Thanks to the HelpSmith’s features, such as the topic editor with full-featured styles (including combined styles and table styles), flexible import settings, the Format Painter tool for quick formatting of your content, the re-designed Image Tool for creating annotated screenshots, flexible options for importing documentation, among others, and its user-friendly interface, the product has already been appreciated by many users who create help files and documentation in various formats. However, in order to make the help authoring process even more convenient, we continue to improve both the functionality and the user interface of the program.

Easily Filter the List of Help Topics Based On the Selected Values

When working on a help project, you may need to view a limited set of topics filtered by the Title, Context, ID, Status, and other values. Therefore, in HelpSmith 10.4, you can now use dynamic filters allowing you to display topics based on the selected values. For example, you can fetch topics whose titles contain some text, view topics with a specific status, and so on.

Viewing Topics which Contain a Specific Text

How to Apply Filters in the Project Manager

1. In the Project Manager, click the Filters icon in the right side of the search box.
2. In the Select Filters dialog, select the values that you need.
3. Click OK.

Displaying Topics with a Specific Status

Thanks to the user-friendly interface of the Filters feature, you can easily add values by which to filter the list of topics, and also, cancel the filtering mode to view the full list of topics with just one click.

It should be noted that while working on a help project, HelpSmith allows you to dynamically filter the content of the project manager based on the selected values, making it even more convenient to view and edit the table of contents of your documentation!

View the Keywords Associated with the Currently Selected Topics

Similarly to the Table of Contents, when working with keywords, you can now easily find keywords that contain a specific line of text, or display only the keywords associated with the topic(s) which are currently selected in the Project Manager.

Using the Filters Feature in the Keywords Pane

How to Display Only the Keywords of the Current Topic

The Filters feature allows you to easily display the keywords which are associated with the current topic only.

1. In the Keywords pane, click the Filters icon in the right side of the search box.
2. In the Select Filters dialog, enable the Selected topics only option.
3. Click OK.

Displaying Keywords Associated with the Current Topic

Remark: If you need to cancel the filtering mode, you can simply click the Cross icon in the search box, or, alternatively, click the Reset Filters button in the dialog above.

Thus, the new HelpSmith update makes it even easier to edit the list of associated keywords as you can quickly find the keywords you need.

Generate the Header File for Your Application Along with the .CHM Help File

If you create an HTML Help (.CHM) file for your application, HelpSmith also allows you to generate a header file containing Contex and Id associations of your topics. Thus, you can operate with topics from the code by using constants, which makes the help file integration process easier.

While in previous versions, you could use the Export Context Numbers command to create a header (or module) file for a specific programming language (e.g. C++, C#, VB.NET, Delphi, etc.), HelpSmith now adds an option to automatically generate (or update) the header file during the help file compilation process.

How to Generate a Header File Along with the CHM Help File

1. On the Project tab, click Compile.
2. In the Compile Project dialog, in the Output Format box, select HTML Help (CHM).
3. Click Advanced and specify the header file’s options including the programming language and filename.
4. Click OK.

Remark: If you use the batch compilation mode, you can similarly specify header file’s options in the properties of a compilation task for the HTML Help format.

Thus, HelpSmith allows you to create a .CHM help file and update the header file for your application with just one click of the mouse, eliminating the need to perform this task manually every time!

Choose the Right Help Authoring Tool for Your Documentation

If you are looking for a help authoring tool to create your documentation, the latest HelpSmith version offers you all the necessary features in an intuitive environment. For example, in HelpSmith, you can write content in a powerful text editor with true support for styles (including combined styles and table styles), apply the Format Painter tool to quickly re-use the formatting of existing content, benefit from the built-in Image Tool for annotating screenshots, use editable templates to customize the appearance of your topics, and other numerous features.

In recent HelpSmith updates, we’ve also improved the Import feature which greatly simplifies the process of importing existing documents in various formats, including Word documents, HTML files, and the simplified Markdown format. Moreover, HelpSmith can automatically adjust formatting styles and organize images during the import process.

Finally, with the dynamic filtering feature introduced in this HelpSmith update, you can now easily find the topics you need by their attributes, as well as view the associated keywords. This makes the process of editing and managing your help project much more convenient!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 10.4

• In the Project Manager, you can now easily view the topics containing a specific line of text in their titles.
• Added the Filters feature allowing you to display the list of topics based on the Status, Date, and Visibility values.
• The keyword-related controls have been moved directly to the Keywords pane from the Ribbon.
• Added filters for the Keywords pane allowing you to display only the keywords associated with the currently selected topic(s), or to filter keywords by their titles.
• When compiling a .CHM help file, HelpSmith can now automatically export a header file for the selected programming language.
• In a Web Help system, hyperlinks of the web page type that linked to the #top anchor did not work correctly.
• The HTML Help and Web Help generators now process hyperlinks to the “top” bookmark without warnings.
• Fixed an issue with user-defined images used for a list style.
• When inserting HTML code within a paragraph, an unexpected space was added before the element.
• Added a command line parameter to specify a custom directory for the HHP project used for generating a .CHM help file.
• The command line interface (CLI) first tries to use the parent console window.
• Some types of bulleted lists might not be properly imported from a Word documented.
• Other enhancements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 10.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 10.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 10.4

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

In previous HelpSmith versions, we greatly simplified the process of formatting your texts by introducing enhanced styles. For example, you can now apply combined text and paragraph styles, quickly create lists by using list styles, and manage the formatting of tables with full-featured table styles that are similar to those in Microsoft Word.

Using the Format Painter Tool for Quick Formatting of Your Documentation

However, in HelpSmith 10.3, we’ve also implemented the Format Painter feature, which many users have requested. This tool is designed to make the formatting process of your documentation even more convenient. With Format Painter, you can easily copy the formatting styles of any text, paragraphs, lists, tables, and apply these styles to other content in the topics. Thus, you can now quickly format your documentation even without the need to switch between the topic editor and the Styles pane!

Using the Format Painter Tool to Copy Formatting of Selected Text

How to Use the Format Painter Tool to Format Your Texts

When working on a topic, you can use the Format Painter tool to copy the formatting of text and paragraphs from one piece of text to another.

1. In the topic editor, select the text from which you want to copy the formatting styles.
2. On the Write tab, in the Clipboard group, click Format Painter to activate this mode.
3. Select the text to which you want to apply the formatting.

Remark: To copy and apply formatting, you can either select a fragment of text, or simply click on the text or paragraph that you need.

Apply the Format Painter to Multiple Fragments

If you need to copy and apply formatting to multiple fragments, you can double-click the Format Painter button. In this case, the Format Painter mode will be active until you de-activate it manually (for example, by pressing Esc).

