Quick Pages User Guide

Table Of Contents

Introduction
Working with main window
Creating new book
Sharing book with others
Adding pages
Entering page content
Using HTML editor
Formatting text
   Creating headings
   Changing font style
   Changing font size
   Changing font color
   Aligning paragraphs
   Adding ordered list
   Adding bulleted list
   Using indents
   Inserting horizontal rule
Adding local images
Adding remote images
Copying pages
Changing page position
Publishing
   Publishing selected pages
   Using themes
   Adding new theme
   Customizing theme

Introduction

WebAsyst Quick Pages is a powerful, easy to use visual tool which enables you to create and publish online HTML documentation with a hierarchical Table of Contents. Write tutorials, user manuals or employee handbooks using WebAsyst Quick Pages – and get them instantly published on the web for readers and users.

With Quick Pages you can quickly create:

  • manuals
  • quick tours
  • online handbooks
  • user guides
  • tutorials
  • help systems
  • rule books
  • technical specifications


Best of all, there are no special technical skills required! Non-technical users can easily create and post documents. Whatever you author with Quick Pages it instantly becomes available for users. You don’t even have to upload files because Quick Pages stores all content on the web server and it’s directly accessible for users and readers via standard web browser.

This User Guide contains a step-by-step guidance on using Quick Pages (QP) for novice users. This is the best way to learn how to use this powerful tool to create online manuals and tutorials, hereafter referred as books.

QP User Guide explains how to:

  • Create new book
  • Add and edit pages
  • Use HTML editor to design pages
  • Enter and format text
  • Insert tables and images
  • Organize pages in the Table of Contents
  • Publish books and make them accessible via Internet

The best way to use this User Guide as a tutorial is to browse all pages in its natural order - you may just click Next button in the bottom of each page to proceed to the following page.

NOTE: This User Guide itself is designed and published with the help of Quick Pages.

 



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Working with main window

Quick Pages main screen displays one Book at a time. Each book may contain as many pages as needed. Page content is displayed on the right, next to the Table of Contents.

Main screen with Table of Contents open

Main screen with Table of Contents closed



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Creating new book

  1. Click Book… button in the toolbar panel.



  2. Click Create New Book menu item.

    NOTE: To create new book you must have special permission assigned by your account administrator (refer to Account Administrator User Guide).

  3. In the Add Book enter Book Name and Book ID.

    NOTES:

    • Book Name will appear at the top of the published version of your book and will be visible by all visitors.
    • Book ID is a unique identifier; it must contain only Latin characters, numbers and dash (“-“).

  4. Customize access rights to new book for other users on Users tab or for user groups on Groups tab – refer to section Sharing Book with others in this manual.
  5. Click Save button to save all changes.

     



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Sharing book with other users

  1. Jump to the book you want to share.
  2. Click Book… button in the toolbar panel and select Access Rights or Properties menu item.
  3. Click Users tab to customize personal user permissions. Turn ON needed checkboxes in Read, Write, Full columns to provide users with personal access rights:

    Read (R) – user can read all pages in this book
    Write (W) – user can add/modify/delete pages in this book
    Full (F) – user can modify/delete book and all pages



  4. Click Groups tab to customize group permissions. Use the same rules described above for customizing personal permissions.
  5. Click Save button to save all changes.

NOTES:

  • To modify Book Properties, you must have F (Full) access rights.
  • Combination of personal and group access rights is applied for each user, e.g. if user Ann belongs to a group which has R (Read) access rights in current folder, then Ann has an effective permission as in the table below:

Personal Permission

Group Permission

Effective Permission

-

R

R

RW

R

RW

RWF

R

RWF




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Adding pages

  1. Click Page… button in the Toolbar panel and select Add Page item:



  2. In the Add Page form specify following parameters:

    • Parent Level – a level in your Table of Contents hierarchy where you want to place new page;
    • Title – will appear in the Table of Contents and as a Title tag in the page HTML source code;
    • Page ID – a unique identifies containing only Latin characters, numbers and dash (“-“).



  3. Add page content using powerful Quick Pages HTML editor.
  4. Specify META tags, e.g. Keyword and Description.
  5. Click Save button or Save and Close if you want to return to the Table of Contents. 

