Quickstart Guide

Get your HelpFiles knowledge base up and running in just a few minutes. This guide walks you through the essential steps from installation to publishing your first article.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed:

Node.js version 18 or higher
npm or yarn package manager
A text editor (VS Code recommended)

Step 1: Install HelpFiles

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/your-org/helpfiles.git
cd helpfiles
npm install

Step 2: Start the Development Server

Run the development server to see your knowledge base locally:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. You should see the default knowledge base with sample content.

Step 3: Create Your First Category

Categories help organize your articles into logical groups. Open the editor at /editor/categories and create your first category:

Click "New Category"
Enter a name like "Getting Started"
Add a brief description
Choose an icon
Click Save

Step 4: Write Your First Article

Navigate to /editor/articles/new to create your first article:

Enter a title for your article
Select the category you just created
Write your content using Markdown in the editor
Click Publish when you're ready

Note: You can save articles as drafts and publish them later. Unpublished articles won't appear on the public site.

Step 5: Deploy

When you're ready to go live, build and deploy:

npm run build
npm start

HelpFiles works great with Vercel for zero-configuration deployments, or any other Node.js hosting platform.

What's Next?

Now that you have the basics down, explore these guides:

Creating Your First Article — Deep dive into the article editor
Organizing with Categories — Best practices for content structure
Managing FAQs — Set up your FAQ section