One of the most important help file format produced by the HelpNDoc help authoring tool is the HTML documentation format: the fully functional documentation web-sites can be hosted on any web server for quick access to self-service documentation, thus simplifying customer accessibility and the work of the support team. Support agents frequently need to share context-sensitive URLs to customers to explain specific tasks but those are often too long and hard to remember and type. Fortunately, every topics created in HelpNDoc can have an unlimited number of URL aliases: let’s see how they can be defined in HelpNDoc’s user interface.
Context sensitive HTML help
Each topic produced by HelpNDoc’s default template is context sensitive: it has a unique URL which can be shared to access this specific topic.
HelpNDoc’s HTML documentation generator uses each topic’s help ID property to produce its unique file name. As an example, a topic with a help ID defined as MySampleTopic
hosted on the https://example.com
domain can be accessed using the https://example.com/MySampleTopic.html
URL.
Furthermore, the topic’s help context property can also be used to access it directly. Using the same sample https://example.com
domain name, a topic with a context number of 42
can be accessed using the https://example.com/context/42.html
URL.
Define topic aliases
Some topics are more popular than others and providing them with an easy to remember alias can greatly speed-up support and enhance the user experience.
Once a topic is selected in HelpNDoc’s table of contents, the “Topic properties” panel can be used to define its different aliases:
- Click in the
Aliases
property’s editor to show the “…” button - Click the “…” button to open the “List editor”
- In the “List editor”, click “Add” and enter a name to add a new alias for that topic
- Add as many aliases as needed then click “OK” to close the “List editor”
Once the HTML documentation web-site is generated by HelpNDoc, this topic will be accessible via any of those aliases.
As an example, the “FAQ and Troubleshooting” topic could have the following aliases, which will all redirect to the correct topic:
/faq.html
will create thehttps://example.com/faq.html
alias/faq/index.html
will create thehttps://example.com/faq/
andhttps://example.com/faq/index.html
aliases/troubleshooting.html
will create thehttps://example.com/troubleshooting.html
alias/troubleshooting/index.html
will create thehttps://example.com/troubleshooting/
andhttps://example.com/troubleshooting/index.html
aliases
Thanks to its powerful HTML generation capabilities, HelpNDoc is the perfect help authoring tool to produce truly user friendly documentation web-sites with advanced features such as context sensitive URLs and unlimited topic aliases. Download your free version now to try it for yourself.
See also...
Tech Writers' Secret Weapon: The Unique Advantages of Using HelpNDoc's Characters Analyzer
HelpNDoc has been a go-to solution for professionals seeking to create high-quality, engaging, and user-friendly documentation. However, it’s not just its user-friendly interface or its versatile …
Read More →Making the Most of HelpNDoc: How the "Keep Temporary Files" Feature Can Benefit Technical Writers
When working on technical documentation, every tool and feature at our disposal can make a big difference in productivity and efficiency. One such feature in HelpNDoc, often underutilized, is the …
Read More →Revitalize Your Help Files: Converting Legacy WinHelp HLP to Modern Documentation with HelpNDoc
In an age where information is consumed on a plethora of devices and platforms, the classic WinHelp HLP files — once the standard in Windows-based help documentation — are now relics of a bygone era. …
Read More →Mastering Multi-Channel Publishing: Why HelpNDoc Leaves WordPress in the Dust
In today’s interconnected digital world, the concept of multi-channel publishing has become more critical than ever. As audiences seek information through various platforms and formats, content …
Read More →