Using Shortcuts to Copy Formatting Styles from the Keyboard

In addition, if you prefer to perform various actions in the topic editor with the keyboard, you can copy the formatting of the selected text by pressing Alt+Ctrl+C and then apply these styles to other selected text by pressing Alt+Ctrl+V shortcuts.

Improved Customization of Code Blocks with Syntax Highlighting

The HelpSmith help authoring tool allows you to create general and UI documentation with its built-in Image Tool and screenshot annotations, as well as you can create API documentation thanks to the full-featured code blocks with syntax highlighting schemes for more than 50 programming languages including Python, PHP, JavaScript, C++, and others.

While code blocks provide flexible customization options allowing you to define their look in HTML-based documentation and other output formats, they always use a mono-size font (Courier New) with a fixed size. However, in HelpSmith 9.3, we’ve added the option to change the font size value in code blocks, which is actually necessary for better experience on high-resolutions displays, etc.

How to Change the Font Size Value of Code Blocks in Multiple Topics

In HelpSmith, you can change settings of a single code block, as well as to apply these settings to other code blocks in your topics.

1. In the topic editor, double-click on the start bound of a code block.
2. In the Code Block dialog, on the Style tab, set the desired Font Size value.
3. Go to the Apply To tab where you can choose to apply these options to other code blocks.
4. Click OK.

Remark: When you apply settings to multiple code blocks, it will only change the style settings such as font size, preferred width, border style, max height, etc. The individual options such as the programming language will stay intact. Anyway, before you mass-edit code blocks (or other elements), we recommend that you first save your help project and then review the changes to prevent any unexpected results.

Thus, you can easily change the font size value in multiple code blocks across the topics of your help project.

Get the Most User-Friendly Help Authoring Tool with a Powerful Feature-set

As usually, in HelpSmith (which you can download at the bottom of this post), we try to provide the most powerful features of a modern documentation tool combined with an intuitive user interface allowing you to easily create help files, website help, printed manuals in the Adobe PDF and Microsoft Word formats, ePub eBooks, as well as documentation in the Markdown format.

Currently, the HelpSmith help authoring tool already includes a powerful editor with formatting styles, integrated Image Tool for creating UI documentation with annotated screenshots, perfect Web Help format with a frame-less layout and the option to work on a local computer without a server, customizable code blocks with syntax highlighting for demonstrating program code, ready-to-use design themes and templates for easy customization, excellent import options allowing you to migrate from other documentation tools with minimal efforts, and other numerous features.

Finally, thanks to the new Format Painter tool, you can now quickly format your documentation by copying the formatting styles you like from existing content with just a few clicks!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 10.3

• You can now use the Format Painter tool to quickly copy and apply the formatting of your content in the topics.
• Added the option to change the Font Size value of code blocks with syntax highlighting.
• Added shortcuts to copy (Alt+Ctrl+C) and apply (Alt+Ctrl+V) formatting of selected text from the keyboard.
• Minor improvements to the Import from Word feature for better import of numbered lists.
• On the File tab, some menu commands (New, Open, etc.) might be incorrectly disabled after embedding the Image Tool into the main window.
• Import properties of individual topics (Right-click on a topic|Import Properties) were not saved to the help project due to an internal error.
• Fixed a minor issue in a JS script used by the Web Help system format.
• Improvements to user interfaces for better support for High DPI displays.
• Other enhancements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 10.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 10.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 10.3

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

The HelpSmith help authoring tool provides not only a powerful word processor with true support for styles, including combined text and paragraph styles as well as table styles, but also includes a built-in Image Tool which allows you to capture screenshots, annotate images, add clickable hotspots, and even generate topics for your application’s user interfaces. This makes it easier for technical writers to communicate product information to users in the most efficient way.

Improved User Interface of the HelpSmith’s Image Tool

In HelpSmith 10.2, we’ve redesigned the Image Tool’s interface to make it more user-friendly and intuitive. Since the Image Tool is now integrated directly into the main window of the help authoring tool, you can easily access various types of annotations, hotspots, and other objects directly from the Ribbon. Also, you can instantly see the default style for specific annotations (e.g. text labels, arrows, balloons, shapes, etc.) as defined in their settings.

In the same place, you can add control annotations which can be exported to the topic, clickable hotspots, and a mouse cursor. Also, you can find familiar commands to edit properties of the selected annotation object or hotspot, auto-alignment and rotation commands, and re-numbering for control annotations.

Thus, the HelpSmith’s Image Tool makes it easier for you to select the needed annotation as you can instantly see its default style. This also makes working with the HelpSmith help authoring tool more comfortable thanks to the user interface which fully complies with modern standards!

How to Add Annotations to an Image in HelpSmith

1. In the topic editor, hover the mouse over an image.
2. In the top-left corner of the Image, click Edit Image.
3. In the Image Tool, on the Annotations tab, in the Add Object group, select the needed object.
4. Specify parameters of the annotation, such as text, font size, color, etc.
5. Click OK.

Finally, you can quickly access image settings for specific annotation types, such as control annotations, hotspots, and cursors by clicking on the arrow icons in the Add Object group. Here, you can customize the appearance of these objects according to your preferences.

Working with the Image in the HelpSmith’s Image Tool

The Image tab now includes image-related functions including the Capture Window, Capture by Timer, and Crop commands. If you need to export the image with (or without) annotations to an external image file, you can use the Export button. To edit image properties, click the Properties button in the Ribbon as shown on the screenshot below.

Image Related Commands in the Ribbon

Remark: Please note that to apply changes to the image, you should click the OK button at the bottom of the Image Tool window. Here, you can also specify if you want to export control annotations to the topic’s body.

Faster Topic Selection in the Hyperlink Dialog

In HelpSmith, you can quickly create various types of hyperlinks, thanks to intuitive Hyperlink properties dialog allowing you to select the linked topic or specify the link to an external webpage. However, in HelpSmith 9.2, we’ve added minor improvements to the Hyperlink dialog to help you select the linked topic even faster.

Now when you insert a new hyperlink, the Hyperlink dialog remembers the last selected topic. When you insert another hyperlink, the last-used topic will be selected by default. In many cases, the next hyperlink should follow a topic from the same chapter or to a related topic in the Table of Contents, so this approach will significantly reduce the time spent searching for the needed topic!

Quick Topic Selection in the Hyperlink Dialog

It should be said that that the same approach is also used when selecting a linked topic in other places. For example, in the Related Links editor, and in hotspot properties in the Image Tool. If you change the link type from “Webpage” to “Topic”, the topic that was most recently used when creating a hyperlink will be selected by default.

