Recently, a user inquired about the possibility of creating an online training manual using WordPress. At CanadaCreate, we leverage our extensive experience to assist users in getting started with WordPress and developing effective training manuals.
Training manuals are essential for onboarding new employees, disseminating product information and instructions, and guiding customers on how to utilize your products and services. With the right tools, you can seamlessly integrate training manuals into your website.
In this article, we will guide you through the process of creating an online training manual in WordPress.
Why Should You Create an Online Training Manual in WordPress?
Although some may believe that training manuals are outdated, they remain crucial for ensuring tasks are completed correctly.
An online training manual serves to provide clear instructions and guidelines for executing tasks, jobs, or processes. Whether your team is remote or working on-site, training manuals are valuable for educating both employees and customers.
For instance, training manuals can be utilized for onboarding new employees. This documentation helps new team members familiarize themselves with your company, learn how to carry out specific tasks, and understand various processes.
You can create a dedicated online training manual for any specific project or task, documenting all necessary steps to ensure users can complete the task accurately.
Online training manuals are also beneficial for customers, providing them with guidance on how to properly set up and utilize your products through comprehensive online documentation.
Now, let’s explore the process of creating an online training manual using WordPress.
Installing a WordPress Plugin for Your Online Training Manual
The most effective way to create an online training manual in WordPress is by utilizing the HeroThemes suite of plugins. HeroThemes offers the top WordPress knowledge base plugin and theme, enabling you to add training manuals without any coding.
HeroThemes plugins are user-friendly and packed with features that enhance your customer support capabilities. For example, you can integrate a detailed knowledge base, manage support tickets and emails, and include FAQs to boost response efficiency.
To get started, visit the HeroThemes website and register for an account. You will need at least the Heroic Knowledge Base plugin to create your online training manual.
After creating your account, the next step is to download the Heroic Knowledge Base WordPress plugin, which you can find in your account dashboard under the Downloads section.
First, install the plugin on your website. If you need assistance, please refer to our guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
Once activated, you will be greeted with a welcome screen. Enter your license key and click the ‘Activate’ button to proceed.
Next, follow the on-screen setup wizard to configure the plugin properly.
For example, it will prompt you to install sample content, categories, and tags. We recommend skipping this step, as the plugin will automatically fill the knowledge base section for you.
Afterward, you can install optional plugins like Heroic Blocks, Heroic Glossary, and Heroic Table of Contents. In this tutorial, we will install these additional plugins to create more advanced documentation.
You will see a message indicating that the installation process is complete.
The plugin will provide basic instructions for setting up your knowledge base section.
Next, navigate to Heroic KB » Settings in the WordPress admin panel.
In the ‘Home & General’ settings, you can select the knowledge base homepage, modify the header text, adjust the number of category columns displayed, enable breadcrumbs, and more.
If you switch to the ‘Categories & Tags’ tab, you will discover additional settings available.
You can sort categories by various criteria such as date, title, comment count, and more. Additional options include adjusting the sorting order, specifying the number of articles displayed, and showing excerpts of the articles.
Next, navigate to the ‘Sidebars’ tab.
In this section, you can adjust the position of the sidebar in your training manual. You also have the option to make the article sidebar sticky.
Finally, access the ‘Style’ tab from the left menu.
The plugin allows you to customize the width of your training manual, modify link colors, change heading styles, and more.
Once you have finished, remember to save your changes.
The plugin offers additional settings that you can explore and modify.
The next step is to add content and develop your online training manual.
Creating Categories for Your Online Training Manual
To begin, you need to create categories for your online training manual. This will help you organize your documentation effectively.
Simply go toHeroic KB » Article Categoriesin the WordPress dashboard.
Here, you can organize the content in your training manual by creating new categories or editing the existing ones.
To create a new category, enter a name, select a slug, choose a parent category if it’s a subcategory, and then add the new article category.
In this tutorial, we have added five new categories to the training manual.
Next, navigate toHeroic KB » Category Orderingin the WordPress dashboard.
Use the drag-and-drop interface to rearrange the order of the categories for your online training manual.
Once you are finished, click the ‘Save Order’ button at the bottom.
Adding Content to Your Online Training Manual
After setting up your categories, you can start adding new articles for each section.
Keep in mind that by default, HeroThemes will populate the knowledge base section on your WordPress site with some content if you installed sample content during the setup.
You can view these articles by going toHeroic KB » All Articlesin the WordPress dashboard.
You can edit or delete these pages and add your own to build a comprehensive training manual.
To add new content to your online training manual, simply click the ‘Add New Article’ button at the top.
This will direct you to the WordPress content editor, where you can create new text and make customizations.
HeroThemes provides a table of contents block that you can incorporate into your training manual articles, making it easier for users to navigate the content.
To add the Heroic Table of Contents block, just click the ‘+’ button. You can then edit each heading in the table of contents and choose to hide specific headings.
Additionally, HeroThemes offers Heroic Blocks that can enhance your online training manual articles with interactive content.
For instance, you can use the Heroic Message block to showcase important notices, warnings, or supplementary information.
You can also add an accordion or toggle block, which helps organize related content. Users can click to expand the section and access more information.
HeroThemes also provides various other blocks, including tabs, lists, zoomable images, and more. Take your time to experiment with different blocks as you build your online training manual.
You can choose the category for your new article within the online training manual.
Simply navigate to the Article Categories section in the Article settings menu on the right and select a category.
After adding your content, just publish or update your page.
Next, navigate to Heroic KB » Article Ordering in the WordPress admin panel. Here, you can select an option from the ‘Category’ dropdown menu and rearrange the order of each article within the chosen category.
Once you are finished, click the ‘Save Order’ button.
Now, visit your WordPress website to see the online training manual in action.
For instance, we have several categories in the training manual, such as Getting Started and Tutorials.
Clicking on any of these categories will display the corresponding content for the training manual.
Make sure your training manual is included in your WordPress menu to ensure readers can easily find it. For more information, check our guide on adding a navigation menu in WordPress.
Restricting Access to the Online Training Manual
HeroThemes provides an option to limit access to your online training manual.
For example, if you have an employee onboarding manual that contains sensitive company information, you can restrict access to it by allowing only logged-in users to view it.
To get started, simply go to Heroic KB » SettingsAccess this feature from the WordPress dashboard. Navigate to the ‘Home & General’ settings tab and scroll down to the ‘Restrict Access’ section.
Here, you can select the ‘Logged In’ option from the dropdown menu.
Additionally, HeroThemes allows you to limit access to specific categories within the training manual.
Simply navigate to Heroic KB » Article Categoriesin the WordPress admin panel. Then, edit any category you wish to restrict.
Next, scroll down to the ‘Category Access’ section.
From this section, choose the ‘Logged In’ option from the dropdown menu.
Once you have made your selections, click the ‘Update’ button.
Now, only users who are logged in can access that particular category in the online training manual.
We hope this article has helped you learn how to create an online training manual in WordPress. You may also want to explore our comprehensive guide to WordPress security and the top WordPress LMS plugins.
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