Formatting live preview
Help+Manual separates formatting and layout from content. You control your formatting with styles as you would in a modern word processor. Changing the style definition updates the formatting everywhere. Similarly, page layout is stored in "templates" that you apply to your project when you publish. The templates are fully-editable: changing the template changes the layout for the entire project.
For example, the PDF templates define your margins, headers and footers, page numbering, cover pages, table of contents, topic headings and much more besides. They can be edited with the Manual Designer PDF layout program included with Help+Manual and applied with a single click when you publish your project as a PDF. Changing the entire branding of your PDF is as simple as re-publishing with a different template.
Similarly, all the page types generated in HTML-based output formats (topics, contents, search page, keyword index page etc.) have fully-editable HTML template pages. You can edit every detail of them directly in Help+Manual with an integrated HTML code editor with syntax highlighting. And you can add your own code, external script and CSS files and much more.
Step 1:
select the publishing format
Step 2:
apply a skin for layout
One-click HTML layout with skins
Help+Manual brings you closer to the ideal of one-click layout and formatting: In addition to fully customizable HTML and PDF templates, Help+Manual also supports “skins” for HTML-based output.
A skin is a special file that contains all the templates, variables, styles and other components used for styling HTML output. You just select a skin when you publish to Webhelp or CHM to apply the layout stored in the skin to the output.
Skins can be edited just like projects and you can create your own skins by saving any project as a skin so that you can re-use its layout. Or you can let us do the work for you: Help+Manual comes with a set of attractive standard skins that you can apply to your projects with a single click.
Help+Manual brings you closer to the ideal of one-click layout and formatting: In addition to fully customizable HTML and PDF templates, Help+Manual also supports “skins” for HTML-based output.
Help+Manual Premium Pack:
Responsive Skins and Power Tools for Help+Manual
The Help+Manual Premium Pack gives you a wide range of feature-rich skins for your WebHelp, eWriter and CHM documentation. Version 6 brings a new "Simplicity" skin, updated designs, keyboard control for unsighted users in all WebHelp skins and eWriter support in all WebHelp skins. Each skin series comes with multiple color themes, except Simplicity, which is designed to be as simple as possible.
The Premium Pack comes with a configuration utility for the skins called Toolbox, which also includes a set of powerful tools for both skins and Help+Manual projects. This now also includes a smart WebHelp upload utlity called DeltaFTP. See further below for details.
Responsive design, fast browsing, easy configuration
WebHelp adjusts automatically to desktop, tablet and phone browsers, with an optimized user interface for each device type. Our unique WebHelp 3 technology gives you lightning-fast browsing and topic loading. The Premium Pack Toolbox utility makes configuring your skin for use fast and easy.
Toolbox configuration utility
Toolbox Power Tools
Toolbox baggage editing
DeltaFTP WebHelp uploader
Simplicity skin — light mode
Simplicity skin — dark mode
V2 Classic skin — ideal for ewriter
V2 Classic skin — modern variant
Cool Max Skin
Modern Flexibile skin
Modern Minimalist skin
Magazine skin
New in Version 6
Premium Pack 6 comes with new features, updated designs, a new skin and a powerful new tool. Below are just a few of the many improvements and new features.
Keyboard navigation for unsighted users
All WebHelp skins now feature efficient keyboard navigation and screen reader support for unsighted users. The user just needs to hit the Escape key in any location for direct links to all parts of the WebHelp interface. Navigation with Tab, arrow keys, Space and enter is fast and intuitive.
DeltaFTP command line and GUI tool for updating WebHelp
One of the oldest problems with WebHelp has always been that even small changes in your Help+Manual project require a full re-upload of all files. The new DeltaFTP WebHelp synchronization tool uses checksums to ensure that only files that have actually changed need to be uploaded. This can massively reduce your uploading time and volume with large WebHelp collections. It comes with both a GUI front end in Toolbox and a command line interface for integration in your automated build system.
Elimination of separate eWriter Help skins
All the WebHelp skins are now integrated and also support eWriter Help. There is no more need to use separate skins for WebHelp and eWriter Help.
Keyword index: Filter instead of search
Skins with a keyword index now use a fast filter function instead of search. When you enter a term, the filter hides all the index entries that don't include the term. This is much more intuitive than scrolling through an entire index to find the term.
Sortable tables in all skins
Sortable tables are now available in all Premium Pack skins. They also work exactly the same in all skins.
Comparison slider in all skins
All skins now include a comparison slider for comparing two images. This is ideal for before-and-after comparisons, for example to show the effect of a setting or the difference between two versions of a software interface. You just need to insert two images in your project and add two simple HTML classes to the images.
Google fonts supported in all skins
All skins except CHM now support Google Fonts. When using the skins for eWriter you can only use the locally hosted fonts version, which is the default, and is also GDPR compatible.
New Simplicity skin with automatic dark mode support
Sometimes you need a skin that puts design in the background and functionality in the foreground — something that is as universally compatible as a page of text. The new Simplicity skin serves that need, with the added feature that it automatically switches to dark mode in dark mode environments.