More Comfortable work in the Topic Editor with True Support for Styles

Since the release of HelpSmith 10.1, which introduced a new topic editor, we have thoroughly tested its functionality. In particular, we paid special attention to working with enhanced styles, which allow you to combine paragraph and text styles, quickly create bulleted and numbered lists, and apply styles to tables in your help project.

Advanced Topic Editor with Full-Featured Styles in HelpSmith

In addition, we have received a lot of valuable feedback from HelpSmith users, which has helped us to improve the editor’s behavior in certain cases. This affects various aspects of working with the editor, such as replacing selected text, utilizing custom keyboard shortcuts, and addressing minor issues related to style assignments for new text, applying currently selected text formatting to the next paragraph, etc.

In HelpSmith 10.2, we’ve taken all these comments into account and made the built-in editor even more confortable and user-friendly!

Get the Most Powerful Help Authoring Tool with an Easy-to-Use Interface

Thanks to the intuitive interface, HelpSmith has established itself as one of the easiest-to-use help authoring tools. At the same time, HelpSmith offers many outstanding features: topic editor with full-featured styles including table styles, flexible Build Tags for conditional compilation, open XML format for your help project, great image annotating capabilities, the ability of the generated web help system to work on a local computer, excellent customization options, advanced options for importing existing documentation, and, of course, the ability to generate documentation in HTML Help (CHM), Web Help, PDF, Word, ePub, and Markdown formats from a single source!

In this HelpSmith update, we’ve made the help authoring tool even easier to use for creating help files and manuals. With the integrated Image Tool, you can now write documentation as well as take and annotate screenshots, all in one place!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 10.2

• The Image Tool is now integrated directly into the HelpSmith’s main window.
• Image Tool: select annotations from the Ribbon, instantly see the default style defined for various annotations.
• The Hyperlink dialog now displays the last used topic to help you select topics more quickly.
• When importing Word documents (.DOC, .DOCX), HelpSmith now displays error messages received from MS Word.
• Various improvements to the topic editor for more comfortable work with enhanced styles.
• Some keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+N) defined for styles might not work properly.
• HTML Head section: paths to images in media references were not resolved correctly during compilation.
• Topic editor might apply an incorrect text style for a new paragraph in certain cases.
• Fixed an issue with unintended bullets that appeared when importing some Word documents.
• Other enhancements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 10.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 10.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 10.2

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

The ability to combine paragraph and text styles has become especially convenient as you no longer need to manage separate styles. Additionally, you can quickly create bulleted and numbered lists just by applying styles without the need to setup list-related settings every time. Finally, if you have tables in your documentation, you can use full-featured table styles allowing you to specify the font, size, spacings, background, borders and other formatting settings for the table’s elements, such as the header row, total row, odd and even rows, the first and last column, etc.

How to Use Styles when Working on Your Content

If you are looking for the right tool to create your documentation, then we want to share with you a video that demonstrates how easy it is to work with content in the HelpSmith help authoring tool (which can be downloaded here) thanks to its true support for styles.

As you can see, when working on a topic, in most cases, you can simply use a standard set of styles to format your texts, create lists, and even set up tables. And when you need to change the look of your content, you can do so by editing the styles in one place!

The Benefits of Using Styles in Your Documentation

To summarize the benefits that support for dynamic styles gives you when writing your documentation, here are some key points:

• Setup and apply a consistent set of styles.
• Easily update the appearance of content by editing styles.
• Structure content within a topic by using Headings.
• Create bulleted and numbered lists with just a few clicks.
• Use table styles to setup and change the appearance of tables.
• The ability to setup an alternative view of a style in a specific documentation format.
• Move styles with your preferred settings between different help projects.
• Use shortcut keys to quickly apply styles from the keyboard.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts for Quick Access to Styles

By the way, if you prefer to work on your content using the keyboard, HelpSmith provides you with the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts for quick access to styles. For example, you can set key combinations like Ctrl+Shift+F1 for Heading 1, Ctrl+Shift+F2 for Heading 2, Ctrl+Shift+N for Normal, and Ctrl+Shift+H for Highlight. This will allow you to apply these styles to the selected text without using the mouse.

Today, it is clear that full-featured support for styles is a must-have feature for any help authoring tool which is used for creating help files, browser-based help systems, or PDF manuals. This not only simplifies working on content in the topic editor, but also makes your documentation software compatible with popular text editors, various formats, and other external tools.

Download the Latest HelpSmith Version

It should be noted that the HelpSmith 10.x actually obtained significant changes and improvements since the implementation of enhanced styles has not only affected the built-in word processor, but also many other functions of the help authoring tool, including the import capability and the ability to import and create help files and documentation in various formats.

Finally, thanks to feedback from our users, in HelpSmith 10.1.1 (Build 25.311), we have fixed some minor issues related to the work of the enhanced version of styles. Therefore, if you are already using HelpSmith 10.x, make sure that you have the latest version and build, which can be downloaded here.

Create and Distribute Web Help Systems for Use on the Local Computer

In HelpSmith 10, we introduced the redesigned Web Help system format with a customizable frame-less layout, which makes it possible for the end-users to navigate across the topics without updating the whole webpage (thanks to the dynamic data loading through an AJAX request), and, at the same time, since the web help system works as a static HTML website without frames, it is also correctly indexed by Google, Bing, and other search engines.

However, if you need to create a Web Help system that will be accessed from the local computer directly, the mentioned approach will not work because the web browsers block AJAX requests and other functions for HTML files which are located and accessed locally through the file:// protocol. Therefore, HelpSmith 10.1.1 now allows you to use the static data loading option which provides an alternative way to load data, so the help system will work both on the web server and on the local computer!

A Web Help System Working on the Local Computer

Remark: It should be noted that the Load data dynamically option is disabled by default, so your web help system will work correctly both on the web server and on the local computer. However, if you plan to use Web Help on a web server only, it is recommended to enable this option for faster loading of the TOC, search data, etc.

Using the Dynamic and Static Data Loading Modes

Dynamic Data Loading on a Web Server

You should enable the Load data dynamically option in case your Web Help system will be located and accessed from a web server only (through the http:// or https:// protocol), but not from the local computer.

1. On the Project tab, click Project Options.
2. In the Project Options dialog, in the left side, select the Web Help section.
3. In the right side, enable (or disable) the Load data dynamically option.
4. Click OK.

Using the Dynamic Data Loading Option

This mode provides faster loading of the help system (which can be important on a large help project) as it will be instantly displayed even if other data (such as TOC, keyword index, topic table, etc.) is being loaded. The full-text Search index will be loaded if the user has entered a search query. Also, when switching between topics, the help system will only load the topic’s content without the need to update the whole webpage.

