Temporary HTML Manual Export

Although a convenient zip download of the HTML manual on individual pages is not yet possible, you can obtain a one-page version of the HTML manual, and view it in the Audacity Beta help browser. Please note that due to significant problems with our HTML export script, many of the internal links in this document don't work.

It is also possible to obtain a fully functional but much more out-of-date help file for display in Audacity. This includes most of the features that 1.3.2 had when it was current.

Obtaining and installing the one-page HTML manual

Be patient, the instructions are not as complex as they seem!

1. Go to: http://audacityteam.org/manual/export/AudacityManual.html
2. Use the File > Save As.. or Save Page As.. command in the web browser
3. In the dialogue that follows, choose where to download the web page to, and *important*, choose Web page (complete) in the "Save as type"
4. This will download two items to your computer:
   
   • a file called AudacityManual.html
   • a folder called AudacityManual_files
5. Copy both these item (on Windows: select one item, hold down SHIFT and use up or down arrow to select the other, then CTRL + C, or right-click and choose "Copy")
6. Open the Help folder inside the Audacity Settings folder:
   
   • Windows: Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Audacity\Help
   • OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/Audacity/Help
   • Linux: ~/.audacity-data/Help
7. Paste in "AudacityManual.html" and "AudacityManual_files" (on Windows, CTRL + V, or right-click and choose "Paste").
8. Select "AudacityManual.html" and rename it to "index.htm" (without quotes) (on Windows, right-click and choose "Rename"). Note: Ignore any warnings about changing the file extension, and about the file no longer belonging to "AudacityManual_files".
9. Launch Audacity, and click Help > Index... to open the one-page version of the Manual.

Obtaining the 1.3.2 help file

As an alternative solution, download: http://www.gaclrecords.org.uk/HybridHelp.zip

This is a "hybrid" help folder that includes documentation for a number of the features in Audacity Beta (basically those available at the time of 1.3.2). So it is incomplete, but may be easier to use.

1. Extract the Help folder from the zip file using Winzip or similar, then select and copy the Help folder.
2. Go to the Audacity Settings folder and delete its Help folder.
3. Paste in the Help folder you extracted from the zip file.
4. Launch Audacity, and click Help > Index... to open the help file.