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HelpSmith 10.2 Released. Redesigned User Interface for the Built-in Image Tool, Faster Topic Selection in the Hyperlink Dialog, Improvements to the Topic Editor’s Behavior, and More!
April 24, 2025
We are pleased to announce the release of HelpSmith 10.2 (which you can download from our website) that includes a redesigned Image Tool which is now integrated directly into the main window of the help authoring tool, improvements to the Hyperlink dialog to allow for faster selection of the linked topic, improvements to the topic […]
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How to Use Styles to Quickly Format Content in Your Documentation
March 20, 2025
Many HelpSmith users have already appreciated the enhanced support for styles introduced in HelpSmith 10.1. This feature allows you to easily setup and update the formatting of content in your project, as well as structure the content in a topic, similarly to how it is done in MS Word and other major editors. The ability […]
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HelpSmith 10.1.1 Released. Improved Web Help System That Can Be Used on the Local Computer without a Web Server, Better Algorithm to Find Keywords, and Other Enhancements!
January 2, 2025
We are pleased to announce the release of HelpSmith 10.1.1 (which you can download from our website) that adds an option to create Web Help systems which work not only on a web server, but can also be distributed and used on the local computer without a web server, includes an improved algorithm to find […]
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Full-featured Help Authoring Tool
- Multiple output formats from a single source: HTML Help (CHM), Web Help, Printed Manual, Adobe PDF, MS Word, ePub eBook, and Markdown.
- Full-featured word processor: dynamic styles, variables, spell checker for different languages, and Unicode support.
- Powerful Conditional Compilation capabilities based on build tags.
- Topic templates to customize the appearance of your help file or document.
- The ability to import content from HTML, MS Word, CHM, and other formats.
- And more...
Open XML-based Help Project Format for Teamwork and Translations
The unpacked .HSMP format allows you to store your topics, templates, and project settings as a collection of individual .XML files, which gives you the following advantages:
- Collaborative working on a help project with a version control system, such as GitHub, Subversion, etc.
- Compatibility with external translation tools.
- Possibility to edit project files with a plain text editor.
- Built-in XML Source Editor.
Create Screenshots with Various Annotations Easily
- Built-in Image Tool to capture and insert screenshots.
- Various annotations for images: rectangles, ellipses, arrows, balloons, lines, text labels, control annotations for UI elements, and other objects.
- Hotspots to create clickable areas on an image to link to a topic, or to an external URL address.
- Crop Tool to modify a captured screenshot by removing unwanted parts of the image.
- The ability to capture the mouse cursor.
- Flexible settings to customize the appearance of annotations.
Generate Topic Drafts for UI Documentation Automatically
- Control annotations for user interface elements demonstrated on a screenshot.
- Automatic generation of the topic draft where you can provide a detailed description for controls.
- The ability to recognize controls on a captured window.
- Customizable style schemes for control annotations.
Create a Responsive Web Help System
- Responsive layout compatible with desktop computers and mobile devices.
- Fully customizable Header, Footer and Mobile Header areas.
- Possibility to use custom JavaScript and CSS styles for topics and Web Help layout.
- Support for Facebook and Disqus comments.
- Easy integration with a website or application.
- Built-in web server for testing a generated Web Help system on the local computer.
- Easy integration with Google Analytics.
- Automatic Google XML Sitemap generation.
- Ready-to-use design themes.
Create a Responsive Web Help System
Advantages of the XML-based Help Project Format
HelpSmith Ultimate Edition allows you to use the unpacked .HSMP format for your help project which stores topics, templates, project settings, and other data as a collection of individual .XML files.
Saving a Help Project to the Unpacked XML-based Format
Thus, you can work on a help project collaboratively by using a modern version control system (e.g. GitHub, SVN, etc.), use external translation tools, or just edit project's files with a plain text editor.
“Simple and reliable”
“Its easy to get along with HelpSmith - even new users can get up to speed intuitively to produce content. We have used the product for years for our product help documentation and will continue to do so.”
“Helpsmith is full-featured and very reasonably priced”
“The program has more features than I would possibly expect at this price point and gets more every release. Very good quality also.”
“Helpsmith is a great tool for creating help systems”
“Organization is easy to achieve and maintaining consistent formatted information is super easy. Gone are the days of manual help system creation using the original Microsoft tool. Other tools do not have the suite of tools/methods contained in HelpSmith. Templates are helpful.”
“Easy to Use”
“I really like the flexibility of HelpSmith. It allows me to build my help menu the way I want it, and the multiple templates make it easy to keep consistency and professionalism throughout.”