 

 NOTE: You must have W (Write) or F (Full) access rights to the Book where you want to add new page.

 



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Entering page content

In Quick Pages, main working area where you design content of your documents is located in central part of  Add/Edit Page form and is called HTML Editor.

The upper part of this area contains a palette of tools that allow you to format text, specify font size and style, set text and background colors, add headings, tables, images etc. When designing content using Quick Pages, keep in mind the tools and features provided by HTML editor.

Typing text
This is most obvious and easy way to enter your page content. Just click mouse and put cursor in any place in HTML editor working area and type in new text using keyboard.

Copying and pasting text from other documents
You may already have a content previously prepared using other tools, e.g. simple Notepad text files or MS Word or PDF files. In this case you may just copy text from other documents and paste it in Quick Pages. However, many word processors, e.g. MS Word, may add a lot of redundant formatting tags that clutter up your document content. We recommend to copy & paste from other files just a plain text which does not contain any markup tags and provide formatting of this text using tools and features of Quick Pages HTML editor.

Entering HTML source code
In some special cases you may wish to add and edit HTML source code into your Quick Pages documents. HTML Editor has a special tool which allows you to toggle working area in HTML Source mode where you can modify HTML source code directly. Remember that this is advanced option and you must have at least basic HTML skills to edit document source.



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Using HTML editor

Quick Pages features a built-in HTML editor which allows you to design HTML pages in a WYSIWYG mode (WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get).

HTML editor has all major tools which allow you to create a nice looking page content and layout, align and format text, mark up Headings, create ordered and bulleted lists, tables etc:

Following is a brief description of HTML editor tools:


Maximize HTML Editor to occupy entire client area of your browser or Minimize previously maximized editor Formatting of selected text. Allows to mark selected text as “Heading 1”, “Heading 2”, “Normal” etc.
Font selector, e.g. Arial, Courier New, Times New Roman etc. Font size selector
Formatting of selected text as Bold, Italic, Underlined, Strikethrough Font and Background colors
Subscript and Superscript Insert Table, Modify Table properties
Justify text: Right, Center, Left, Full Ordered List. Allows to apply Decimal, Roman and Latin letters numbering
Bulleted List Decrease and Increase Indent
Insert Horizontal Rule Insert link to another page of this book
Insert Web link Insert/Modify Image
Toggle HTML source code Clean up MS Office tags
Modify table row properties Insert table row before/after or delete row
Insert table column before/after or delete column Modify table cell properties
Insert table cell before/after or delete cell Merge table cells



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Formatting text

Quick Pages HTML Editor provides a palette of tools that allow you to format text, set font size and style, font and background colors, add ordered and bulleted lists, indents etc. Sample below is just an illustration on what kind of formatting you can use in your documents.


Page Heading

This text is normal. This text is Italic. This text is bold. This text is underlined.

Following text has different sizes, e.g:

Size 1(8pt), Size 2(10pt), Size 3(12pt), Size 4(14pt), Size 5(18pt)...

This is bold yellow text on blue background...

Ordered list:

  1. Item number 1
    1. Item number 1.a
    2. Item number 2.b
  2. Item number 2
  3. Item number 3

Not ordered list:

  • Item 1
  • Item 2
    • Item 2.1
    • Item 2.2
  • Item 3

This text is LEFT justified...

This text is CENTER justified...

...This text is RIGHT justified

This text has no indent.

This text is indented (one indent).

This text is indented (two indents).



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Creating headings

You can mark selected area of text as Heading. Usually headings are used to mark page and paragraph titles and subtitles. HTML “knows” several heading options:

Heading 1 (largest text)

Heading 2

Heading 3

...

