Integrating WebHelp in SharePoint

[Tim Green]

According to this article by João Ferreira it's possible to integrate static websites in Sharepoint. All you have to do is use .aspx instead of .html as the extension for your HTML files.

In principle, this should work for Help+Manual WebHelp. However, we don't run SharePoint ourselves so we'd be grateful if SharePoint users could test it out and let us know if it works for you.

Step 0: Get the Help+Manual 8.4 pre-release installer (optional)

We've updated the internal HM2Go server in this release so that you can preview .aspx and .asp WebHelp. Otherwise the browser will only show you the source code of the pages. Get the installer with this link:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/download/ ... p-v840.exe

Step 1: Generate .aspx WebHelp

This is easy to do in Help+Manual. You just need to change the standard extension for HTML files to .aspx in Configuration > Publishing Options > WebHelp > HTML Export Options (type it in manually, there isn't an option for it). Then in the Publish screen change the output file name from index.html to index.aspx. This will generate an .aspx WebHelp with all the internal links correct.

If you get the 8.4 pre-release you will also be able to preview the WebHelp.

Step 2: Follow the instructions on João Ferreira's page to add the .aspx WebHelp to your SharePoint site

https://sharepoint.handsontek.net/2019/ ... harepoint/

Please let us know how you get on!

[Darren Rose]

Hi Tim, you could for future testing sign up for a free 365 developer account - this is what I use for all my office / 365 related testing

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/m ... ev-program

[Simon_Dismore]

I tried this a year ago and it works. This is what I learned...

• You need to have admin access to a newly created site.
• You have to run some PowerShell scripts to enable H+M content. Fiddly but not a barrier.
• It worked for me. I was going to write it up but I didn't think anyone would be interested: the culture here isn't Microsoft-oriented.

As I see it the advantages of using 365 Sharepoint to host training materials are:

• Materials are in the cloud, and therefore accessible to authorised remote users.
• Corporate Sharepoint means users can use a [persistent] SSO to authenticate. So access control comes for free.
• If the documented system is in the cloud, SSO is probably going to be planned or in place anyway.

So you could argue that Sharepoint support is a no-brainer if you want to sell to Corporate clients. I think Madcap has been offering this for years now (link).

[Tim Green]

Thanks Simon and Darren,

@Simon: Thanks for this information. If you can provide more details, particularly on the PowerShell requirements, that would be interesting. You can contact me directly if you like.