Pro+ 21.6.0.63535 SL x64 Dec 6 2021 - Help is now all On-line

Pro+v21.6 came with a surprise: no CHM (compiled HTML file). The Help Manual is all on-line.

The one good thing is it is starting to remove the legacy IE dependencies that hit you every time you pressed F1 or click a Help button in a dialog.

Xara seems to have overlooked the Erase Background Guide.

I still want an off-line version; the PDF Help was ideal for this.
There is are Next or Previous Links.

Acorn

Yes but progressing in the right direction. Thanks for your research into the new format.

So lovely people where is the link to it?

@ behzad > https://helpandsupport.xara.com/

And @ Acorn, what is the issue with the Erase Background guide, seems to work OK for me?

Kate @ Xara

Thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by webmaster

And @ Acorn, what is the issue with the Erase Background guide, seems to work OK for me?
Kate @ Xara

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Kate, it is a separate web page popping up with no means of resizing the window for those with visual impairments, built with Xara HTML filter v.8.6.0.293, goes to an unsecured site, still uses IE and is completely different to all other Help features within the XDA (it is modal to the XDA and sits on top of the design page). The only "useful" part is the means to activate a tool option. No other menubar has a Help; elsewhere Dialogs have a Help button. Here you have a Question Mark roundel.

It seems cleaner and logical to use https://helpandsupport.xara.com/xara...ckgrounds.html through Erase Tool > F1.


Acorn

How ironic:

looking at a page's heading:

<meta name="Generator" content="Adobe RoboHelp 2020"/>

hmmm.

​🤔​

Well Xara is all grown up and can chose not to use its own products in building its websites and in producing its on-line help.

That said, I would appreciate a tool that actually worked:
Bug - https://helpandsupport.xara.com/inde...h=undocumented returns 32 hits.

• I gained 32 hits, none for undocumented; they returned random hits on (undo, undone, unlock, unlocked). a similar PDF Help Manual has 0 hits.
• The order of the returns of 'undone' is equally random; PDF is page-sequential.
• The page 1 link forward for 'undocumented' works fine but cannot be bothered to move to the top of the returns.
• The page 2 link backwards just fails.

I think we require a PDF version for off-line working and accuracy.

I would have used a Presentation website with PDF download to showcase your product's capabilities.

Acorn

@Acorn, imo it's reasonable for the Help to offer suggestions on words it can't find an exact match for, but I agree a PDF version would be good, that suggestion is already logged.

@Micheal yes sadly Xara has never developed a Help authoring tool. Previously we used AuthorIT, now we've simply picked the product that we believe will help us deliver the best possible result for Xara support content. For example as a next step we now hope to be able to link the product help with our knowledgebase articles.

Kate @ Xara

Quote:

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Originally Posted by webmaster

@Acorn, imo it's reasonable for the Help to offer suggestions on words it can't find an exact match for, but I agree a PDF version would be good, that suggestion is already logged. Kate @ Xara

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Thank you Kate. It would appear you have to still tune your Help to default search for properly related words. Currently, I would consider few to be helpful or suggestions. I tried (un [22], und [0], undo [16], undoc [19], undocu [2], undocum [0], undocume [2], undocumen [0], undocument [32], undocumente [211], undocumented [32]), mostly getting highly random results.

The PDF will be most useful.

Linking your searches to your knowledge base will be a great enhancement.

Could you also log the navigation failure?

Acorn

@Kate, yet again:

• https://helpandsupport.xara.com/inde...arch=canonical
• canonical::{canvas, contone, pantone, alone, contoning, cannot, anyone}.
• None of 76 results were correct - that was a lot of tabbing and reading for no gain.
• Next (>) returns the results at the bottom - you have to scroll to the top.
• Previous (<) changes the paged information but not the last set of results.

If I cannot navigate to a correct result and I cannot then page forward or back, I am stuck with using the Contents Tree.
in passing, you cannot select the Xara Desktop, Content catalogue, Product Support and Printing headings. These never highlight in Blue so you lose place.

Acorn