Online Help Files

Article
06/03/2015
4 minutes to read

[Applies to: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0]

Find the latest SDK documentation: CRM 2015 SDK

Because Microsoft Dynamics CRM is available to users offline and online, there are two corresponding Help systems. The help system for online use is available to everyone on the network. For offline use, a copy of the help content is installed with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook. The structure of the Help files on both systems is the same. They both include the same content.

Help files for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web application are stored on a Web server. These files are used from the Web application and from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Outlook while the user is online. The location of the files depends on the language of the help. The English version of the help files can be found in the \Help\1033\OP\ folder of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web site. Help content for other languages will be in a folder with the respective LCID number.

When the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook with Offline Access is installed, the Help files are stored on the client computer so that they are accessible when the user is offline. These files can be found in the res\web\Help\1033\OP\content folder underneath the default installation path for the client, which is c:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\client.

The Help files include one XML file for the table of contents, and more than 300 HTML files that provide content for the table of contents and the context sensitive help.

Help pages that are available from the table of contents are:

Conceptual (User Guide) topics: ug_*.htm files
Procedural (How To) topics: how_*.htm files
Report-specific topics: rpt_*.htm files
Troubleshooting topics: ts_*.htm files

Note that context-sensitive Help pages (ui_*.htm files) are available by clicking Help, and then Help on This Page.

The Help system Search for help topics box uses Indexing Service to provide full-text search and keyword search to find matching pages.

Any pages that are added or changed in folders that Indexing Service includes in its catalogs are included automatically in the next catalog update. This means that any changes you make show up when users search on words in your changed pages.

Your new Help pages might not be available immediately when you perform a search using Search for help topics because Indexing Service updates multiple catalogs. How long this process takes varies depending upon the volume of information being indexed and whether users are working in the folders that are being indexed. You may choose to force a catalog update. For more information, see Forcing a Catalog Update.

Changing Web Client Help Files

When you change the content of the Help system on the server, the changes are visible immediately to all users who use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web application and all users who use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook while they are online.

Changing Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access Help Files

You can copy the revised files to each computer that already has the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access installed, and you can create a new distribution point for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access that includes the new files.

Making Changes before Installation

If you can set up your system so that everyone who installs the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access installs it from a location on your network rather than from the installation CD, you can customize the Help files before installation.

To create your own distribution point for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access with modified Help files

Copy all of the files from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access installation CD to a shared folder on your network.
Copy the modified Help files from the Help folder in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web application to the Client\PFiles\MSCRM\Client\res\Web\Help\<lcid>\OP\Content folder in the shared folder.

Making Changes after Installation

If you want to make changes to the Help files after Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access has already been installed, you must have access to each computer running Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access.

To modify Help files on a computer running the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access

Copy the modified Help files from the Help folder in the Web application to a shared folder on your network.
For each computer running the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access:
1. Log in as administrator.
2. Copy the modified Help files from the shared folder to the res\Web\Help\<lcid>\OP\content folder in the installation location that the user specified during setup. By default this is:
```
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Client.
```
3. Open the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access, and verify that the new Help files are installed. Go Offline, and in a Help topic, press the F5 key to refresh the page and see your changes.