Inserting Drop-Down Text into Topics

Drop-down text is a feature that lets you "scrunch up" content in your topic. Let's say you have a topic that seems to be getting quite lengthy. So you decide to condense the portion of the topic that contains step-by-step procedures. When users open the topic in the output, they will see a link (also called a "drop-down hotspot"). This hotspot is the first paragraph (or a section of the first paragraph) that you condensed. It might be something like "How to create a thingamajig." When users click that hotspot, the hidden content (e.g., the actual steps to create the thingamajig) is displayed below the hotspot. When users click the hotspot again, the content becomes hidden once more. Example…

How to insert drop-down text into a topic

Open the content file (e.g., topic, snippet).

In the XML Editor type and format the content that will become the drop-down hotspot and the drop-down body.

Highlight all of the paragraphs that you want to become the drop-down text, including the first paragraph, which will contain the hotspot.

Select Insert>Drop-Down Text.

The Insert Drop-Down dialog opens. The entire first paragraph is displayed in the Drop-Down Head field. The rest of the paragraphs are displayed in the Drop-Down Body section.

If you want only a portion of the first paragraph to be used as the hotspot link, highlight only that specific text in the field (otherwise, leave the text in that field as it is).

Example

Click OK.

The entire drop-down text section now has brackets around it in the XML Editor (if markers are turned on). The hotspot has a blue down arrow to the left of it. If you designated just a portion of the first paragraph to serve as the hotspot, smaller brackets surround it. Example

Press CTRL+S or click

to save your work.