Static Data Loading on the Local Computer

You should disable the Load data dynamically option in case your Web Help system will be located and accessed from the local computer (through the file:// protocol). While this mode provides correct work of a web help system on the local computer, it includes some minimal disadvantages.

For example, when the user visits another topic by selecting it in the TOC or by clicking on a hyperlink, it will re-load the whole web page including the header, TOC pane, topic’s content, etc. However, in this mode, the web help system will use special URL parameters to restore the current state of the TOC and other UI elements.

Remark: Please note that with the Load data dynamically option disabled, the Web Help system can also be located and accessed from a web server. In this case, the help system will statically load the data. At the same time, since the help system is accessed through the http:// (or https://) protocol, when switching between topics, it will still load the topic’s content dynamically without updating the whole webpage.

Create Documentation with the Most Powerful Help Authoring Tool

With HelpSmith 10.x, you can now write content in the exclusively designed word processor with true support for dynamic styles, quickly create and annotate images using the built-in Image Tool, generate topic drafts for the UI of your application, insert code blocks with syntax highlighting, automatically generate a list of related links for your topics, use the powerful options to import existing documents in different formats, work on a help project collaboratively with a version control system, and apply other numerous features which really take your documentation creation process to the next level.

Finally, thanks to this HelpSmith update, you can now create and supply a browser-based Web Help system which no longer requires a web server, so it can be easily distributed, for instance, within your company’s local network, used as a help file for a desktop application (as alternative to the .CHM help file), or even used on a computer without Internet connection!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 10.1.1

• Now you can generate a Web Help system that works on the local computer without a web server.
• The Index in Web Help now finds the specified keyword and its variations.
• The topic editor did not save the text style after selecting a fragment of text and entering new replacement text.
• When applying a reserved Paragraph List N style, it now sets the corresponding Level value to the selected paragraph(s).
• Inserting an image into the topic editor from the Clipboard did not work in some cases.
• Linking to a topic in a Web Help system by the Context number or textual ID did not work on iPhone.
• The style tree used the Descending sorting mode as the initial value.
• The “<” and “>” characters, contained in the titles of the Web Help’s UI elements (e.g. TOC pane, text labels, etc.), were not displayed.
• Fixed an issue with control characters which could be imported from an RTF file.
• Improvements for better support of High DPI display mode.
• Other enhancements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 10.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 10.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 10.1.1

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

The word processor is a central component that in many ways determines the process of creating help files and documentation with a help authoring tool. Therefore, in HelpSmith we have done a huge work to redesign the built-in word processor and implement support for the most powerful features to give you the possibility to comfortably work on writing and editing content, easily setup and update formatting settings by using styles, complement your texts with visual elements, and, as a result, produce clear and professional documentation in the most efficient way!

Use Combined Paragraph and Text Styles for Text Formatting

HelpSmith 10.1 now allows you to use styles that combine paragraph and text formatting settings, the approach used by MS Word and other major word processors. As a result, you can easily setup fonts, alignment, indentation, spacing, and other parameters without the need to manage text and paragraph styles separately.

In most cases, you can simply use the Heading styles for titles and the Normal style for the main text, and thus, structure content within an individual topic. As usually, in your help project, you have a standard set of styles for hyperlinks, and also the Highlight style which can be used for the names of menu commands and other UI elements in the texts of user instructions.

Remark: It should be noted that the Headings and Normal styles are now automatically converted from text styles to paragraph styles, so they can store settings of the both types. However, if you open an existing help project, it will not require any editing from you, thanks to full backward compatibility provided by HelpSmith.

Similarly to the previous HelpSmith versions, you can, if necessary, set alternative formatting settings for a style in a specific documentation format. For example, if you use the Highlight style to indicate command names mentioned in the text with a background color, you can make this style Bold Text in the Markdown documentation, so it will work in this plain text-based format as well.

Full-featured Table Styles to Work with Tables Effortlessly

With HelpSmith, you can now use full-featured table styles with flexible settings which you can apply to multiple tables in your help project. Thus, when you need to update the appearance of tables in your documentation, you can quickly do so by changing settings of the table style, which eliminates the necessity to edit all the tables individually.

A table style allows you to define formatting for the whole table, or for individual elements of the table. For example, you can set formatting settings (e.g. font name, size, color, line spacing, text alignment, borders, background, etc.) for the header row, total row, table’s first column, even or odd rows and columns, and so on.

And even if you have applied a table style to a specific table in a topic, you can still modify the table’s own properties, say, to change settings of certain table’s cells by defining their own borders, backgrounds, etc., which will overwrite the same settings defined in the linked table style.

Thus, HelpSmith now makes it possible for you to create and update the appearance of tables effortlessly, without having to find and edit each and every table contained in your help project.

Edit Table Borders with a New User-Friendly Interface

The new HelpSmith version provides improved interface for editing table’s borders and background settings, which is similar to the UI which you can find in popular text editors that you can be familiar with.

HelpSmith’s word processor uses the HTML’s table model, which implies that you can define separate borders and backgrounds for the table itself, and also for each of the table’s cells. Moreover, if a table uses the Border Collapse mode, neighbor cells will have common borders, so the web browser will have to determine the dominating border that will be displayed.

Editing Borders of a Table in the HelpSmith’s Topic Editor

However, despite the complexity of the mentioned model, HelpSmith nows provides you with a user-friendly border selector allowing you to select the desired border style, color, size, and apply it to a specific border easily. Similarly, you can edit background settings which can be applied to the table, or to the selected cells.

How to Edit Borders of a Table

1. In the topic editor, select a table, or individual cells that you need.
2. Right-click on the selection, and then click Table Properties.
3. In the Table dialog, click Borders.
4. In the Border dialog, select a border style, specify color, width, and then click on a border in the model in the right side.
5. Click OK.

Remark: Depending on the Border Collapse setting used by the table, the Border dialog can have either one or two tabs to define separate borders to the table itself, and to the selected cells.

Finally, it should be said that the new improved Border selection dialog is used both for editing table’s individual settings, and for editing similar settings of a table style.

Define Keyboard Shortcuts to Apply Styles Quickly

While writing or editing text in the HelpSmith’s topic editor, you can now use keyboard shortcuts to apply styles quickly without having to double-click on these styles with the mouse every time.

For example, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to the most frequently used styles, such as Headings, Normal, Highlight, Bold Text, etc., and then simply press these shortcut keys when you need to apply a specific style to the selected fragment of text, paragraphs, lists, or tables.

