Q: Why there’s no “copy code” button for code snippets in CHM and WebHelp?

A: Incorporating “copy code” button requires some non-js code, Flash in particular, and that will make your CHM help files completely unusable because of security settings users may have. To copy a code snippet content from CHM file just double click it to select it entirely and click Ctrl+C.

Helpinator allows you to capture screenshots of active windows with part of their background. Image Library serves as a storage for screenshots. There you can add annotation to screenshots and create clones. You can also assign category and automatically create topics for captured screenshots.

Mode – select what you want to do – capture new image or recapture image that already exists in the library.

If you choose to capture new image you have to specify File name format and category for image. You can use several predefined placeholders:

If you choose to REcapture image you need to specify it in the drop-down list. Only background will be replaced, shapes will remain the same. You can use this trick to update cloned images easily. Here’s an article with detailed instructions:

http://www.helpinator.com/blog/2011/08/26/why-you-should-use-cloned-images/ 

- “Image Format” – specifies image format to store images to. You can select between PNG, BMP, JPEG and GIF.

- “Create topic” – if this option is checked then right after a window is stored to the library Helpinator creates topic with the same name containing captured image.

- “Append to topic” – if this option is checked and topic is selected from the drop-down list, Helpinator adds captured image to the end of the topic.

- “Background width” – specify what part of the active window background to capture along with the window itself. For example, if set to 30 pixels, then Helpinator will capture active window and surroundings with 30 pixels to the left, right, top and bottom. Set to 0 if you don’t want to capture background.

- “Background Effect” – select effect to apply to the background of the window. You can select from Blur, Darken, Pixelate and so on.

- “Drop shadow” – check this if you want active window to have a shadow on the background.

All this options combined allow you to take screenshots like this:

- “Hotkey” – select hotkey to trigger screen capture. Default is “Ctrl-Alt-S”

To start capturing images click on “Start” button.

CodeProject

Basically there are two ways to do it:

1. Using “Convert to H3 project” tool.

2. Using “File->Import files…” command.

Convert to H3 project

This tool is under "Helpinator” start menu group. When you run it dialog like this appears:

Source type – select type of the source files here. You can import:

1. Old Helpinator project

2. Compiled CHM file (if you don’t have the source for it).

3. HTML Help compiler project – if you were authoring CHM files using standard Microsoft tool – Help Workshop

4. RTF/HTML/TXT/DOC files – import variety of text file formats, from selected folder. To Import DOC files you need to have Microsoft Word installed.

Source – path to the source files or directory with source files (in case of source type #4).

Destination type – select type of Helpinator project to create. Single-file project stores all data inside one zip-compatible project file. “Multiple files” mode is better if you use come kind of VCS system in your project.

Destination – path to destination project. A filename or a directory path, in case of destination type #2.

Language – select default language for the project with imported data.

Click “Run” to start conversion. After it’s done you’ll be able to open destination project in Helpinator.

File->Import Files

This command acts identically to the “ RTF/HTML/TXT/DOC ” option from above, but is more useful to import files into existing projects. Select path to the directory with files to import and click “OK”.

CodeProject

You will have to add several lines of CSS code to your template for “Glossary” to work correctly.

1. Start new Helpinator project, select default templates

2. Select CHM\Web Help templates in the project tree view

3. Select “default.css”, browse to the end of it.

4. Copy the following code:

.glos_letter {
font-size: 12pt;
        font-weight: bold;       
        margin-top: 10px;
}

.glos_term {
        font-weight: bold;
        margin-top: 10px;                  
}

5. Open your project, select “.css” files of your templates and paste the code there.

From version 3.6 Helpinator allows you to create “Printed Manuals”. They are much like “PDF” mode but Helpinator sends them directly to printer, with “Preview” phase of course. To create printed manual click “Printed Manual” icon on the main app toolbar.

Helpinator then will prompt you to select printer and will render “Preview”.

You can browse pages, check everything’s fine and when you are satisfied click "Send to Printer" to print it.

Helpinator’s “Image Library” allows you to create “cloned” images. What are they?

Let’s say you have a big complicated tool bar in your application. You need to explain your users how to work with it, what buttons trigger specific actions, all grouped by specific tasks… This probably will require a lot of copies of the toolbar image, each one with it’s own callouts, arrows and text boxes, but all with the same background – application toolbar.

Now suppose that during project evolution toolbar changes significantly – updated icons, some new buttons. Now you need to update a bunch of images to reflect changes in the UI. That could be a nightmare! But not if you use Helpinator’s image library and “cloned” images.

In the following example will’ take a look at one simple but very common situation. Suppose you have a set of images in your project, describing different parts of the toolbar, but all of them contain application name and version in the  window title like this:

One image has callouts for language bar:

Another for compile buttons, and so on…

We’ll make the first one “donor” image and two other images will be cloned.

Now suppose application version changes to 3.5. You need to update all those images. Luckily you have only one basic image and two clones, so you only need to update one image.

Select Tools->Replace bitmap when basic image is open in the editor.

Now all cloned images are updated: