Editing Drop-Down Text

The first way to edit drop-down text is to change the actual content in the drop-down heading (or hotspot) or in the drop-down body.

example

Let's say you have drop-down text in a topic that contains the words "click here" as the hotspot and one paragraph as the drop-down body. If you want to change the text of the hotspot to "see this," you would simply replace the hotspot text between the small brackets in the topic. And if you want to add another paragraph in the drop-down body, you would simply click at the end of the current paragraph in the drop-down body, press Enter, and type the additional paragraph.

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

2. In the XML Editor, click in the area containing the drop-down hotspot or drop-down body. Then add, remove, or replace the content as necessary.

   

3. Click to save your work.

You can edit the style (e.g., font, color) of a drop-down hotspot or body. When you do this, the style changes for all drop-down text in any topics in your project.

example

example

Let's say that you want to change the font for your drop-down hotspots to red and italic. The following steps show you how to accomplish this.

1. From the Content Explorer, open the stylesheet that you want to modify.

2. Complete one of the following sets of steps, depending on whether you want to use the Simplified view or Advanced view in the Stylesheet Editor:

   • Simplified The Simplified view is often best for newer users. Read more… It provides an easier way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar (similar to the way one would use the Text Format toolbar to change the look of topic content without a style). In some cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, autonumbering format, borders, background). One advantage of the Simplified view is that you can apply a property to multiple styles at the same time. You can also click a check box to hide the properties in the editor, allowing you to see only the styles.
   • Advanced The Advanced view displays style classes and properties in hierarchical tree structures. Read more… For beginners, it is not as quick and easy to use as the Simplified view, but it allows you to edit more settings than are available in the Simplified view.
if using simplified view
1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
2. In the upper-left corner of the editor, click in the Show Styles field and select .
3. From the grid in the bottom portion of the editor, find and select the appropriate style, depending on what you want to change.
   • MadCap|dropDown This style affects the entire container holding a drop-down effect, including the image that is shown when a drop-down effect is open or closed.
   • MadCap|dropDownBody This style affects the content that is shown when users open the drop-down effect.
   • MadCap|dropDownHead This style affects the text in the first paragraph of a drop-down effect (i.e., the paragraph where the drop-down link is located).
   • MadCap|dropDownHotSpot This style affects the specific text that you select in the first paragraph of a drop-down effect to serve as the link for opening the drop-down body. If you do not select specific text in the first paragraph to serve as the hotspot, the entire first paragraph is used as the hotspot.

4. In the local toolbar of the editor, click . The Properties dialog opens.

   

5. Use the tabs and fields in the Properties dialog to change values for any of the style's properties.

   For more information see About Styles and Stylesheets, as well as Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet.

6. In the Properties dialog, click OK.
if using advanced view

1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays . If the button displays instead, then click it.
2. In the upper-left corner of the editor, click in the Show Styles field and select .
3. In the Styles section on the left side of the editor, find and select the appropriate style, depending on what you want to change.
• MadCap|dropDown This style affects the entire container holding a drop-down effect, including the image that is shown when a drop-down effect is open or closed.
• MadCap|dropDownBody This style affects the content that is shown when users open the drop-down effect.
• MadCap|dropDownHead This style affects the text in the first paragraph of a drop-down effect (i.e., the paragraph where the drop-down link is located).
• MadCap|dropDownHotSpot This style affects the specific text that you select in the first paragraph of a drop-down effect to serve as the link for opening the drop-down body. If you do not select specific text in the first paragraph to serve as the hotspot, the entire first paragraph is used as the hotspot.
4. From the Show drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select . The most relevant properties for that style are shown on the right side of the editor.

5. From the Properties section, change values for any of the style's properties. Following are some of the more common properties that you might change.

   • mc-closed-image This style, located in the Unclassified property group, lets you select an image to be shown next to the drop-down effect when it is in a closed state. To use this property, first select the MadCap|dropDown style mentioned above.
   • mc-closed-image-alt-text This style, located in the Unclassified property group, lets you set alternate text for the drop-down effect when it is in a closed state. See About Accessibility.
   • mc-open-image This style, located in the Unclassified property group, lets you select an image to be shown next to the drop-down effect when it is in an open state. To use this property, first select the MadCap|dropDown style mentioned above.
   • mc-open-image-alt-text This style, located in the Unclassified property group, lets you set alternate text for the drop-down effect when it is in an open state. See About Accessibility.

   For more information see About Styles and Stylesheets, as well as Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet.

3. Click to save your work.

The third way to edit drop-down text is to unbind (or remove) the drop-down effect. If you decide that you no longer want the content to display in a drop-down effect, you can use the steps below to remove the effect, converting the content to regular text.

1. Open the content file (e.g., topic, snippet).
2. In the XML Editor, right-click the blue down arrow at the beginning of the drop-down text.
3. In context menu, select Unbind Drop-Down Text. The drop-down effect is removed.
4. Click to save your work.

note

Note: If you have created nested drop-down effects in your topic (i.e., a drop-down within a drop-down), you need to unbind the outer drop-down effect before unbinding the one inside.