Creating help chm files

The CHM file you have created stores the entire help system and in most cases it is the only file that you need to send the help system to other people directly, or to distribute it with your application.

Sometimes when you create or download a CHM help file, it can be blocked by Windows security policy. You can visit this link to learn why that happens and what to do if you have faced such an issue. After watching the video which explains how you can create a CHM file with a help authoring tool, you may want to download the application whose basic features we have demonstrated.

How to Create CHM. Download HelpSmith How to Install: Run the downloaded setup executable file and follow the instructions. Download details and terms of use: For more details on the software download and terms of use, click here. Specify the full path to the HHC. EXE file. Click OK to save the modified options. Creating Table of Contents. Create the Table of Contents You can create the Table of Contents structure of your CHM file by adding heading items and help topics that can contain other headings and topics as sub-items.

In the dialog box, in the left sidebar, select the item type. Enter item title and other parameters. Click OK. Write Content and Insert Hyperlinks Any modern help authoring tool includes a full-featured word processor. In the Keywords pane, type a new keyword. To edit the list of topics linked with a specific keyword: In the Keywords pane, right-click on the keyword you want to edit.

In the popup menu, click Properties. In the Keyword Properties dialog, check the topics that you want to be associated with the selected keyword. Click OK. Customize Help File Settings On this step, you should customize the common parameters of your help system such as title, copyright, the default help topic that you want to show when your help file is opened, language and encoding options, output directories, and other options.

Help Project Options. To compile your help project: On the Project tab, in the Project group, click Compile. In the Compilation Options dialog, select the output format you need. Help Project Compilation. Download HelpSmith You can download HelpSmith and start creating help files and documentation in multiple formats.

HelpSmith Main Window. Detail Value Product HelpSmith 9. A multi-format help authoring tool that includes support for the CHM file format. The advantages of HelpSmith in comparison with other CHM authoring tools is its significantly lower price which is combined with a rich feature set that includes a built-in word processor, variables, templates, customization possibilities, and conditional compilation.

Since version 5. The HHC. A shareware tool with support of the CHM output format. The program includes a text editor with basic functionality and allows you to write help topics, create a Table of Content, and Index.