Tips: how to setup Houdini's docs for comfortable reading.

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Sometimes reading official docs is the fastest way to get all the necessary and right information. But I've found that for me, the current documentation format isn't comfortable to read, even on 4k 27" IPS display. So, if somebody feels the same, I consider there are four simple steps to change the situation.
  1. Move docs to an external browser(chromium-based in this article).
  2. Change default page font in the browser to something more weight.
  3. Increase the font size to amplify the effect.
  4. Slightly adjust contrast to reduce the brightness of white background.

1) Set HOUDINI_EXTERNAL_HELP_BROWSER to 1.
Create a new text file in \houdini18.0\packages and call it ExtBrowser.json
And paste JSON code inside:
{
"env" :
[
{
"HOUDINI_EXTERNAL_HELP_BROWSER" :
{
"value": "1",
"method": "replace"
}
}
]
}
Restart Houdini.

There is also an old-fashion way to do the same thing. See https://houdinitricks.com/default-web-browser-houdini-docs/ [houdinitricks.com]
2) Install chromium extension: Font changer (found it in a web)
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/font-changer-with-google/jgjhhoglgjdklldfgoffdiaceffijeke [chrome.google.com]
2.1) Change font to Montserrat, weight: Bold.
Montserrat is a font that is very popular for article titles. But when you read a paragraph text, it makes your brain read everything smoothly, not just skip half of the page.

3) To amplify the effect, use CTRL + Scroll and increase the page size (200% in my case)
4) Install chromium extension: Dark reader.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh [chrome.google.com]
4.1) In Dark reader's options change Filter mode to light
4.2) Reduce in contrast to -10;
4.3) Change theme generation mode to Filter+ in More tab.


(There is also an option for font changing, but I think Font changer extension is more configurable).
Edited by Faitel - Feb. 13, 2020 09:09:35

Attachments:
overall.png (598.4 KB)
fontChanger.png (83.1 KB)
darkreader_contrast.png (124.1 KB)
darkreader_theme.png (127.8 KB)
packages.png (46.1 KB)
ExtBrowser.json (190 bytes)

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or edit some lines in css ))
font-size
background-color
color

+ maybe some paddings

$HFS/houdini/python2.7libs/houdinihelp/static/scss/hpage.css
C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini XX.X.XXX\houdini\python2.7libs\houdinihelp\static\scss\hpage.css

Edited by DmitriiP - Feb. 14, 2020 17:04:07

Attachments:
sshot_816.jpg (240.0 KB)

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Both of those options require altering the program dir, so will need to be re-applied on every update.

You can instead, add:
HOUDINI_EXTERNAL_HELP_BROWSER = 1
to:
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\houdiniXX.X\houdini.env
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DmitriiP
or edit some lines in css ))
font-size
background-color
color

+ maybe some paddings

$HFS/houdini/python2.7libs/houdinihelp/static/scss/hpage.css
C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini XX.X.XXX\houdini\python2.7libs\houdinihelp\static\scss\hpage.css

Image Not Found




I was wondering what editing you did of your hpages?


I tried:
https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/54423/?page=1#post-352837 [www.sidefx.com]


But got some parts with black text that are not readable.
Edited by Wren - April 9, 2024 11:14:10
soho vfx
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Oh, yes. For every dark theme lovers out there, Dark Reader is a must-have. There are very few things worse in mundane life than having one's eyes suddenly burned to charcoal by a sudden blast of whiteness, just because someone decided to set the background of a webpage to #FFF. For Houdini Docs, I keep the extension set to Dark/Dynamic.

Thanks for pointing out $HFS/houdini/python3.10libs/houdinihelp/hstatic/scss/hpage.css. About a year ago I started working on custom Stylus CSS for the online and local docs, inspecting and guessing selectors, in order to create a dark page stylesheet override which would work faster than Dark Reader's Dynamic mode, but it didn't occur to me to simply look for a CSS file inside $HFS. This will make it much easier.
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I'm trying to figure out which color to change so the text isnt black on black! Do you know which one it might be?
soho vfx
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