This month, we will be releasing the next generation of our Web-based output, NetHelp 2.0. Since the current NetHelp is our most popular output, many will ask why we did it. The answers are many. NetHelp is a few years old and by Web technology standards, it is in its twilight years. Since NetHelp’s introduction, a new technology called jQuery UI became popular and its benefits are many (To learn more about what JQuery UI is, read my blog post, “What is jQuery UI and Why Do Technical Communicators Care?”). A breakdown of why it is better is below.
True Separation of content and presentation:
Doc-To-Help outputs raw XML and NetHelp 2.0 consumes it. NetHelp 2.0 is merely the set of scripts and pages used to display and lay content out. In fact, you can use the raw XML output with your own systems. That is how we are able to create SharePoint wikis (see the “SharePoint Wiki + Doc-To-Help = A quick and easy way to create a collaborative website” blog post to learn more about this feature).
Best looking, most themeable:
The promise of jQuery UI is to deliver a standardized and easy-to-edit set of styling standards. That promise carries through to NetHelp 2.0. It ships with many of JQuery UI’s default themes and a few of our own (courtesy of the Wijmo team). The icing on the cake is that it is simple to edit. You can use our theme designer, edit the CSS file directly, or use the Theme Roller found on jQuery UI’s website.
Lightweight:
As I said before, Net 2.0 is only a set of CSS files and scripts. Files sizes are small and performance is fast.
Extremely Customizable:
Adding your own features to NetHelp 2.0 is as simple as editing the style sheets or scripts. If you know CSS and jQuery, you can even create your own version of NetHelp.
Restful URLs:
URLs to every topic are displayed in the address bar. This helps SEO if you are deploying publicly. It also, makes sending links to topics easy.
It is worth mentioning that ComponentOne also develops Wijmo, a collection of jQuery widgets. So, we have a team of experts on staff.
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hi, i have a query. i am unable to understand how to add favorites button in Nethelp 2.0? In nethelp classic, the favorites button was appearing by default. In Nethelp classic, we could add custom buttons. How can we do the same in Nethlp 2.0?
Hi userroy,
I just noticed that this comment did not get a public reply, but I think somebody answered you offline. Did you get the answer you were looking for?
According to post http://our.componentone.com/2011/10/12/adding-a-custom-button-to-nethelp-2-0/ — “NetHelp 2.0 does not include a Favorites button by default, because when it is opened in the browser, the browser’s Favorites button can be used.”
Thanks for that. It is important to point out that that post does answer the original question… how to add a custom button