Upgrade to v23 notes

Before upgrading to HelpMaster v23

Please note the following important changes before upgrading to version 23. Also, if upgrading from v19 or below, please see the upgrade notes for v21/v22

Product Licensing

HelpMaster licensing has changed from previous versions. This only affects “staff” logins/licenses. Client licensing remains the same.

Staff licenses are now available in the following types:

• Concurrent (or floating) licenses allow a license to be shared by different staff members logging onto HelpMaster (desktop or web). A license is freed-up when a user logs off.
• Named licenses are dedicated, fixed licenses that are specifically allocated to a single staff member and are not shared. This means that this person will always be able to log onto HelpMaster.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version of HelpMaster, then this means that you are using concurrent licences. After you upgrade to v23 your existing concurrent licenses will continue to work as normal - nothing has changed for you. All of your existing licenses that you have purchased will continue to be concurrent licenses and all staff and client logins and access will continue to operate as it always has.

If you wish to start using named licenses (purchase additional named licenses, or convert existing concurrent licneses into named licenses) please contact PRD Software and we can re-issue your HelpMaster registration/licensing code with the requested changes.

Note that there is a price difference between named and concurrent licenses. For updated pricing, please refer to the main HelpMaster website

Web Portal functionality

The web portal continues to be a work-in-progress as we continue to migrate features from the Desktop edition. Please note that the web portal does not cover 100% of the functionality that is available in the desktop edition of HelpMaster. This gap will continue to close with each release of HelpMaster.

BREAKING CHANGE! Knowledge Base web visibility

Knowledge Base web visibility settings have been improved to provide a greater level of granularity for web visibility. Previously, Knowledge Base articles were either web enabled, or not. The new update allows 3 options which are:

• Public (Always visible - even if not logged in)
• Logged-in (Only visible once logged in)
• Staff only (Only visible by staff member only)

During the database upgrade to v23, all Knowledge Base articles that were previously configured as “Web Enabled” will be automatically converted to use the “Staff only” option. This is the most restrictive of the web visibility options. This will have the effect of removing these knowledge base articles from the web portal for non-staff members (public/non-logged in viewing, as well as logged in clients). This means that you will need to manually review and update each Knowledge Base article and select the appropriate level of web visibility.

After upgrading

The following is a list of things to do after upgrading.

Read the new documentation

You’re currently reading the new HelpMaster documentation right now. We’ve updated a lot of content, fixed a lot of broken links, and will continue to improve this on-line help. Read the release history for version 23 or release history for version 22 to get an idea of what’s new and improved. There are lots of new things to configure, test and implement. Use the powerful new search box in the top-right corner to search for words, concepts and topics.

Please use the feedback buttons at the bottom of the page to let us know how we can continue to improve these docs.

If you need assistance with anything, please contact PRD Software

Knowledge Base web visibility

See the notes on the breaking change above. Use the Knowledge Base screen to view each article as set the appropriate viewing permission.

Job Templates

(Desktop edition only) By default the “log new job” screen will present an all-in-one user interface where you no longer need to open a separate Action screen in order to complete logging the job. This behaviour is configured per Job Template. If you want to revert to the older way of doing this, update any Job Templates by using the new “Hide the Quick log section when logging a new job (forces showing the create an assign action screen)” checkbox on the “Options” tab.

See also

HelpMaster v21 release notes

HelpMaster v22 release notes