In software development, product marketing, and other areas, reference documentation is an essential part. The function of help document is to provide users with instructions, answers to frequently asked questions, and other information to help users make better use of software or products and improve user experience. With continuous development of Internet technology, more and more products and services prefer to create help documents on Internet so that users can access and use them more conveniently. This article explains how to create help files online and why use build help files.

Ways to create online help files

1. Use online documentation tools.

There are many online document management tools on market, such as Google Docs, Microsoft Office Online, Zoho Docs, etc. These tools can help users easily create and edit documents, and support multi-person collaboration. Users only need to share document with those who need to view it.

Benefits: convenient and fast, multi-person collaboration is supported.

Disadvantages: The function is relatively simple and format is not rich enough.

2. Use wiki tools.

Wiki is a collaborative editing website where users can create, edit, and share documents. There are many kinds of wiki tools such as Mediawiki, Dokuwiki, Confluence and so on. These tools are rich in features and support multiple formats and plugins. Users can choose tool that suits them according to their needs.

Benefits: Wide range of features, support for multiple formats and plug-ins.

Disadvantages: Requires some technical base and you need to build your own server.

3. Use online document hosting platform.

Web Document Hosting Platform is a service that stores documents in cloud, such as Github, Gitbook, Readthedocs, etc. Users can upload documents to platform, and platform automatically creates document websites for users. These platforms support various formats and plugins and can be easily integrated with code repositories.

Pros: convenient and fast, supports many formats and plugins.

Cons: Some platforms require payment.

4. Use help document creation tool.

Help Document Creation Tool is software used to create help documents such as HelpSmith, HelpNDoc, Doc-To-Help, etc. These tools provide rich templates and styles, and are easy to use.Developers only need to edit document according to template to create beautiful reference documents.

Benefits: The generated document format is beautiful and supports multiple formats.

Disadvantages: software needs to be installed, there are some training costs.

Why Use Assembly Reference Documentation

This is an online document hosting platform, and interactive creation help documents can be selected as platform. Below are benefits of using assembly reference documentation.

1. Ease of use

Provides a convenient user interface and operation guide, allowing users to easily create and edit documents. Users only need to upload documents to platform, and platform will automatically create document websites for users. Users can choose from a variety of themes, plugins and styles to personalize their documents.

2. Support for multiple formats and plugins

Support for multiple formats and plugins such as Markdown, HTML, PDF, syntax highlighting, math formulas, etc. Users can choose from different formats and plugins to suit their needs, making documents richer and more colorful.

3. Support multi-person collaboration

Supports multi-person collaboration, users can share documents with those who need to view or edit. The platform automatically records revision history of document, which is convenient for users to manage and compare versions.

4. Safe and secure

Use https protocol and encryption technology to keep your document safe and secure. User documents are stored in cloud, so you don't have to worry about losing or unauthorized access to data.

How to use build reference documentation

1. Register an account

First, user needs to register an account and create a new library.

2. Upload Documents

Users can upload existing documents to library or create new documents in library.

3. Select themes and plugins

Users can choose from various themes and plugins in library settings to make their document more personalized and rich.

4. Share documents

Users can share document with others who need to view or edit it, and can set document's permissions and security.

Creating help documents online is a convenient, fast method for multiple people to collaborate and can improve user experience and reduce burden on helpdesk. Users can choose from a variety of methods and tools to suit their needs, but building documentation is a good choice. Provides many features and plug-ins that allow users to easily create, edit, and share documents.