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Mehul Harry's DevExpress Blog

HELP! It’s all new!

     

HelpInSemaphoreWe just launched a new documentation website!

The DevExpress online help documentation website got a big makeover for the DXperience v2010 volume 1 release.

The redesigned help website features a number of useful improvements for you.

help.devexpress.com

The online documentation is now available at the following 2 URLs:

The online documentation is also integrated in to the DevExpress search engine:

For Visual Studio local help, download the help installation files at the bottom of the DXperience download page.

Benefits

The new documentation website uses the DevExpress ASPxSplitter control in the base design:

New DevExpress documentation website

This change brings several benefits for you:

  • Visual Studio 2010 Format – The new layout matches the new look and feel of Visual Studio 2010’s help system
  • Same as local help - – The online documentation is now the same as the local installed documentation
  • No IFrames – By removing the iframe and using the ASPxSplitter, you’ll notice that:
    • URLs are updated when clicking between help topics
    • the splitter allows you to resize the 2 navigation and content areas
    • uses callbacks – the help content pane on the right side is updated using an Ajax callback

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The new documentation website is built with just 3 DevExpress ASP.NET controls:

  • ASPxSplitter
  • ASPxTreeList
  • ASPxHyperLink

In Beta ?!?

You’ll notice at the top right of the documentation website the red ‘beta’ label:

DevExpress Help: Beta Version

There are a couple of minor issues to be resolved like a known issue with the IE8 back button. Rest assured that the documentation team is working hard to resolve the issues as soon as possible.

Feedback

The new website brings you several benefits, however, it’s still a work in progress. So if you have suggestions on how we can improve it then please leave a comment below.

Thanks!

Published Jun 23 2010, 11:45 AM by Mehul Harry (DevExpress)
Technorati tags: v2010.1, DXperience, documentation
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Comments

 

Saif Khan said:

Mucho, Mucho faster....totally! I hope it stays that way.

June 23, 2010 5:12 PM
 

Martin Praxmarer [DX-Squad] said:

Where is the new DevExpress Website Mehul?

June 23, 2010 6:32 PM
 

Mehul Harry (DevExpress) said:

@Saif Thanks.

@Martin, just putting the finishing touches on the new site. It's coming soon. :)

June 23, 2010 6:38 PM
 

Steven Rasmussen said:

My only comment would be to have a search box above the navigation menu where you could search only the help files (just like the new VS Help).  Yes, I know about the DevExpress search box in the top right but this searches the entire site.

-Steve

June 23, 2010 7:31 PM
 

Martin Praxmarer [DX-Squad] said:

Mehul,

i hear that nearly a year now ;)

June 23, 2010 8:29 PM
 

Luis Madaleno said:

Excellent!

June 24, 2010 5:17 AM
 

daniel weisel said:

This is great!

Can you please provide a small example of how you did it, so that I can implement it in my application as well?

Thanks  :-)

June 24, 2010 6:37 AM
 

Mehul Harry (DevExpress) said:

@Steve, Thanks, I'll talk with the docs team about the suggestion.

@Martin, It will definitely be this year! Smile

@Luis, Thanks!

@daniel, I'll see if we can get sample version for a future video or blog post.

June 24, 2010 2:57 PM
 

Mike F said:

Looks great Mehul.  Like Daniel, I'd also like to see an example of how this was created.

June 24, 2010 4:52 PM
 

Mehul Harry (DevExpress) said:

Good news! Printing supported on http://help.devexpress.com ! Give it a try!

June 24, 2010 7:58 PM
 

Brian O'Sullivan said:

Hi Mehul - Looks great. Like Daniel, i too would like to see an example of how this was created.

June 26, 2010 5:00 AM
 

Michael Thuma said:

Looks good and is fast

June 26, 2010 7:49 AM
 

RONNIE MURPHY said:

Is Silverlight help going to be added soon?

June 26, 2010 8:46 AM
 

Wagner Consani Filho said:

That's what I call "Online Help".

Fantastic!!

June 26, 2010 1:24 PM
 

Reinhold Erlacher said:

Could you filter the search box by the node selected on the right?

June 27, 2010 1:51 PM
 

Mehul Harry (DevExpress) said:

@Michael and @Wagner, Thanks!

@Ronnie, Yes, the Silverlight documentation is being updated and will be added in the coming weeks.

@Reinhold, Not exactly but you can use the DevExpress search to narrow the search by product and keywords (it searches help docs too): http://search.devexpress.com

June 28, 2010 1:50 PM
 

Mehul Harry (DevExpress) said:

@Reinhold,

You can also search the page using the browser's built-in search using CTRL-F which will search that page and/or topic.

Hope that helps.

June 28, 2010 2:00 PM
 

Ian Tuck said:

Any chance there will be documentation like this for the VCL components?  Feeling really left out, and I *know* I'm not taking as much advantage of the components as I ought to be.

August 5, 2010 3:30 AM

About Mehul Harry (DevExpress)

Mehul Harry is an ASP.NET technical evangelist at Developer Express. You can reach him directly at mharry@DevExpress.com. You can also follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mehulharry
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