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Notes and Suggestions

Anas

22 November 2009 02:12

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Hi,

Here're some notes and suggestions for HelpStudio. Hopefully they could make it better:

1. Each HelpStudio project should have its own instance of the chosen template. This will guarantee portability for the project files.
   Otherwise, there will be a high risk on losing my customized template if any, because all HelpStudio template files are stored usually out of the "user profile" scope in Windows, so that if I decided to backup my project files, I would probably forget the template files simply because they're not stored on the project files themselves.
   Moreover, if I was dealing with the project from the Source Control, I would not be able to check-in my modifications on the template files to the Source Control, and thus they can't be generalized to the rest of the team.
2. There should be separated HTML templates for each language.
3. In Glossary:
   1. Adding a new field called "Acronym" for each language.
   2. Showing entries in fields that belong to the middle-eastern languages automatically from right to left.
4. An option to avoid fixed-header and fixed-footer in the resulted CHM file.
5. A simple database for an FAQ page, just like Glossary.
6. An ability to build Find/Replace queries for HTML codes with an ability to execute a sequence of queries using a one batch file.

Regards

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2 comments

• 0
  
  Matt Bates 02 December 2009 09:49

  Thank you for your feedback on HelpStudio.

  1. HelpStudio keeps the templates separate from the project files so that any modifications made to a template are propagated across any project that might be using that template. Templates can be added to source control though check in/check out process would need to be handled by your provider as this functionality is not natively supported by HelpStudio for templates.

  You can find the template files in the following directory:
  XP: \documents and settings\all users\application data\innovasys\documentx5\templates\<template name>
  Vista \ 7: XP: programdata\innovasys\documentx5\templates\<template name>

  2. HelpStudio allows you to specify a phrase language at the Build Profile level that will be used for content that isn't editable at the project level (i.e. "Search", "Click to enlarge" etc). HelpStudio ships with 9 phrase languages which can be edited for each template.

  3. If possible can you provide some more details on the "Acronym" field suggestion? I have logged your suggestion on right to left languages as a feature request.

  4. The Topic Properties window allows you to pick a Layout for a selected topic/s which include no header, no footer, no footer and no header. These page layouts are template driven and can be edited or new ones can be created.

  5. I have logged this as a feature request, a similar effect could be achieved in the current version using a dedicated topic and a table.

  6. I have logged this as a feature request.

  If you have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.

• 0
  
  Anas 12 December 2009 08:48

  1. 
  2. Yes, that's right, but not enough, since languages that do not use Latin letters require more than just replacing phrases. They need replacing fonts and switching text alignment and direction.
  3. For example: FIFO = First in First out.
  4. That's right, but I do want to use headers and footers but not as fixed blocks in the topic window.
  5. Thank you.
  6. 1024 Giga thanks