Introduction:
One of the biggest parts lacking in user constructed solutions is documentation in the form of help files. As coders, we usually find it easier to build the application than explain to someone how to use it properly. After all, what we write in code is rarely read by others, and most novices think it's gibberish anyway. Actually explaining what you do in plain English (or whatever language you use) can be quite difficult. Ironically, it is this very fact that tells us why help files are important... write it down once, nicely, and you should never have to explain it again.

Office makes use of Compiled HMTL (chm) help files, which can be created by any number of applications. While writing these documents can be a difficult task of explaining yourself to the end user, the final trick is getting the compiled file to work with your application. This article was written to help ease the burden of the coding part, but unfortunately I'm going to leave the actual construction of the files to you, although I will give you some pointers to get started.

Programs to build help files:
First thing is first, you'll need to install a copy of Microsoft's HTML Workshop, if you don't have it installed already. This program is used by all Help authoring software, so it's not really an optional thing.

The next step is to find a suitable HTML Help compiler. Personally, I use West Wind Help Builder. It has an excellent FAQ included on how to start using the program, and allows for creation of some very rich help files. I'm a big fan of being able to easily write my documents including screen shots, hyperlinks, and context IDs, and West Wind Help makes this fairly easy. It even integrates nicely with another fantastic product, Tech Smith's SnagIt, for capturing nice screen shots. There are trial versions of both products available at the links provided.

Other programs do exist, such as "Help n Doc", Shalom Help, HelpScribble, Robohelp and others, but I cannot speak to their usefulness, as I have not worked with any of them extensively.

Built in Help methods:
Microsoft Excel does have some built in help constants and methods that you can use to deliver help ...

Introduction:
This article shows the method I use to maintain versions and builds in my applications and add-ins, which is to add properties to the ThisWorkbook module. These properties store their values in custom document properties, accessed from File|Properties|Custom, as shown below:Benefits of this approach
Some of the benefits you get by using this method are:

• You get a place to store a value within the workbook, but avoid the need to store it in a worksheet cell. this can potentially save you creating a worksheet specifically for this purpose.
• You can avoid the use of code to place information in the registry, which makes a workbook more portable between users.
• You can store a piece of variable information between procedures. (Variables go out of scope after procedures complete.)
• You can use intellisense to easily call up a property when coding

Drawbacks of this approach

• Users can change or delete these values if they know that they exist, or have reason to do so.

Other uses
The other uses for this are numerous, but one that stands out, ...

Function Purpose:
This function can be used to retrieve one of three types of usernames, and can be used in a worksheet cell or in VBA.

The usernames that it can return are:

• Microsoft Office username (default) as defined in Tools|Options|General
• Microsoft Windows logon name
• Computer name (as defined in your system properties)

...