New year and new post :)

New release

Yesterday I released a new version of PS Cmdlet Help Editor on CodePlex. Essentially this version is the same as previously published beta. Refer to this post to get details about new version: PS Cmdlet Help Editor v3.3.5.0 Beta. I just addressed and fixed issues reported by users and believe, now it is safe for use.

Future plans

At this point I finished with core functionality and I believe, the tool covers all help generation aspects. However, development is not stopped. My current plan in tool development consist of online help presentation. Although console help is very important and is mandatory, in web 2.0 world it is a good idea to have a well-formatted version of the help. Raster fonts reading is handy for geeks, but not convenient for presentation and explore.

I was the first (in the public) who went to online help generation and presentation. In early versions, I added simple and very basic HTML generation function to help module developers to copy and paste formatted html to their module support web site. This was convenient for small modules (which consist of several cmdlets), but was a pain for large projects, with 30+ cmdlets. My own PSPKI project, for instance, is about 80+ commands. And basic text formatting wasn’t enough for me. This is why I went even further, added bb-code support to provide enhanced html formatting options. Yet, copy paste for 80+ commands is very boring and I implemented Metaweblog API support. This allows to publish module help online with one-two-three clicks.

This is my main focus on this project:

• provide enhanced bb-code support;
• enhanced and more stable online publishing capabilities;
• flexible html styles.

Not all may love current html generation options. My plan is to allow custom html styles (inline, or via CSS classes). That is, you will be able to specify styles for each help section to meet your own web site style and look.

Feedback

Initially this editor was developed for my own needs and projects. As the result, I can’t predict all use cases and possible issues beyond my own experience. This is why I actively listen to your feedback and proposals to make the tool more general for everyone. Therefore, if you believe that something is a “must have”, then ping me on the project home page and I will take a look on what I can do there.

HTH

>> Download Link <<