Master Pages

What Are Master Pages?

If you want certain information to appear as a header or footer in your topics, you can use master pages to save you creating that content in every topic. This can include standard text and various placeholders for features such as breadcrumbs.

 Sirera Help 2019 ships with an optimized PDF master page for use with Printed Documentation. It is explained in Printed Documentation Output.

How Do I Set Up Master Pages?

Click the Master Page icon in the Project Toolbar and then click the + icon alongside Master Pages in the Project Component Panel. Enter a name for the master page in the dialog that appears and then your master page opens ready to be set up.

Additional icons will be displayed in the standard toolbar above. These allow you to switch between editing the header and footer and to insert various placeholders such as breadcrumbs. Hover over each one to see what it does.

You can enter text in the header and/or footer in the usual way and you can format it in the Properties panel.

If you only use one master page and want it applied to all topics, you don't have to apply it to each one. When you generate an output there is an option to apply a master page in the settings.
If you have set a different master page for any topic, the master page in the preset will override that. That can be useful in some scenarios.

Style Sheets - CSS

When creating a master page you can apply a CSS style sheet to it. When you generate an output, the hierarchy will be:

Breadcrumbs

To add breadcrumbs to a master page, place the cursor where you want the breadcrumbs to be positioned and click the breadcrumb icon on the toolbar.

To format the breadcrumbs click in the breadcrumbs in the master page and go to Properties. Check the type is "Breadcrumbs" and edit as required in the General settings.

Properties

You can open a Master Page to edit its properties or you can right click the master page in the Master Page Panel to see its Properties without opening it.