Setting a Shortcut Key to a Style

How to Define a Keyboard Shortcut for a Style

1. On the Styles pane, right-click on a style.
2. In the popup menu, click Shortcut Key.
3. In the Shortcut Key box, press the needed key combination.
4. Click OK.

Thus, HelpSmith allows you to save your time and effort while editing the formatting of your documentation!

Even Better Import of Existing Documentation with Extended Options

Many technical writers create help files and manuals by importing existing documentation from different formats, such as .HTML, Word (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF), Markdown, and other formats.

Therefore, the HelpSmith’s Import (File|Import) feature provides various options to simplify the import process, such as the ability to selectively extract content from HTML files (by using CSS selectors), automatically group images by the topics where they are used, replace original styles, remove titles which will be displayed by the #TopicTitle variable in a template, and so on.

Useful Options for Easier Import of Documents with Styles

With HelpSmith, you can control if you want to keep the original styles used by an imported document, or replace them with the styles of your help project. If necessary, you can also specify what styles should be replaced.

For example, we have imported a sample Word document, and selected to replace the original styles. As you can see, after importing, the imported topic looks according to the styles used in the destination help project, so there is no need to adjust the formatting settings manually!

Another new option allows the HelpSmith’s Import engine to automatically combine paragraph and text styles in the imported documents when it is possible.

Importing Files with Hyperlinks to Other Files

When you import files which contain hyperlinks to other files, HelpSmith now saves the source filenames from which the topics were imported. This approach provides correct work of hyperlinks to topics even if you import other linked files later, but not only within the same import session.

If you import some file again (which can also be splitted into multiple topics), you can specify that the current import session must be considered as the primary session for the given filename. As a result, hyperlinks from newly imported topics will be linked to the topics imported during this session.

Editing Source Filenames of Imported Topics

If necessary, HelpSmith allows you to edit associations of imported topics with their source filenames. For example, before the next import, you may need to change these settings if the original files were moved to a different location.

1. In the Project Manager, select the topic(s) that you need.
2. Right-click on the selected topics, then click Import Properties.
3. Specify the associated filename for this topic(s), and other import-related settings.
4. Click OK.

Source Filename of an Imported Topic

File Extension Substitution in Hyperlinks

If you have converted .DOCX files to .RTF files (which is recommended in some cases) and then imported them with HelpSmith, these files can still contain hyperlinks linking to the initial .DOCX files. As a result, it might lead to non-working hyperlinks in your help project. As a solution, you can now allow HelpSmith to automatically substitute file extensions during the import process to find the associated topics, so the hyperlinks will work correctly.

Benefit from the Help Authoring Tool with Superior Capabilities!

As you can see, the HelpSmith help authoring tool now provides you with the most powerful capabilities including the built-in Word-like topic editor with full-featured styles, customizable templates, integrated Image Tool with the ability to capture screenshots, annotate images, and generate UI documentation, useful options for easy import of existing documentation, XML-based project format compatible with version control and translation tools, help system integration options, local web server for testing, and many other useful features.

Finally, thanks to the support of the major documentation formats, such as HTML Help, Web Help, PDF, Word, ePub, and Markdown, you can actually focus on writing and create first-class help files and documentation with ease!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 10.1

• The HelpSmith’s word processor now allows you to combine paragraph styles and text styles for easier text formatting.
• Full-featured table styles allowing you to define formatting for the whole table, or for table’s elements (e.g. Header row, Total row, Odd/Even Columns, etc.).
• A new user-friendly interface to edit borders of an individual table, or border settings of a table style easily.
• You can now define keyboard shortcuts to apply styles to the selected text quickly.
• The Styles pane (View tab|Styles) now displays the project’s styles in a more convenient form.
• Native support of the new extended styles by all HelpSmith’s export engines including Web Help, HTML Help (.CHM), PDF, Word, Markdown, etc.
• When copying and pasting content (for example, from another help project, from a different topic in the same project, etc.), HelpSmith now re-links inserted content to the same styles in the destination project by style names.
• When using the Undo and Redo commands, HelpSmith now attempts to restore links to the original reserved and user-defined styles instead of re-adding them as new auto-created styles.
• In the topic editor, you can now move the selected paragraphs by pressing the Shift+Alt+Up and Shift+Alt+Down keys.
• The Import (File|Import) feature now allows you to replace the original styles used by the source document with the styles of the destination help project.
• New options for the Import feature: set the primary session for a repeatedly imported filename, view and edit the source filename of the imported topics, file extension substitution in hyperlinks, etc.
• When importing Word documents, the list marker used a wrong font for certain list types in some cases.
• Other enhancements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 10.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 10.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 10.1

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

The Web Help format (or browser-based help) is one of the major documentation types and an efficient way to supply information on your product (for example, user guides, step-by-step instructions, UI documentation, etc.) to the end-users as it allows you to easily publish a full-featured help system on the product’s website, integrate the help system with your application directly, and also share links to the relevant topics with the customers, which can greatly save the time and effort spent on technical support.

Redesigned Frame-less Web Help Layout with Enhanced Customization Options

In HelpSmith 10.0, you can now create a Web Help system that incorporates a brand new layout that is based on the principles of a Single-Page application (SPA) which dynamically loads and displays the content of help topics and navigation elements without using frames (or iframes) elements, and thus, provides better experience to the end-users, complies with today’s web standards, and also meets modern Search Engine Optimization (SEO) requirements.

New Web Help System Format with a Frame-less Layout

If you need to customize the appearance of your Web Help system, you can, as usually, apply one of the existing themes and style settings of individual elements through the UI without having to edit even a line of code. However, HelpSmith now also allows you to fully customize the Web Help system’s layout according to your own needs by editing the HTML/CSS code of the template.

Of course, if you need to add minimal changes to the Web Help’s layout, say, to set a company logo that will be displayed by the default template, you can do so through the UI without having to edit any code.

How to Set a Company Logo

1. On the Project tab, in the Project group, click Project Options.
2. In the Project Options window, go to the Web Help section.
3. In the Logo box, click Change to select an image file from the Media Repository of the help project.
4. Click OK.

Finally, it should be noted that the new Web Help system, similarly to its previous version, is fully responsive, meaning that your online documentation will perfectly work on desktop computers and on mobile devices including tablets and smartphones.

New Customizable Design Themes to Create a Professional Appearance

In HelpSmith 10.0, you will find an updated set of the customizable appearance themes that you can apply to your Web Help system, which make it easy for you to create a professionally looking help system just in a couple of clicks. However, you can also edit style settings of individual elements (e.g. Header, Footer, Tabs, Text Fields, etc.) in the selected theme, and thus, customize the appearance as needed.