Responsive Design - Embedded Help - Field-Level Popups
Hyperspeed Browsing - Guided Configuration
Key Features
- Fully responsive — create one WebHelp site for desktop, tablet and phone browsers
- Frameless topics — no more index.html layout page, the topic pages are your pages and their names are your URLs
- Embedded help — embed your help in existing web pages with a snippet of code like a YouTube video
- Skin Language Files - the Toolbox utility can export and import all the interface texts. English and German language files are included for all skins. More languages will be added as they become available.
- Field-level popups — display formatted popups from your help in your own web pages with simple links
- Field-level topics - display entire topics from your help in your own web pages in the same way as popups
- Fast browsing — highly optimized topic loading for extremely fast browsing
- Embedding in Microsoft SharePoint Online — SharePoint Online administrators can host WebHelp created with Premium Pack skins on SharePoint sites and embed the help in SharePoint site pages. This also works on the SharePoint iOS and Android apps on tablets and smartphones.
- Embedded WebHelp — Efficient documentation for web pages and web apps with WebHelp embedded in your own pages, or with topics and popups displayed in your pages with your own links.
Other Features
Premium Pack skins add many features to your output that are not available in Help+Manual's standard skins and templates. These include:
- Configurable mail feedback with automatic reference to the current project and topic
- Advanced printing support with preview of printer-friendly topic version
- Toggle jump — link to anchors inside toggles
- Auto TOC — auto-generated menu of links to scroll to headings in the current topic
- Draggable and resizable popups that are sized and positioned automatically
- Permalinks for quick references to the current topic
- Social sharing now with automatic sharing links for Facebook, X, Mastodon, Threads, LinkedIn and Email
- Google Web Fonts — Integrate Google Web Fonts in your projects, use them directcly in Help+Manual and in your WebHelp output.
- User Code & Session Variables — Options for integrating your own JavaScript code, URL control parameters and session variables.
- Images & Tables on Mobile — Solve problems with larger images and tables on mobile devices by adding a single CSS class to them.
All the skins you need
Premium Pack 6 streamlines the WebHelp skins by combining WebHelp and eWriter support in all skins and adds the attractive new Simplicity skin. All WebHelp skins now also feature keyboard navigation for unsighted users with screen reader support, which also works in eWriter. All skins now also use modern SVG icons that always look crisp and sharp.
Simplicity Skin
The new Simplicity skin is designed as a no-customization option with minimal design that can blend with any website. Ideal for embedding and web app documentation. It features automatic dark mode.
V5 Cool Max Skins
The Cool Max skins are streamlined and modern, with a reduced set of CSS files, new internal HTML structure for improved accessibility, and a choice of three editable header menu options.
V5 Minimalist Modern Skins
With an unobtrusive modern design, this series combines elements from the Cool Max and V3 Classic series.
V4 Magazine Skins
The V4 Magazine series features a unique layout of image tiles for the main chapters.
V4 Modern Flexible skins
V2 Classic and Modern skins — updated for eWriter
V3 Classic skins
CHM skins
V4 Modern Standard skins
As the name implies, these skins use a "standard" design that blends well with many web and eWriter environments.
Toolbox configuration and power tools app
The Premium Pack Toolbox makes configuring your skins for use easy and includes additional power tools for Help+Manual projects. There is popup help for every configuration setting, explaining what it is for and how to use it.
All your configuration settings are stored directly in the skin. You don't have to remember to select them every time you publish your project.
PP Toolbox: Skin settings
PP Toolbox: Tools for HM projects
Configuration without code editing
You don't need to edit any confusing HTML code to configure your skins. All the text displayed in the skins, your support email address, the text in the email feedback form and so on are stored in simple text variables. You can set up everything just by editing the variable definitions.
Power Tools for Help+Manual projects
The Toolbox app also includes a number of Power Tools for Help+Manual users. The features below are just a few of the highlights:
- Edit projects and style repositories (.hmxr) — Toolbox can edit Help+Manual projects and style repositories as well as skins, with advanced functions for XML search and replace.
- Normalize Project Styles — Processes Help+Manual projects to streamline your XML code by removing manual/inline formatting. Can also globally convert inline formatting to style references in imported HTML and CHM topics, saving you many hours of tedious manual work.
- Import and export styles — Import and export individual and groups of styles in your Help+Manual projects instead of replacing entire stylesheets.
- Add & remove topic ID prefixes — Unique topic ID prefixes make it possible to use projects as modules without conflicts. This tool adds or removes prefixes globally and updates all references within the project.
- Edit HTML Templates — dit the HTML templates and other files in your skins and projects directly with your favorite code editor (e.g. Notepad++ or Sublime Text). Toolbox establishes a live link to your editor and saves your edits directly back into the HM skin or project.
- Search & Replace in Topic XML — Five different modes to perform advanced global search and replace operations on the XML source code of the topics in your project. Includes Regular Expression support.
- Advanced Skin Configuration — Add settings to skins normally only available in projects. For example, set a skin to get images from an alternative location.
- Export Author Comments — Export the comments in your Help+Manual project.
- Tidy Sandcastle Import — Updates Help+Manual projects imported from Microsoft Sandcastle and adds all the styles to the project stylesheet.