Editing Target Settings

You can edit settings for HTML5 and PDF targets in content or code view. Anyone who has used the Target Editor in Flare knows that there are dozens of settings available for power users. In Central, only the most common target settings are available for these two output types.

Note At this time, you cannot edit other target types (e.g., Word, Clean XHTML) in content view. However, you can open and edit them in code view. Otherwise, you can use Flare to edit the settings for those targets.

[Menu Proxy — Headings — Online — Depth3 ]

Permission Required?

Editing content and project files is an activity available to users with the Author status. By default, users with Author status have the following permissions set:

  • If this is deselected, then viewing files in a read-only mode is allowed. On the left side of the page, the Files vertical three-dot menu is not available.

  • If this is deselected, the XHTML in the Code view is read-only.

    Editing code is regarded as a capability for an advanced user. If not done properly, the code can become malformed quickly. Administrators can prevent users from editing the code by deselecting the Edit Code permission.

For more information about permissions, see Setting User Permissions or Setting Team Permissions.

How to Edit Target Settings

  1. From the Projects page (Files tab), open an HTML5 or PDF target and in the upper-right click Edit.

    Tip Click the All Files drop-down, and select Targets. This filters only the target files to display in the files panel.

    Tip From the left side of the page, you can right-click to select and open a target directly in editing mode. From this menu, you can also rename, delete, or view raw (i.e., opens the file code in a browser). See Renaming Targets, and Deleting Targets.

  2. Set any of the General or Appearance options. In the case of PDF targets, you can also set PDF Options. Keep in mind that the fields displayed in the editor are different when you have opened an HTML5 target versus a PDF target.

    GENERAL

    • Output Type You can use the Target Editor to switch the output type for a particular target—HTML5 or PDF. The options in the editor automatically change to reflect your choice.

    • Comment You can add an internal comment to describe the output.

    • TOC (Navigation) For HTML5, this connects a particular table of contents (TOC) file with the target; the selected TOC provides the navigation for the output. For PDF, the selected TOC file functions more as an outline (i.e., it controls the order of the topics for the output), rather than the traditional TOC that you would see at the beginning of a PDF. See Associating a TOC With a Target.

    • Conditional Expression This lets you control which content is included in or excluded from the output, based on the condition(s) applied to it. See Associating Conditions With Targets.

    • Variable Overrides This lets you provide alternate definitions of variables for the target in question. See Overriding Variable Definitions in Targets.

    • Content to Include (HTML5 targets only) This is a quick way to include or exclude certain content from the output, based on whether that content is linked to the target or associated TOC. See Including Specifically Linked Content.

    • Startup Topic (HTML5 targets only) This determines the topic (usually a "Home" topic) that users first see when opening the online output. See Specifying the Startup Topic in a Target.

    • Output File This lets you provide a specific name for the main output file (in the case of HTML5, it is the main entry file; in the case of PDF, it is the name of that PDF). See Specifying the Output File Name in a Target.

    • Analytics Key (HTML5 targets only) This lets you choose a specific analytics key for the target so that you can monitor how end users are interacting with that online output. See Associating Analytics Keys With Targets.

    Appearance

    • Branding Stylesheet This lets you select a particular branding stylesheet for the target, which quickly adjusts the basic color scheme, font, and branding images for the output. See Associating a Branding Stylesheet at the Target Level.

    • Stylesheet This lets you select the main stylesheet for the target, which controls the overall look and feel for content in the output. See Associating a Regular Stylesheet With a Target.

    • Template Page (HTML5 targets only) This determines which template page is used for topics, thereby applying certain content or elements (e.g., toolbars, copyright text) to each page in the output. See Associating Template Pages With Targets.

    • Page Layout (PDF targets only) This determines which page layout is applied to the target, thereby providing repeated content (e.g., headers, footers, page numbers), as well as page structure (e.g., orientation, size, margins) to each page of the PDF output. See Associating Page Layouts With Targets.

    • Skin (HTML5 targets only) The lets you choose a skin for the target, controlling the look of the navigational elements surrounding the online output. See Associating Skins With Targets.

    • Powered by MadCap (HTML5 targets only) This lets you disable the "Powered by MadCap Software" links that can appear at the bottom of topics in online output. See Disabling "Powered by MadCap Software" Backlinks.

    PDF Options

    There are several options specific to PDF targets that you can use to control the document properties, copyright information, initial view, and tagging for the output. See Specifying PDF Options.

  3. Click Commit. (Or click Cancel, to back out of the process.)

  4. In the Create New Commit dialog, enter a Commit Message.

  5. Click Commit.