# Using Captivate Help

Captivate Help uses FlashHelp Pro as its output and is designed to open in your default web browser. Because Captivate Help is called from a server, how fast the system appears depends on your Internet connection speed. If needed, you can select an option to view Captivate Help offline, instead of from the server.

To access offline help

- From the Help menu, select Use Offline Help.

### Using the Help window

Navigation buttons

Captivate Help includes the following left-hand panes. To access each pane, click the Contents, Index, Search, or Glossary button on the toolbar.

- Contents: The Contents pane displays the table of contents, books and pages that represent the categories of information in Captivate Help. When you click a closed book, it opens to display its content (sub-books and pages). When you click an open book, it closes. When you click pages, you select topics to view in the right-hand pane.

- Index: The Index pane displays a multi-level list of keywords and keyword phrases. These terms are associated with topics in Captivate Help and are intended to direct you to specific topics according to your way of working. To open a topic in the right-hand pane associated with a keyword, click the keyword. If the keyword is used with more than one topic, a dialog box appears so you can select the topic to view, then click Display.

- Search: When you type a question in the Search pane, related topics appear on the right. (This feature is called natural language search.) You can enter questions or keywords.

- Glossary: The Glossary pane displays a glossary similar to one you'd find in a printed publication. The glossary is a list of words, short phrases, and their definitions related to Captivate. When you select a term from the top pane ("Term"), its corresponding definition is displayed in the lower pane ("Definition").

Toolbars

- Browse sequences: The browse buttons (Next and Previous) are located at the top of the browser. Browse sequence buttons are different from the Back and Forward buttons, as they present topics in a predetermined order.

- Full-text search: The Search text box enables you to perform a full-text search of Captivate Help. This type of search locates topics containing the text you enter in the Search field. Full-text searches look through every word in Captivate Help to find matches. When the search is completed, a list of topics is displayed so you can select a specific topic to view.

- Browser toolbar: The toolbar at the top of the window is the standard toolbar for your default browser. Use it to move forward and backward through the history of visited topics.

Adjusting the window and pane size

- You can adjust the width and height of the browser window by dragging the edges of the window in or out.

- You can adjust the width of the left pane by dragging the edges of the left pane until the mouse pointer turns into a line with arrows on each end.

Navigating topics

You can use links and Related Topics buttons to navigate through topics.

- Links: Blue underlined text denotes a hyperlink that jumps to another topic or web page, a popup link that displays a window over the main window, or a text-only pop-up menu that displays a brief text description. Some links "drop-down" additional text or "expand" text to the right.

- Related Topics buttons: When you click a Related Topics button, a pop-up menu displays a list of related topics. Click a topic in the pop-up menu and it opens in the right-hand pane.

Note: To see Captivate version information, select Help – About Captivate. A dialog box appears identifying the version of Captivate installed on your system.