NAV 2017 comes with a Help Server component. When installing NAV 2017, we need to make sure we are also installing the NAV Help Server on a Web server system to which all clients have access. Review the following Developer and IT Pro Help entries along with other entries that relate to modifying and maintaining Help data:

• Configuring Microsoft Dynamics NAV Help Server
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV Help Server
• Upgrading You Existing Help Content

All the NAV Help files are now HTML files, accessible for whatever type of changes are appropriate for the installed system. This includes adding information to existing helps, having multiple language Helps, adding new Helps associated with customized or tailored applications, whatever changes that can make the software work better for the customer.

The process for developing customized Help is similar in many ways to developing customizations to the application software. The top-level style of new material should be essentially similar to the original product material. If the customizations are too different from the base material, it will create operational challenges for the users as well as training and support challenges for the Partner.

Help customizations should be designed to make it as easy as possible to port them to new versions of the product when upgrading occurs. Similar to software development, whenever possible, Help revisions should be done on a copy of the original Help topic, leaving the original unchanged. For example, if the Customer Card is modified, make the Help changes in a copy of the Customer Card Help.

With NAV 2017, Microsoft has published their Help source on GitHub (https://github.com/Microsoft/nav-content), allowing us to access it directly and contribute to it.