How to Change the Appearance of Your Web Help System

1. On the Project tab, in the Project group, click Project Options.
2. In the Project Options dialog, go to the Web Help|Appearance section.
3. In the Style scheme, select an appearance theme (for example, Dark Elegance) that you want to apply.
4. Click OK.

Remark: It should be noted that we have also retained the Classic styles schemes which can be used by existing help projects.

Edit Individual Elements of the Selected Theme in a Single Place

The new HelpSmith version also includes an improved Web Help appearance editor which allows you to pick the desired style scheme, select the elements that you want to modify, set the needed settings to these elements in a single window, and view the changes in the preview area.

The New Appearance Editor for Your Web Help System

For example, if you need to customize the background and borders of the TOC entires, in the Web Help|Appearance section, under the Contents Tab node, edit the Entry Title Style and Entry Borders elements, and set the desired settings for them.

Get Full Control Over the Code of Your Web Help’s Template

With HelpSmith, you can not just apply and change the existing appearance themes, but fully control the template used by your Web Help system, and, if necessary, modify the layout by editing the template’s code.

The possibility to edit the template’s HTML/CSS code lets a web developer to change the position of the navigation elements, embed custom UI elements, integrate third party web services, implement any non-standard functionality, and so on. As a result, you get practically unlimited possibilities for Web Help customization!

Moreover, because a Web Help system operates as a static website that includes a TOC, Keyword Index, and Full-Text Search features, you can even modify the template to make it look and function like a regular website that you might use for publishing any type of information for your audience.

How to Edit the Code of the Web Help’s Template

In HelpSmith, you can edit the template with a powerful code editor that allows you to insert general and Web Help-related text variables, easily insert images from the project’s Media Repository, and also use special conditions that determine if a specific element should be included.

1. On the Project tab, in the Project group, click Project Options.
2. In the Project Options dialog, go to the Web Help|Layout section.
3. Use the code editor to modify the template’s HTML and CSS code.
4. Click OK.

Finally, you can also change the default appearance and behavior of the Web Help system, thanks to the HelpSmith’s ability to include custom CSS styles and JavaScript code to your help project.

Integrate Your Web Help System with Your Application or Website Easily

If you need to integrate your Web Help system with your application or website, you can simply create links to specific topics by linking to the .HTML files of these topics. When the user clicks on such a link, it will open the referenced topic just like a regular webpage.

Since the Web Help system no longer uses frames/iframes, the linked topic will be displayed instantly without internal redirects, which also eliminates the known issue with the browser’s Back and Forward buttons which might not work properly in the previous version.

Remark: For backward compatibility, we have retained the option to link to a specific topic by the topic’s numeric Context value or by the textual ID value. However, while this option is enabled for existing help projects (so the existing links to your web help system will work normally), if you start a new help project, this option will be disabled by default.

Please note that to comply with the SEO requirements, you should use only a single way to link to a specific webpage. Otherwise, search engines will consider different links as duplicate content. This is why we recommend linking to topics by using the links to the topic files only.

Better Indexing and Ranking of Your Content by Search Engines

The Web Help system now stores the content of each topic in a stand-alone file which uses HTML5 tags, and is no longer displayed within an iframe element. This, in turn, makes it easier for Google, Bing, and other search engines to scan and index the content of your help topics, and completely eliminates potential issues related to the usage of frames.

Editing the Web Help’s Title Format

In addition, since HelpSmith allows you to define the format of the Web Help’s Page Title (for example: “Topic Title – Company Name“), add meta tags for individual topics (e.g. Description, Keywords, etc.), and set alternate texts for images, your help system can be optimized in full compliance with search engine requirements.

How to Define the Web Help’s Title Format

1. On the Project tab, in the Project group, click Project Options.
2. In the Project Options dialog, go to the Web Help section.
3. In the Page Title box, specify the format that you need.
4. Click OK.

Thus, HelpSmith allows you to create a SEO-friendly Web Help system whose pages are correctly indexed and ranked by search engines, thanks to the compliance with the actual SEO requirements!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 10.0

• Completely redesigned Web Help format with a frame-less layout.
• Added modern style schemes for Web Help system customization.
• Improved Web Help appearance editor now allows you to edit style settings of scheme’s elements in a single window.
• You can now fully modify the Web Help’s layout by editing the template’s HTML/CSS code.
• Added a new Corporate template which can be applied to the topics.
• You can now define the format of the Web Help’s Page Title (for example: “Topic Title – Company Name“, etc.).
• You can now set a company logo through the UI without editing the Web Help template’s code.
• Improved the Text Variables dialog: better presentation of variables, the ability to find variables by a keyword.
• Added an option to automatically expand a certain number of TOC node levels on the Web Help system startup.
• Improved the Template dialog: you can now easily select a pre-built topic template, view for which documentation formats a template is designed, etc.
• It is now possible to change the color used to highlight found keywords in the topics in a Web Help system.
• Web Help: you can now pass the “?search=some%20keyword” parameter to the URL string to display search results by a specific keyword. In addition, you can pass the “&match=phrase” parameter to activate the Phrase Search mode.
• The Web Help’s Search feature now indexes and finds not only the titles of topics, but also the titles of Web Page links in the TOC.
• The Web Help’s search results will now display the topic’s Document Title if it is different from the TOC item’s title.
• In Web Help’s Index, when clicking on a keyword associated with more than one topic, the topic selection dialog will display the topic’s Document Title if it is different from the TOC item’s title.
• Removed the XHTML Compliant and External Stylesheet options from the project options.
• The HTML Files Extension option was moved to the Web Help section from the general HTML Export section.
• If the keyword list is empty (for example, if the associated topics were excluded by Build Tags), the empty Index tab appeared in HTML Help and Web Help formats.
• The HelpSmith’s HTML Editor now allows you to use the </ENDIF> tag as an easier way to close the opened condition tag.
• Other improvements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a purchased license for HelpSmith 9.x for less than a year, you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith 10.x (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 10.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 10.0

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

In addition to the new Import capabilities (including the option to extract content from HTML files, group image files by topics, apply styles of the destination project, etc.) which were introduced in the previous version, the new HelpSmith update also provides enhancements to simplify the process of importing content from existing documents in Word (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF), .HTML, and Markdown (.MD) formats that can be created with other help authoring tools and text editors.

Use the Set Numbering Value Option for Easier Creation of Numbered Lists

In HelpSmith, you can create a numbered list through the Bullets and Numbering dialog where you can select a suitable list template that will create the appropriate list and paragraph styles in your help project.

