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Improved Interface
The HelpConsole 2008 design interface is easier to use and more streamlined.
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Security Groups
HelpConsole 2008 now supports security groups. This makes it easier when creating usernames, and makes it easier to assign permissions to multiple usernames in the same group in the future. |
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Reader comments and feedback
Readers can now rate help pages based on whether they found them useful or not. Readers can also submit comments based on the page content. These comments can be displayed to the public immediately or first approved by an administrator. |
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Concurrent Author Support
This feature allows multiple authors to work on the same help project at the same time. If a page is locked when an author tries to edit it, a message appears stating that the page is locked, when it was locked, and who locked it. |
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Help Project Merging
This feature allows two or more help systems to be merged together when viewed in live mode, or when published to a static help system. This is useful if there are two authors that are responsible for separate sections of an online help manual. The authors can work on the projects separately and then merge them together at a later time. |
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Flat Page Format
Help systems can now be displayed in either a ‘frames’ format or a ‘flat’ format. The ‘frames’ format displays page content within a frame and the contents and skin are not reloaded. The ‘flat’ format displays the page content, contents and skin all within the same HTML page. This new format is more search engine friendly and always displays the page URL in the browser address line. |
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Redesigned From Scratch
HelpConsole 2008 was designed from the ground up using the latest technology such as Visual Studio 2005, AJAX |
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Pages Now Stored in Database
In HelpConsole 2007, pages were stored as .aspx files. In HelpConsole 2008, pages are stored as records in a database. This provides several benefits such as:
- Pages load faster
- Faster search
- Fewer files. Takes up less disk space. Faster to copy project folders and files. |
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Page Link Dialog
The new ‘page link’ dialog makes it easier to insert links to other help pages. The ‘Document Manager’ function is no longer used for this. |
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Page Status and Approval
Authors can assign a status to each help page. Each status will have an associated color. Green might represent ‘needs review’, ‘yellow’ might represent ‘incomplete’, etc. |
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Reports
New reports are included such as:
- Pending Pages
- Pending Comments |
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Global Search and Replace
Authors can now search and replace text or html code across all pages in the help project |
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Page Templates
Authors can now design their own page templates using the ‘template editor’ or modify existing templates. |
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Stylesheet editing
Authors can now edit the default page stylesheet directly from the HelpConsole interface. |
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