Administering help content for web products

The help delivery system is packaged as a web archive (WAR) file that is deployed on your help server. The WAR file contains the basic help structure, help on help, and context-sensitive help.
You can configure the help WAR to access help content in three different ways:
  1. Web help from ibm.com (remote help): You can access help content directly from in an information center that is hosted on ibm.com®, so that the content is always up-to-date. This option is sometimes referred to as remote help.
  2. Downloaded help content (local help): You can download the help contents directly to the help server and access the contents from there. This option is sometimes referred to as local help.
  3. Web help from an intranet information center (intranet help): You can access help content from an information center hosted on an intranet server. This option uses remote help to point to the intranet information center and is sometimes referred to as intranet help. This option can be used in enterprise environments so that a single intranet information center can be used for help for multiple deployments.

The three help content delivery options

The following table contains administration and usages details for the three help content options.
Table 1. Help content options
Help option 1. Web help from ibm.com (remote help) 2. Downloaded help content (local help) 3. Web help from an intranet information center (intranet help)
Description

With this option, you access help directly from ibm.com. The help server must have an internet connection.

With this option, you access help directly from the locally installed help on the help server.

With this option, you access help that hosted on an intranet server. The intranet information center must be configured and the help server must have a connection to the intranet server that hosts the information center.

This option can be used for enterprise environments.

Administration This help configuration is the default. To configure for remote help:
  1. On the help server, browse to the product help remote information center page.
  2. Configure the help to use remote help from an information center on ibm.com.
To configure local help:
  1. On the help server, browse to the Update page.
  2. Download the help from ibm.com to the local help server. For details, see Downloading help content.
  3. Configure the help to not use remote help.
To configure for intranet help:
  1. On the intranet server, create an information center for your product.
  2. On the help server, browse to the product help remote information center page.
  3. Configure the help to use remote help from your intranet information center.
Update content No updates are required. The content is always up-to-date. To update the content for local help:
  1. On the help server, browse to the local help download page
  2. Update the content. For details, see Updating help content.
Note: If you have automatic updates set, the content will be updated every time you restart the help when the help server has an internet connection to ibm.com. The sites in the Favorites Sites list are checked for updates. You can filter the Available Content list to only display Favorites sites.
To update content on the intranet server, follow the instructions for downloading help, except use the intranet server instead of the help server.
To use the help from the product, in the right of the banner, click ? > Help Contents.
Note: For Tomcat application servers, the help starts and stops when you start or stop your product. For IBM WebSphere® Application Servers, you must manually start and stop the help WAR file.

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