Alternatively, you can use the Styles pane (View tab|Styles) to create a list style and paragraph styles manually, so you will be able to double-click on the these styles to apply them to the paragraphs of a numbered list.

Selecting a Preset for a Numbered List

In both cases, for a numbered list, you can set the desired Start At value either by editing the list preset, or by editing settings of the list style directly. However, in this HelpSmith update, you can now also change the Start At values for individual paragraphs without the need to modify settings of the associated list style.

Defining Numbered Values for Individual Paragraphs

As a result, you can easily create complex single-level and multi-level lists which can use a single list style, but have different numbering values. Moreover, you can use the new Set Numbering Value option, say, when you need to insert additional paragraphs with text or images between numbered paragraphs, and so on.

Improved Import of Numbered Lists from Various Documentation Formats

The new Set Numbering Value feature not only simplifies creation of numbered lists while editing text in the topic editor, but also it allows HelpSmith to provide better support for complex numbered lists which are imported from various document formats.

For example, when you import a Word document (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF), which contains lists with numbering throughout the entire document, HelpSmith now automatically calculates the numbering values for the paragraphs similarly to MS Word, so the original numbering values retain in the imported topics.

Also, when you split a Word document into topics, HelpSmith now utilizes the Set Numbering Value option for numbered titles to preserve the original numbering values despite they can now be located in separate topics, not in the same document.

Similarly, the ability to re-define Start At values for numbered paragraphs is applied when importing lists from other formats including HTML files and Markdown files. As a result, the imported paragraphs can now have different numbering values as defined in the source documents, but use a single list style as required by the HelpSmith’s word processor.

And, of course, it should be noted that when you generate documentation from your help project in different formats (including HTML Help, Web Help, PDF, Word, Markdown, etc.), the numbered lists will work as defined in the design-time, thanks to the new algorithms implemented for the HelpSmith’s export engines, which take into account the possibilities and limitations of these formats.

Define Alternate Text for Images Quickly through the Image Properties Dialog

While the HelpSmith help authoring tool provides an easy-to-use word processor which is combined with great image editing features (such as the ability to capture screenshots, add various kinds of annotations, create clickable hotspots, etc.), it also provides flexible options for creating HTML-based documentation.

For example, for your Web Help system, you can define meta-tags for topics, include custom CSS styles and JS scripts, embed HTML code insertions into a topic, and even define HTML attributes for individual elements, which can be used to implement non-standard functionality or define SEO-related data.

When you need to define alternate text for an image, one of the requirements of the HTML format, which is also important for SEO-purposes since this attribute is taken into account by search engines, you can simply select that image, and then, add the Alt attribute through the HTML Attributes pane (which you can access by clicking: View|HTML Attributes).

Setting an Alternate Text through the HTML Attributes Pane

In HelpSmith 9.9.1, you can now quickly edit the image’s alternate text through the Image Properties dialog which can be accessed by double-clicking on the image that you need. Technically, when you change the Alternate text setting, it will simply change the value of the Alt attribute of the image element, and vise versa.

How to Edit Properties of an Image

1. In the topic editor, right-click on the image that you need.
2. Click Properties.
3. Set the desired settings, such as width, height, alignment, alternate text, etc.
4. Click OK.

Setting an Alternate Text through the Image Properties Dialog

Please note that if you need to add or edit annotation objects to an image (such as shapes, balloons, arrows, text labels, etc.), you can hover over the image, and then click the Edit Image button which appears in the top-left corner.

Remark: The Image Tool with the ability to capture screenshots and edit image annotations is available in HelpSmith Professional (or higher) edition only.

Finally, it should be pointed out that when you import documentation from HTML and Markdown files, the HelpSmith’s Import feature also supports the Alt attributes and descriptions defined for images.

Release Notes for HelpSmith 9.9.1

• You can now set numbering values for individual paragraphs in the topic editor.
• Improved support for numbered lists imported (File|Import) from MS Word (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF) documents, which can use numbering throughout the entire document.
• Better import of numbered lists from HTML and Markdown documents.
• You can now import files (.DOCX, .HTML, .MD, etc.), which contain hyperlinks to other files, at any time, but not only within the same import session.
• It is now possible to edit Alternate text for images quickly through the Image Properties dialog.
• New algorithms for correct work of complex numbered lists (with redefined Start At values, etc.) in various output formats.
• The redefined style settings for the Markdown format were not saved to the help project file.
• Fixed an issue with lists imported from a Markdown document.
• Other improvements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 9.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 9.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 9.9.1

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

Many HelpSmith users create documentation by importing content from various formats including Microsoft Word files (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF), .HTML files, Markdown documents (.md), or compiled .CHM files, which could be generated by using different tools. In this HelpSmith update, you will find new options that can greatly simplify the process of importing content from different sources and also migration from other help authoring tools.

Import Content from HTML Files by Using CSS Selectors

In HelpSmith 9.9, when you import HTML documentation (including .HTML, .CHM, and .HHP files), you can now extract content from the target HTML elements of the page’s layout by using CSS selectors. Similarly, you can skip undesired elements which should not be imported into your help project.

Since an HTML page consists of a hierarchical structure of nested elements (which you can see by viewing the page’s HTML source code), web browsers use CSS selectors to match specific HTML elements (for example by the element’s id value, class name, etc.) and apply styles to them. However, it is also possible to use CSS selectors to match the elements whose content you want to import.

Using CSS Selectors to Extract Content from HTML Files

Extracting Content from a Compiled Help System

The slides below demonstrate how you can use CSS selectors to import content from an existing .CHM help file, or from a web help system. While the topic in the compiled help file contains page layout elements, the new options allow you to extract only content from it.

How to Use CSS Selectors to Extract Content from Specific Elements

For example, if a typical web page in your HTML documentation uses a layout like in the example below, you can specify the following CSS selector to extract and import content from the elements with the “my-content” class.

.my-content

The source HTML code of a sample page:

<article>
	<h1>Hello World</h1>
	<div class="my-content">
		<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</p>
		<div class="info-box">
			Unnecessary text
		</div>
		<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</p>
		<p class="copy">© CompanyName. All rights reserved.</p>
	</div>
</article>

As a result, you can now import HTML-based documentation without having to manually separate the content from the webpage’s layout, and thus, the process of importing documentation from a collection of .HTML files, from a compiled .CHM help file, or from a compiled Web Help system can be as easy and clean as importing documentation from the Markdown format that we discussed previously.

Apply Styles of the Current Help Project

When you import content into HelpSmith, you will most likely need to apply formatting and styles that are already used by other topics in the current help project, but not the original styles used by the imported documents.

