Massive update to Helix Help

[jshimkoski 113]

Hello all,

 

Today I released a huge update to Helix Help (https://helixhelp.com).

 

On the surface, it looks the same, only much prettier and more refined. Beneath the surface it is an entirely new code architecture that will give me much more control over updates in the future.

 

Some enhancements you’ll notice right off the bat:

 

• Models now show up in the search box at the top of the page.
• You can now search by artist such as Clapton, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Stevie Wonder, etc.
• Its much, much faster.
• It just looks so much better and better matches the Helix look and feel.

 

As with any major change, I’m sure some bugs will creep in here and there and I’ll be on the lookout for them. If you come across anything, please shoot me a message via the contact form on the site.

 

Keep on playing.

 

Jason

[spikey 682]

Very nice- Thanks for all your effort! 

[MusicLaw 208]

Awesome!! Looking there now....

[cgar18 56]

Thank you its very very nice and informative. 

[lou-kash 42]

3 hours ago, jshimkoski said:

Some enhancements you’ll notice right off the bat

 

Thanks, but:

 

3 hours ago, jshimkoski said:

• It just looks so much better and better matches the Helix look and feel.

 

To be honest, I very much preferred the dark-text-on-light-background version.

My eyesight is not in the best shape anymore, and any "night mode" (as they call it these days) makes me feel very uncomfortable.

From the UI point of view, the "night mode" makes kinda sense in HX Edit because of the various color nuances that are better distinguishable in the color-on-dark-background mode. But for text reading it's quite a nightmare for me.

[Hey_Joe 272]

CLEAN!

Thanks for all the hard work on our behalf.

My 2¢: Light on dark is better for my eyes.

[datacommando 612]

4 hours ago, jshimkoski said:

Some enhancements you’ll notice right off the bat

Excellent - cool update, thank you for your time and effort in creating this fine resource. 

[jshimkoski 113]

43 minutes ago, lou-kash said:

 

Thanks, but:

 

 

To be honest, I very much preferred the dark-text-on-light-background version.

My eyesight is not in the best shape anymore, and any "night mode" (as they call it these days) makes me feel very uncomfortable.

From the UI point of view, the "night mode" makes kinda sense in HX Edit because of the various color nuances that are better distinguishable in the color-on-dark-background mode. But for text reading it's quite a nightmare for me.

Not to worry... the theme is fully switchable and I’ll implement that very soon. You’ll be able to choose between the standard dark view or a light mode as well. 
 

Stay tuned. 

[TLF2007 30]

Great Update. I refer to your site often. Its a huge help. The fact you have links to original manuals is great value added. Thank you again.

[kringle 15]

Oh wow!  this is impressive, nice work!   I'll bookmark this, I have a few new patches I need to make over the weekend and this is a great reference.  thanks and if I find any bugs I'll give feedback.

[qwerty42 121]

Your site is an incredible and generous resource for Helix owners. I can't count how many times I've referred to it for various things. Thank you so much for all the work and sharing it with us!

[h33f0x 0]

thank you so much for doing this, much appreciated!!!

[sweetpete 2]

Great job!  Small glitch: In the Delays section, Vintage Digital shows up twice.

[Schmalle 74]

Great resource! Also great looks.
I'd suggest to add the mic models as well. Maybe with frequency response graphs?

[jshimkoski 113]

I updated Helix Help with light and dark theme switching (dark is default), removed the duplicate Vintage Digital listing, fixed a documentation issue related to IRs, and added a simple blog feature.

 

FYI: The theme selector uses a browser cookie to remember your theme selection. The cookie lasts for 1 year after your last visit to Helix Help.

 

Let me know if you all would like theme switching based off of your system settings as well.

 

@Schmalle I noted your suggestion about mic models and will see what I can do.

[lou-kash 42]

1 minute ago, jshimkoski said:

I updated Helix Help with light and dark theme switching

 

Excellent! Thank you!

[Klaim 6]

Nice update!

The main issue I found before was the unicode characters making it hard to read some sections:


If my memory is correct, I already reported it to you and you took note.
 

[jshimkoski 113]

48 minutes ago, Klaim said:

Nice update!

The main issue I found before was the unicode characters making it hard to read some sections:


If my memory is correct, I already reported it to you and you took note.
 

Yep, those Unicode characters are still on my list. Tough because I don’t have a way to duplicate the issue. 
 

I hope to address it in the next update this weekend though. 

[jshimkoski 113]

@Klaim I just released an update to https://helixhelp.com. Please let me know if I have finally squashed those unicode character gremlins you encountered. 

 

Thank you!

[MusicLaw 208]

Jason, I just discovered that with the HelixHelp site set to Dark Theme, the Filter dropdown list does not display the additional items other than the currently selected one. When the site is changed to light theme, the dropdown's listed items are all visible. 

[jshimkoski 113]

7 hours ago, MusicLaw said:

Jason, I just discovered that with the HelixHelp site set to Dark Theme, the Filter dropdown list does not display the additional items other than the currently selected one. When the site is changed to light theme, the dropdown's listed items are all visible. 

Thanks, just added this to my bug list to tackle. 

[MusicLaw 208]

The site looks Spectacular!!

 

And, the firmware revision dates appearing beneath the amp models is really handy!

 

A Filter "Clear" or "Reset" button to reset the filter choices would be handy. Currently, I ether refresh the page or simply re-click Models. 

[Klaim 6]

 

On 9/12/2020 at 2:53 AM, jshimkoski said:

@Klaim I just released an update to https://helixhelp.com. Please let me know if I have finally squashed those unicode character gremlins you encountered. 

 

Thank you!

 

Looks like most cases are solved! I spotted a few other ones:

 

I quickly went through al lthe pages and the rest seems fine. 

 

[Klaim 6]

Also note that in dark mode, the combo boxes seems to have white-on-white text for the non-selected values. For example I don't see "Bass" in the combo box for selecting amp lists.