Heading 6 (smallest text)

To create heading, select text area that you want to mark as Heading, click --format-- tool in the HTML editor toolbar and choose format option you want to apply to selected text from the pull down menu:



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Changing font style

Select the text you want to change. On the HTML Editor toolbar, click a font name in the font selector box

Available fonts:

This text is Arial
This text is Courier New
This text is Georgia
This text is Tahoma
This text is Times New Roman
This text is Verdana
This text is impact

You can apply different font styles to selected text area using one of the following tools

This text is Bold
This text is Italic
This text is Underline
This text is Strikeout



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Changing font size

Select the text you want to change. On the HTML Editor toolbar, click a font size in the box

Available font size option:

This text is of size 1 (8 pt)
This text is of size 2 (10 pt)
This text is of size 3 (12 pt)
This text is of size 4 (14 pt)
This text is of size 5 (18 pt)
This text is of size 6 (24 pt)
This text is of size 7 (36 pt)

 



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Changing font color

Select the text you want to change. On the HTML Editor toolbar, click "A" tool (left) to change font color or "paint can" tool (right) to change font background:

In Select Color window click a cell with color you need.

Samples:

This text is red on default page background

This text is yellow on blue background

This line is painted in multiple colors. You can even paint separately every character.



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Aligning paragraphs

Horizontal alignment determines the appearance and orientation of the edges of the paragraph. There are four types of alignment: left-aligned, right-aligned, centered or justified. To align paragraph, place cursor anywhere inside of the paragraph and click one of the following tools on the HTML Editor toolbar:

In a left-aligned paragraph (the most common alignment), the left edge of the paragraph is flush with the left margin. This is a sample of left-aligned paragraph.

In a right-aligned paragraph, the right edge of the paragraph is flush with the right margin. This is a sample of right-aligned paragraph.

This is a sample of centered paragraph.

Justifying allows you to adjust horizontal spacing so that text is aligned evenly along both the left and right margins. Justifying text creates a smooth edge on both sides. This is a sample of justified paragraph.

 



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Adding ordered list

Quick Pages can automatically create ordered (or numbered) lists as you type, or you can quickly add numbers to existing lines of text.

  1. Place cursor in the body of your page content where you want to add ordered list. To number an existing line of text, click in this line.
  2. On the HTML Editor toolbar click:
  3. Type a first line of your numbered list.
  4. Press ENTER to add the next list item. Quick Pages automatically inserts the next number.
  5. To finish the list, press BACKSPACE to delete the last number in the list.

You can select different numbering formats by clicking  on the toolbar.

Sample of ordered list with Lower roman numbers:

  1. First line of the list with lower roman numbers
  2. Second line of the list with lower roman numbers
  3. Third line of the list with lower roman numbers

You can turn an existing list into an outline numbered list by changing the hierarchical level of items in the list. Click a number in the list other than the first number, and then press Increase Indent (right) or Decrease Indent (left) on the toolbar:

  1. First line with Decimal numbers
    1. First indented sub-line with Lower latin letters
    2. Second indented sub-line with Lower latin letters
  2. Second line with Decimal numbers
  3. Third line with Decimal numbers

 



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Adding bulleted list

Quick Pages can automatically create bulleted lists as you type, or you can quickly add bullets to existing lines of text.

  1. Place cursor in the body of your page content where you want to add bulleted list. To turn an existing line of text into bulleted list entry, click in this line.
  2. On the HTML Editor toolbar click:
  3. Type a first line of your list.
  4. Press ENTER to add the next list item.
  5. To finish the list, press BACKSPACE to delete the last item in the list.

You can change the hierarchical level of items in the list. Click a line in the list other than the first line, and then press Increase Indent (right) or Decrease Indent (left) on the toolbar:

  • First line on Level 1
    • First indented sub-line on Level 2
    • Second indented sub-line on Level 2
      • First indented sub-line on Level 3
  • Second line on Level 1
  • Third line on Level 1

 



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Using indents

In Quick Pages you can easily increase or decrease the left indent of an entire paragraph.

  1. Place cursor in the body of the paragraph you want to indent.
  2. On the HTML Editor toolbar click Increase Indent  or Decrease Indent .
  3. Quick Pages increases the indent by one "blockquote" tag.

Sample:

This paragraph is not indented...This paragraph is not indented...This paragraph is not indented...This paragraph is not indented...This paragraph is not indented...This paragraph is not indented...This paragraph is not indented...