Therefore, HelpSmith 9.9 now allows you to clear and replace the original styles with the styles of the current help project. For example, you can replace the Heading styles, apply Normal styles to regular text, link all hyperlinks with the standard Hyperlink style available in your help project, and so on.

Replacing Styles of the Imported Topics

Remark: It should be noted that the ability to replace the original styles is supported for all document formats (HTML, CHM, Word, etc.) which you can import into HelpSmith.

As a result, HelpSmith 9.9 now allows you to automatically apply the styles of your current help project, and thus, you do not have to manually edit style and formatting settings in the imported content, which would be a time-consuming task, especially on a big number of topics.

Group Images by Topics for Your Convenience

The HelpSmith’s Import feature also allows you to group imported image files in the project’s Media Repository by the topics which contain these images, instead of restoring the original file structure used by the source documents.

Grouping Images by the Appropriate Topics

For example, when you import topics into your help project, this option allows you to easily understand to which topics a specific group of images belongs (without applying the “Find in Topics” command to individual image files), and so, easily manage the imported image files without having to re-organize the Media Repository’s structure.

It should be said that the ability to group images by topics combined with the options, such as extracting content from HTML documents and automatic style replacement, now really makes importing help files and manuals which were produced with other help authoring tools and editors easier!

Removal of Titles is Now Supported for All Formats

In HelpSmith 9.9, we have moved the “Remove the Heading 1 title from the topic’s body” option to a common tab in the Import Settings dialog since the given option is now supported for all document formats (including .HTML, .CHM, .DOCX, etc.), which can be imported into your help project.

This also means that if you are importing multiple documents or an entire folder with files in different formats, you can easily remove the Headings 1 titles from the body of the imported topics as the titles will be displayed by the template containing the #TopicTitle variable in it.

Removing the Titles from the Body of the Imported Topics

If your help project does not have any templates, you can add one of more templates for the appropriate output formats as explained here.

Remark: Please note that if you import HTML files in which headings are not placed within the <h1>Title</h1> tags, you can still remove such titles from the document’s body by using CSS selectors as mentioned above.

Finally, the HelpSmith help authoring tool now makes the process of importing existing documentation as easy as possible and lets you focus on the important tasks, such as writing new content and supplying documentation in various formats!

Release Notes for HelpSmith 9.9

• The Import feature (File|Import) now allows you to extract content from HTML files by using CSS selectors.
• You can now clear and replace the original styles used by the imported topics with the styles of the current help project.
• Added the option to group imported image files in the Media Repository by the appropriate topics.
• The Import feature now sets the topic titles according to the titles of the imported documents.
• When importing files, you can enable (or disable) downloading of remote images from the Internet.
• HTML importer now imports the Alt attribute defined for images.
• Fixed an issue with the font color in a list style which is created after importing Markdown files.
• When pasting text from MS Word through the Clipboard, hyperlinks in the text did not work.
• Fixed minor issues with the HTML and Word (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF) importers, which occurred on some documents.
• Other enhancements and minor bug fixes.

How to Upgrade

If you have a license for HelpSmith 9.x (or for a previous version for less than a year), you can upgrade to the latest HelpSmith version (the same edition) for free. Otherwise, you can upgrade existing licenses to HelpSmith 9.x at a special price. To place an upgrade order, you can visit this link.

Download HelpSmith 9.9

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.

For example, if you import an exiting .CHM help file into HelpSmith, you will need to add and setup a topic template since templates are used in design-time only, but are not stored in the final documentation. Similarly, since different editors have a different set of features and apply different formatting algorithms to the same content, you may also need to edit the imported topics to correct text formatting, styles, and other elements.

How to Import Content from a Collection of Markdown Files

Therefore, if you need to import content that was created by using other help authoring tools, you can consider the Markdown format as a possible solution, whose support was introduced in the latest HelpSmith version (which you can download from our website).

Below is a video that demonstrates how you can import content from a collection of Markdown files (.md), and then generate documentation in different output formats, such as a .CHM help file, browser-based online web help system, etc.

How to Import Markdown Documents into HelpSmith

If you have documentation stored as a set of Markdown files (.md), you can import it into a new or existing HelpSmith help project as follows:

1. In the Ribbon, click File, and then click Import.
2. In the right-side, click Import Files to import one or more files.
3. In the Import Files dialog, find and select the files that you want to import.
   Remark: You can select multiple files by using the mouse, or by clicking on the files while holding down the Ctrl key.
4. Click Open.
5. In the Import Settings dialog, on the Markdown Files tab, specify the options as you need.
   Remark: We recommend that you enabled and use the Remove title from topic document option as explained below.
6. Click OK.

Topic Imported from a Markdown File

You can also use these instructions in case your previous documentation software allows you to export a help project as a set of Markdown files (.md).

Removing Titles from the Body of Imported Topics

While importing content from Markdown files (.md), HelpSmith offers an option to automatically remove the Heading 1 titles from the body of the imported documents.

Since in your help project, you can apply templates which are used to build the final topics in the output documentation, there is no need to store the titles in the topics directly. Instead, the title of the current topic will be displayed by the #TopicTitle variable contained in the template (for example, you can see the sample projects available in HelpSmith).

Import Settings for the Markdown Format

Thus, HelpSmith allows you to import content from a set of Markdown files (.md) and generate documentation in other formats almost without the need to edit it, which is possible thanks to the simplicity of the Markdown format.

The Key Benefits of the Markdown Format

Unlike other formats, such as Word (.DOCX, .DOC, .RTF) or .HTML, a Markdown document is technically a plain text file which can be viewed and edited by using a plain text editor which is available on any platform on desktop computers and mobile devices.

At the same time, the Markdown format allows you to denote text formatting (for example, **bold text**, *italic text*, etc.), and also to insert images, tables, hyperlinks, code blocks, and other objects. As a result, if you use a specialized text editor which includes support for the this format, it will display a Markdown file as a full-featured document.

Thus, Markdown is a portable format which makes it easy for you to import and export content between different applications and web-based services including text editors and documentation software like the HelpSmith help authoring tool.

Current Plans for New HelpSmith Updates

While we are currently focused on the development of new features for future HelpSmith versions, we are also considering enhancements to the HelpSmith’s Import functionality.

Based on the experience with the Markdown format, it is obvious that when importing content from other formats (for example, from Word, HTML, CHM, etc.), there should be an option to import only content with basic formatting elements, link titles and hyperlinks to a single set of styles used within the destination help project, and thus, let the user to complete this task with minimal effort and great results!

Download HelpSmith

You can download the latest HelpSmith version here.