.help/Contents/Resources/en-US.lproj/index.html in my browser (which I usually do because – as noted – Apple's Help Viewer sucks), I get exactly the same content as on https://affinity.help/publisher2/en-US.lproj/index.html :

Quote

Get answers fast

2.0
5f252

Including the navigation sidebar, the search tab, favorites.

What the online version is missing, as opposed to the offline version if watched in a web browser, is the Copy Link To Clipboard button next to the Print button at bottom left.
That would be my feature request for https://affinity.help, so that we don't have to use the context menu for copying links.

^ Strike that. It's there in the source code, but possibly one of my "paranoia browser extensions" might be filtering it…

Edited January 29, 2023 by loukash
see note

[loukash]

6 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

iFrames are just a tiny bit inconvenient

On the websites I've programmed, I've been only using iframes for openstreetmap snippets on the contact page and the like.

[Pyanepsion]

I was looking to make adobes, ideal materials for building green houses.

I came across a DTP software site developed by a small specialist company. Yes, I didn’t quite understand the connection between mixing clay, water and a natural binder, such as chopped straw, to create strong, environmentally friendly bricks.

But anyway, I looked up how to create a document.

By following the help links there, I was able to access other pages, such as the one on using page templates, to master all the features of the software. The URLs of these pages are clearly displayed in the address bar. They can be easily copied for future access. Sharing these links on other websites certainly helps to improve the SEO of this innovative company based in San Jose, California, and to spread the word about their green and sustainable products.

I didn’t understand what their software had to do with dried mud, but hey, you’d think I’d advertise it if it was good for our planet.

😁