This paragraph is indented by one blockquote...This paragraph is indented by one blockquote...This paragraph is indented by one blockquote...This paragraph is indented by one blockquote...This paragraph is indented by one blockquote...

This paragraph is indented by two blockquotes...This paragraph is indented by two blockquotes...This paragraph is indented by two blockquotes...This paragraph is indented by two blockquotes...This paragraph is indented by two blockquotes...

Using Indent tools you can change the hierarchical level of items in the list. Click a line in the ordered or bulleted list other than the first line, and then press Increase Indent or Decrease Indent button on the toolbar. Learn more about applying indents to ordered lists or applying indents to bulleted lists.



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Inserting horizontal rule

Horizontal rule is a horizonal line splitting page content into sections. Horizontal rules may be used to indicate a change in topic.

  1. Place cursor in the body of your page content where you want to insert horizontal rule.
  2. On the HTML Editor toolbar click:

If you insert horizontal rule at the end of the line, it appears immediately beneath current paragraph like in the sample below:


 

 



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Adding local images

Local images are stored physically in the same database as your Quick Pages content. To insert local image you must first add image file to the list of images available for the page. All image files available for the page appear on the right from the HTML editor window as in a sample below.

To add image file to the list of images available for the page:

  1. Click Add Image button in the Add/Edit Page form. Add Image form opens:



  2. Use Browse… button to locate the file you want to add. You can add any files of GIF, JPED and PNG type.
  3. Once you have selected one or more image files, click Add button.

To insert image into your page content:

  1. Locate a position in the page content where you want to place image and set cursor in this position.
  2. Select image you want to insert in the list of images on the right of HTML editor and click it.
  3. Image should appear in the content of your page.
  4. Click Insert/Modify Image toolbar button:
  5. Enter Alternate text that will appear as an ALT tag for the image
  6. Specify image properties, e.g. Alignment, Border thickness, Spacing.
  7. Click OK button.




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Adding remote images

Remote images could be physically located at any resource in the Internet available via HTTP. For instance, WebAsyst logo is available at the following address: http://www.webasyst.net/img/logo.gif.

To add remote image:

  1. Locate a position in the page content where you want to place image and settle cursor in this position.
  2. Click Insert/Modify Image toolbar button:
  3. Insert Image form opens:



  4. Enter exact URL of the image you want to add into Image URL box.
  5. Enter Alternate text that will appear as an ALT tag for the image
  6. Specify image properties, e.g. Alignment, Border thickness, Spacing etc.
  7. Click OK button to save change

 



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Copying pages

Making copy of the current page:

  1. Locate the page you want to copy and click it.
  2. Click Page.../Copy Page menu item.
  3. Copy of the page will be created and opened in the Edit Page form.
  4. Modify new page as you need and click Save button.
  5. New page will be positioned right after original page in the Table of Contents.

Making copy of multiple pages:

  1. Click Book… button in the toolbar panel and select Organize Pages menu item.



     
  2. In the Organize Pages form select page(s) you want to copy. To select page just click it in the list. Hold Ctrl or Shift button while you click with your mouse to select multiple pages.
  3. Click Copy… button on the right of the list of pages.
  4. Choose destination level in Copy to Level: pull down menu.
  5. Click Copy button.


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Changing page position 

With Quick Pages you can easily move pages in the Table of Contents hierarchy, e.g. you can change page position by moving it Up or Down in the list or promote/demote pages by changing its level in the hierarchy tree.  To do so, click Book… button in the toolbar panel and select Organize Pages menu item.


 

To move page up or down:

  1. Select one page you want to move.
  2. Click Move Up or Move Down button on the right of the list of pages.
  3. Click Save button to save changes.

To move page(s) to another level (promote/demote):

  1. Click the page you want to move.
  2. To select multiple pages, hold Ctrl or Shift button while you click.
  3. Click Move… button on the right of the list of pages.
  4. Choose destination level in Move to Level: pull down menu.
  5. Click Move button.

 



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Publishing

With Quick Pages you can easily publish your book and make it available online for readers. When you publish a book, you can customize its appearance by selecting Theme. There are several predefined themes available in the standard Quick Pages package. You can also create your own theme or modify existing one. Theme editor allows you to design Book Header and customize visible elements, fonts, colors etc.

