LW2019 offline help documentation status?

ELinder

ELinder

New member
I know this has been discussed, but I can't find an answer. Are the docs available yet to download?

I just installed LW2019 in a Bootcamp Windows 10 partition to use some Windows only plugins, and that Windows partition will never ever be allowed online for many reasons. But I need access to the LW help files. Are they available yet to download?
 

unfortunately, no.

i'd contact tech support, ask if there is a solution. (offline version of the web content)

you can also use your private laptop to check the manual, using a "regular" connection. though, somewhat impractical.
 
Darn, I was afraid of that. Going to only online help files was a poor decision. Sure, it makes it easier for Newtek to update them, but not at our expense. Using a second machine for docs is not a hoop we should be forced to jump thru.
 
ELinder said:
I know this has been discussed, but I can't find an answer. Are the docs available yet to download?

I just installed LW2019 in a Bootcamp Windows 10 partition to use some Windows only plugins, and that Windows partition will never ever be allowed online for many reasons. But I need access to the LW help files. Are they available yet to download?
Click to expand...

You used to be able to save off individual chapters to PDF, but even that is gone now.
 
They replied: “No, and there won't be. We investigated this and it's too much work.

It will be a Wiki and online only.”

So much for making things easier for your customers. Surely I’m not the only one who needs offline help files?
 
ELinder said:
They replied: “No, and there won't be. We investigated this and it's too much work.

It will be a Wiki and online only.”

So much for making things easier for your customers. Surely I’m not the only one who needs offline help files?
Click to expand...

No you're not. As you mentioned, it had been discussed, but they just don't seem to want to go that route.

I know they put in a ton of work on the online documentation, but I wish they had used a tool that actually allowed you to print the material in full.

Sure, you would lose the video example content, but it would be a huge benefit to be able to have the entire thing offline or better yet, printed and sitting on my desk for quick reference.

The systems I spend the most time working on are not and will never be connected to the internet, so I in the exact same situation; I have to use another computer to check the documentation online.
 
Yes, I wrote them back and said there’s nothing preventing them from providing an old school non-interactive program manual such as they did for past versions. Well, nothing except they don’t want to.
 
Like you, I don't connect my work computer to the Internet. It's a Windows based system and I'm not going to put myself through the Hell of keeping it protected and speedy, so a while ago (around 3 years or so) I decided to get a Chromebook for Internet usage.

Best decision I ever made.

I had no clue NT were going to put their manual exclusively online so for me, having the Chromebook was quite prescient.

Do yourself a favour and get yourself a cheap Chromebook. You'll be glad you did. So long as you're not stupid, you'll never have to worry about Internet nasties infecting your main systems ever again.

Either that or just access it from your smartphone (I probably should have lead with that).
 
Last edited:
ELinder said:
They replied: “No, and there won't be. We investigated this and it's too much work.

It will be a Wiki and online only.”
Click to expand...

If that was the actual customer support response, that's terrible (but others have received similar replies in past, so unfortunately, it's believable). The phrasing and tone show a complete lack of respect for customers.

Was that a direct quote?
 
As a workaround,
It is possible to aspire the LWdoc web site with HTTtrack,
but probably huge (~1Go or more), depends of broadband speed,
lot of attachments, pdf etc...
Could be also somehow purged for a lighter version.

Denis.
 
jwiede said:
If that was the actual customer support response, that's terrible (but others have received similar replies in past, so unfortunately, it's believable). The phrasing and tone show a complete lack of respect for customers.

Was that a direct quote?
Click to expand...

Yes, if that's NewTek's original answer it would be very unprofessional communication indeed. Unthinkable in my line of work.

It's understandable that online help is easier to maintain but many users prefer offline pdf help. But LightWave's online help is not even context sensitive.
 

dpont said:
As a workaround,
It is possible to aspire the LWdoc web site with HTTtrack,
but probably huge (~1Go or more), depends of broadband speed,
lot of attachments, pdf etc...
Could be also somehow purged for a lighter version.

Denis.
Click to expand...

Yep. I would've tried this.
 
Yes, that was the exact response, hence the quotation marks. I also miss actual printed manuals too, but I wasn't even going to go down that now dead-end road.
 
Perhaps, but it STILL doesn't answer my question back in July as to why the 2019 Wiki removed the option to export a chapter out as a PDF that the 2018 Wiki had?

That gave the user the ability to make their own notes, etc. Those maintaining the Wiki wouldn't have to do anything extra.

Sort of silly in this day & age quite frankly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top