Blackbaud's Next Generation of Help - Part 2
In my last post about our next generation of help, I provided an end-user view of our new help system and mentioned in passing the customization functionality. In this post, we will take a more detailed look at the customization feature.
Customization
All help topics in the enterprise help system are fully customizable. As part of the user's work-flow, we recommend that users cut and paste all topics from the default Help directory to a Help/Custom directory so future updates do not overwrite topics they may have edited.
Via a single change to a web.config file, users can specify that all current HelpKeys point to files in the custom directory rather than the default Help directory. Users can then open an HTML topic, enter their changes, and save the edited topic. The next time a user accesses this topic, the program calls the edited version. Users can also add new topics. All edited and added topics are fully integrated in the search and recognized by the application.
Tools built into the application make changing the help keys used for a given page, screen, or feature easy. Using a design mode tool, accessed from the application's Tools menu, users can access the properties screen from which help keys are assigned.
When a user clicks the ellipses in the HelpKey field, a topic browser appears, listing all available help topics.
The user simply selects the new help key he wants used in the selected area in the program and clicks OK.
Additionally, users can provide a URL or the name of one of their own files as a HelpKey. For example, a user can place a pdf version of his organization’s in-house policy and procedures document in the Help directory, then specify the pdf as a HelpKey for a specific page instead of the default topic. The next time a user accesses help from that page, the pdf document displays in the main content pane.
Next Week's Blog
Next week we will examine the technology driving the new Blackbaud enterprise help system and take a closer look at the search functionality.