Quick Pages create separate address (URL) for every book. Once you have a book published, you can give this URL to everyone who needs access to this book. You can also publish this URL on your website. For instance, if you have used Quick Pages to design your product’s user guide, you can then instantly place the URL to this user guide on your product’s home page.

To publish book:

  1. Click Book… button in the toolbar and select Publication Setup menu item.
  2. In the Publication Setup form click Published radio button.
  3. Choose desired Theme. To see how your book appears for each theme click Preview button below (Preview opens in new window).
  4. Select Language of labels, hints and messages of the published book.
  5. Select Encoding of published book content.
  6. Click Save button to save changes.

NOTE:

  • Language and Encoding settings affect user interface of the published version of your book. You may select only from those languages installed in your system. Refer to WebAsyst Administrator Guide for details.
  • Only pages marked as Published will be available in the published book.

Address (URL) of your published book is displayed in the bottom of Publication Setup form. You can copy and email this URL to your readers.

Once your book has been published your can preview published version directly from the main Quick Pages window. To do so, click preview link next to the book name.

To cancel publication, open Publication Setup form again, click Not Published radio button and Save changes. Published version of your book will be immediately unavailable at the address mentioned above.

 



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Publishing selected pages

Published version of your book contains only pages marked as “Published”. “Unpublished” pages don’t appear in the Table of Contest in the published book. It allows you to restrict access to the part of content that is still under construction.

 

NOTE: Unpublished pages are designated with a “Don’t Enter” icon in the Table of Contents.

To mark page as Published:

  1. Open the page you want to mark as Published
  2. Click Page…/ Mark as Published in the toolbar

To mark multiple pages as Published:

  1. Click Page…/ Organize Pages in the toolbar
  2. Select pages you want to mark in the list. Use Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple pages
  3. Click Mark as Published button
  4. Click Save button to save changes

To mark multiple pages as Unpublished:

Follow the same procedure as described above and use Mark as Unpublished command to set Unpublished status for selected pages.

 



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Using themes

Publication Theme defines look and feel of the published version of your book. You can design a theme using special editor that allows customization of colors, fonts and appearance for every section of the published book, e.g. Book Header, Table of Contents, Page Body etc.

When you publish book you can select a theme. In the sample below you can see a preview of the same book with different themes:

WebAsyst Quick Pages software package is delivered with a predefined number of publication themes. You can easily modify any of existing themes or create a theme which satisfies your own preferences and unique needs.

Every theme can be applied to an unlimited number of books designed with Quick Pages.
It gives you a great advantage: you can publish all content developed with Quick Pages consistently in the same format as your branding. To do so, simply create a theme that utilizes your corporate colors and style, or place your logo in the Book Header section. Then you can apply this theme to all books. You don’t need to customize every book separately.

 



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Adding new theme 

  1. Click Pages… button in the main menu and select Publication Themes item:



  2. In the Publication Themes form click Add New Theme button.
  3. Enter unique name for new theme.
  4. Select either you want to create Tree or Plain theme:
    • Tree. Table of Contents will appear on the left in separate pane.
    • Plain. Entire book will appear on one page with the Table of Contents on top.
  5. If you want to create new theme as a copy of existing theme, use Copy from Theme menu.
  6. Click OK button.
  7. Use Customize Theme form to design new theme. Refer to Customizing theme to learn how to work with theme editor.

 



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Customizing theme

  1. Click Pages… button in the main menu and select Publication Themes item:
  2. Select theme you want to customize and click it.
  3. Customize Theme form opens like in a sample below (sample provided for the theme of Tree type):


  4. Click a tab on the left to select a book element/section for customization (e.g. Book Header, Book Name, Search Panel etc.). You can also click directly in Preview area to select.
  5. For each element/section you can customize different properties, e.g. Font, Font weight (size, color), Background color etc. All changes will be immediately reflected in Preview area.

Once you complete customization, click Save button to save changes. You can now go to Quick Pages main window, click Publication Setup and check how your book appears using the theme you have just customized.

 



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