I installed Houdini 15 and noticed that Houdini help got changed!!!
It's nice that you can search using shortcut and result shows up as you type.

However, the overall design of the help got worse.

For example, if I look up Flip Solver node in old help, there are nice link to each parameters on the right side and it jumps instantly when I click it.

As for new help, you get this links and it doesn't show child parameters. Also clicking the link doesn't jump to anywhere. Maybe it's just in my environment?
If I use browser, I can see child parameters and clinking a link works. But it's very slow. It doesn't jump instantly.


Please bring old help back and please don't change something that's already working. This new help is too slow, and I can't get to the information I want like in old help.

I agree that the new help could use the old overview.
And while you are at it:
Please add the option for users to add example files and to comment on example files.
Actually please create a cross-link system between the sidefx forum and the help page. So that every help page can have at least one own dedicated discussion and help thread. Now that would truly be helpful.

I think the second image is the result of your browser caching the “old” version of the page, it should look like the first image. If you view it in a real browser (not the Houdini browser) and click Shift + Reload it should update.

Some things with help layout were not finished for Houdini 15, but will be fixed and back-ported. The current plan is (when the window is wide enough) to show the page TOC next to the content and have it highlight as you scroll.

You can make your own example files, with explanatory help pages, and link to them in the help (see /help/createexamples). Currently they won't show up in generated lists of examples unless you're running a central server with background indexing. This is something that we didn't get working for Houdini 15, but will hopefully be better in the next version.

Linking the forum is interesting. It's not currently possible, but there are developments afoot that could make it do-able.

Linking the forum would be incredibly powerful. The community could add example-files of all sorts and explain all the details that might not be apparent from the help-docs.
Please, please make it happen!

Sounds Interesting. I just hope it will get faster with loading up pages in the future.

When you say loading pages is slow, do you mean in the internal browser, or in a stand-alone browser? The internal browser has issues that one of the developers is working on, but reading help pages in a normal browser should be reasonably fast.

mchaput
When you say loading pages is slow, do you mean in the internal browser, or in a stand-alone browser? The internal browser has issues that one of the developers is working on, but reading help pages in a normal browser should be reasonably fast.

Yes i am talking about the internal browser. Great to hear its being worked on.

While we're on the new docs, has anyone else tried browsing them on tablets? On an Android phone, it scrolls fine, but on an iPad Pro, I can't flick and make pages scroll all the way to the bottom.

From the home page, go to the Geometry Nodes page, then try and swipe to scroll down… (in Safari, and I think Chrome too; I'll have to verify the next time I'm around one).

BTW, really excited to see where they're going Matt, y'all are doing great!

Agree with this.

I've found myself using online H14 documentation instead because its much faster and easier to find what you're looking for.

I wouldn't expect the new layout to be reverted unless the Houdini community makes enough noise, so if you also prefer the old way speak up!

I've also found myself using the H14 help online to bypass the new help structure.

+1

I'm working on fixing/finishing things in docs layout. Unfortunately trying to work around issues with the internal browser in the lead-up to 15.0 broke other things (like scrolling on iPad). The docs will look a lot cleaner and work better (at least in an external browser when I'm done.

I know upgrading the internal browser is in the cards for the next major version.

In the meantime, feedback is welcome

mchaput
I'm working on fixing/finishing things in docs layout. Unfortunately trying to work around issues with the internal browser in the lead-up to 15.0 broke other things (like scrolling on iPad). The docs will look a lot cleaner and work better (at least in an external browser when I'm done.

I know upgrading the internal browser is in the cards for the next major version.

In the meantime, feedback is welcome

Can we use Chromium internally? It's also open source AFAIK and is much faster than firefox IMO.

I like the layout but I noticed if you type in the search box the menu that shows up is very long and doesn't let you to browse by category. Most of the time I know the context so I just type something like “polardecomp” and then click VEX category on the right in the old docs.

Also a lot of the times when you type something there and click the item in the menu, it shows 404 or something similar.

pusat
Can we use Chromium internally?

Houdini is using Qt's embedded browser control. In the current version that's a very old version of WebKit. When Houdini upgrades to the newer version of Qt we'll get the upgraded browser control, which I think uses Blink/Chromium.

pusat
I like the layout but I noticed if you type in the search box the menu that shows up is very long and doesn't let you to browse by category. Most of the time I know the context so I just type something like “polardecomp” and then click VEX category on the right in the old docs.

Thanks, I'll look at that. Note that as a shortcut you can type !v polardecomp to only search VEX.

pusat
Also a lot of the times when you type something there and click the item in the menu, it shows 404 or something similar.

I'm pretty sure that was a bug that's fixed.

mchaput

pusat
Can we use Chromium internally?

Houdini is using Qt's embedded browser control. In the current version that's a very old version of WebKit. When Houdini upgrades to the newer version of Qt we'll get the upgraded browser control, which I think uses Blink/Chromium.

pusat
I like the layout but I noticed if you type in the search box the menu that shows up is very long and doesn't let you to browse by category. Most of the time I know the context so I just type something like “polardecomp” and then click VEX category on the right in the old docs.

Thanks, I'll look at that. Note that as a shortcut you can type !v polardecomp to only search VEX.

pusat
Also a lot of the times when you type something there and click the item in the menu, it shows 404 or something similar.

I'm pretty sure that was a bug that's fixed.

Thanks, I think you are right, in the latest version the bug I mentioned seems fixed. But at work we are stuck for an older build of H15. That's why I mentioned that.

I didn't know the shortcut, that will help alot.

Another problem is which is probably the biggest for me is when I type something like “delete” in the search box, I get a massive menu that I have to scroll and see where is the stuff I am interested in. I know it's HOM in this case, which is outside the screen on a 2560x1600 resolution.

I scroll to the right section, the short list in that category is not what I need. So I click more, and then the menu only shows all the HOM items which is also hard to spot what you need, and you have to be careful not to click anywhere or the menu will disappear. You can't search within the menu also.

Whereas the old search, select category and then look at the results was much faster. !v is nice but it still has the above issues. Perhaps instead of this menu we could have them shown in a page after pressing enter and then I assume it would be faster than what we have.