Adding and editing keywords

Navigation:  Basic Working Procedures > Keywords and Indexes >

Adding and editing keywords

 Previous pageReturn to chapter overviewNext page

Show/Hide Hidden Text

Each topic in your project can have its own list of "index keywords", each of which will create an index entry in your output. You can add both simple keywords (master keywords) and keywords with sub-entries (child keywords). Only one level of child keywords is supported (this is a restriction imposed by the output formats, not by Help & Manual).

Index generation is automatic. An index will be generated when you publish as soon as you have added one or more keywords to any topic in your project. However, in WebHelp you need to activate the index in the output in your Navigation settings if you want to include it.

 

prod_tip       Productivity Tip

It is best not to use keywords in popup topics and topics without TOC entries. Clicking on Keyword Index entries will display these topics in the main help viewer and this may confuse the user.

Click to expand/collapseHow to add keywords from the topic editor

You can quickly add any word or series of words in the topic editor as a keyword:

•Just select the word or phrase you want to add and press Ctrl+K.

•This is the standard keyboard shortcut for this function. You can change it if you like in View > Program Options > Shortcuts.
Click to expand/collapseHow to add and edit topic keywords

1.Select the topic you want to add a keyword to and select its  tab below the editor window.

2.Type your index entries in the Keywords: field in the tab. Enter one keyword per line and press Enter after each keyword to create a new line.

Viewing and the topic at the same time:

Working with index keywords is easier if you can see and the topic content at the same time. To do this drag the tab to the right border of the editor. Drag back down to the tab bar to restore it to its original position. See Tips & Tricks in the Project Explorer for more details.

Using the Index tool:

If you have the Professional or Server version of Help & Manual you can select the Index Tool in Project > Tools so that you can see the finished index while you are writing.
Click to expand/collapseHow to add and edit topic sub-keywords

In the tab, indenting a keyword with the TAB key automatically makes it the sub-keyword of the keyword above it.

1.Proceed as described above for adding keywords.

2.Enter child keywords in the line directly below their master keyword and indent them with the TAB key. This will make it the sub-keyword of the keyword directly above it.

You can enter as many child keywords as you like for each master keyword – one per line.

You can only enter one level of child keywords. Child keywords cannot have their own child keywords.
Click to expand/collapseAdding and editing keywords with the Index tool

If you have the Professional or Server version of Help & Manual you can also edit the real-time index directly with the Index tool. See Editing the index directly for details.
Click to expand/collapseFinding topics with no keywords

You can locate topics that have no keywords with the Report Tool. Select the Report Tool in the Project tab, then choose Missing Keywords Report in the Report Type: field at the top of the dialog.

See The Project Report Tool for more details on using the Report Tool.

See also:

Editing the index directly

IDs, Context Numbers and Keywords (Reference)