Bug 454519

Summary:	The help center doesn't open on its index page, but on a blank page
Product:	[Applications] khelpcenter	Reporter:	John <ilikefoss>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Documentation Editorial Team <kde-doc-english>
Status:	CONFIRMED ---
Severity:	normal	CC:	ilikefoss
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.0.24121
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Debian unstable
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description John 2022-05-28 08:22:19 UTC

SUMMARY
The help center doesn't open on its index page (first page, contents)


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Use KDE Neon
2. Open start menu
3. Click on Help

OBSERVED RESULT
The Help center opens in windowed mode with a left panel opened by default and the right panel / content blank (white)
Making it fullscreen seems to make the left panel unnecessary wide
None of the texts lengths in it it seem to  require that much space in fullscreen mode
Clicking on the first item in the "Contents" tab, which is "Fundamentals" seems to bring the index page on the right panel

If the user has changed the setting "Clicking files or folders" in the control panel to "Selects them" before opening the Help center, the just simply clicking on the "Fundamentals" or "Introduction" doesn't work anymore like before

EXPECTED RESULT
The Help center should open with its first page with its first page, contents already visible in the right / content panel instead of just a blank white page.

If the the user makes the program fullscreen from the "Maximize" button or dragging it to the top edge, the left panel width should not be proportional to how it was in the windowed mode as the text has not increased proportionally to require that and it uses too much space that it's better used in the other, the content panel.

The help center should not follow the "Clicking files or folders" setting from the control panel and should always work with single clicks in the left panel, it's easier that way and probably better for usability.
Also the "Clicking files or folders" option clearly says it's for files or folders, not for links / anchors like in that panel.
BTW, one more thing, the top level items in that panel, like the "Fundamentals", "Plasma Manual" doesn't have that right pointing arrow to signal that they have other subsections.
Maybe it is intentional because of the already existing icons made it harder to add it too, but I though to mentioned it too, maybe having a complete tree-view it's better to understand where you are and how sections are organized, which are single pages and which have subsections

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma:
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.90
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.95
Qt Version: 5.15.4

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
From: neon-testing-20220524-1822.iso + updates from Discover
Tested on Wayland

Comment 1 John 2024-01-28 01:47:05 UTC

Same problem in Plasma 6 RC1

All I see is a bland white page.
Scrolling up or down doesn't show or changes anything either.

Comment 2 John 2025-02-15 05:54:00 UTC

Same problem still existing in Plasma 6.3.0!

I think the best would be to start with the page that is shown when you click on the "Table of Contents" in the top-left corner of the window.
Which nicely enough also show "Start Page" and "KDE Help Center" headers.

Or the second best, the "Fundamentals" page from the Contents tab.

And ignore the second part of the bug report, where I said that when the window is maximized the left panel's width is unnecessary wide.
Clicking on the "Fundamentals" link seems to auto-open it showing links from it.
One of them being:
"Installing KDE Plasma Desktop and KDE Applications"
Which is the longest and the default panel width allows it to been seen without being cut.
There's a bit more extra space and ideally the panel with should be enough to accommodate this without too much extra space, but anyway.

If making a dynamic width wide enough to accommodate the longest link that it exists there currently or in the future or in translated versions, without too much extra space after it, it's too hard to make, you can leave it as it is.
Maybe the person who decided to make it so wide by default made it for this reason.