Publish Site to PDF
ProProfs Knowledge Base allows you to export your site as a PDF manual. You can easily enable the feature for users to export all pages of your site and compile them into a single printable PDF document.
The PDF version of the help center looks like this:
The “Publish Site to PDF” feature will help you:
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Export your help pages to a single PDF
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Give users the option to download your help center as a manual
The article covers the following:
Making a PDF friendly site
The PDF engine may not be able to convert every page into a PDF. You can ensure your pages successfully convert to a PDF by following the below practices:
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Avoid tables for layout: It is recommended that you do not use tables for layout. Although tables could work when converting to PDF, you will witness structural distortions. Also,
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Tables might slow down the PDF conversion process and potentially cause timeout (especially if every page on your site has tables).
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If you have a large amount of text in a single table cell that spans across multiple pages, it will not work. You will be required to break the content into numerous table cells, and each cell will cover 1 page for better readability.
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Nested tables: If using a table is a must, ensure not to nest it in another table.
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Fix widths: Do not define objects in absolute sizes. For example, if you have a table or a DIV, do not define it like <Table width="1200px"> or <div width="1000px"> as this will cause problems. It is best to use percentages <div width="95%"> to define the objects’ width.
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Images: The system will automatically scale down images to fit into a page, so you do not have to worry about the size or use percentages to define their width.
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Avoid long pages: It is best to limit the size of a page. During the conversion, one web page in the ProProfs KB site can cover up to 30+ pages in the PDF file, thus prolonging the conversion process.
Exclude a Page from the PDF
A page appears in the PDF by default. However, following simple steps, you can hide a page from the PDF.
In the page editor:
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Click the Gear icon to access page settings.
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In the Basic tab, you can check/uncheck the Default page to be included in the PDF option to include/exclude the page in the PDF.
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Once done, click Save.
PDF Page Break
A page break will tell the PDF to start a new page. Once inserted, the page break will be visible in the editor as two dotted lines with a page break symbol. When you use the page break function, the page will be split into two separate pages. Page breaks are not visible on the web version of the page.
To insert a PDF page break:
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Click the arrow in the toolbar to open the advanced editor while adding/editing a page.
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Select PDF Page Break from the Insert drop-down list.
Here’s what the PDF Page Break will look like in the editor:
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To remove a page break, click on it and press Delete on your keyboard.
PDF Settings
You can configure different aspects of the exported version from PDF settings, including the table of contents, page numbers, logo, and several other details.
PDF Name: Enter the name of the PDF file. For ex., widgetco-manual.pdf.
Cover Page: Select the checkbox to include a cover page, i.e., the manual’s first page. Click Edit to modify the page. The cover page can also use merge tags (see below).
Title Page: Select the checkbox to include a title page. A title page is used for the author’s name, version, company name, copyright disclosure, date printed, etc. Click Edit to modify the page. The title page can also use merge tags (see below).
Table of Contents: Select this option to include the TOC in the PDF. In addition, this will also add bookmarks to the PDF (Bookmarks appear on the left side of a PDF document. To view bookmarks, choose Show Bookmark from the Window menu in Acrobat).
Header/Footer: Select the checkbox to include a header and footer in the PDF to provide additional information. It could be page numbers, dates, folder names, your logo, etc. To edit the header and footer, click Edit. The header/footer can also use merge tags (see below).
Extra Spaces: Select this option to remove excessive spacing in the PDF resulting from extra spaces and tags in the HTML code.
Links: Select the checkbox to remove hyperlinks from pages.
CSS: A PDF will use the site’s CSS styles by default. Select this option to use a print-only CSS file. To edit the CSS, click Edit.
Page Size & Orientation: Choose the preferred page size and orientation from the respective drop-down lists.
Toolbar: By default, users will get the option to save the help site as a PDF from the toolbar. You can uncheck the respective boxes if you do not want users to download a PDF version of your page/site. Also, you can edit the link name if you select the option.
When you select the toolbar option:
When you uncheck the option:
File: Select this option to store the generated PDF on the server. It will significantly improve the loading time for end users since they will download a copy of the stored PDF instead of waiting for it to generate.
The server will store only one PDF at a time, so it will overwrite the previous version when you generate a new one. This ensures that the most recent PDF is available to your end users.
Pages: The PDF setting will select “All pages checked, Show in PDF” by default. However, you can use this option to choose specific pages or folders to be included/excluded in the PDF.
To generate the PDF, click Generate PDF. To save your settings at any time, click Save.
Change the PDF title page color
You can modify the PDF title/cover page and change the background color to match your branding.
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In the PDF settings, click Edit for the Cover Page or Title Page option.
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Go to Source, add the line of code mentioned below in the highlighted part, and click Save.
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style="background-color:#addcolorcode; background-repeat: repeat-x; width: 100%;" |
Add your color code where #addcolorcode is mentioned.

Controlling the Header and Footer
You can include merge tags in the header/footer, cover page, and title page of the PDF. The system will automatically update the data for these variables. For example, if you add the variable [company_name], it will be replaced with ProProfs.
To use a merge tag, simply add the tag to a page, and it will automatically be replaced.
| Merge Tag | What it does |
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| [pdf_title] | Merges the PDF name over such as "ABC Manual." |
| [site_name] | Merges the sites name over such as "ABC Documentation Site." |
| [site_logo] | Displays your site logo if uploaded. |
| [company_name] | Displays your company name as defined in Settings > Manage Account. |
| [website_url] | Displays your company website URL as defined in Settings > Manage Account. |
| [long_date] | Displays today's date in long format (October 29, 2012). |
| [short_date] | Displays today's date in short format (10/29/12). |
| [page_number] | Displays the page number. |
| [folder_name] | Displays the folder name the page is located in. |
| [page_title] | Displays the page's title. |
| [page_toc] | Displays the pages table of contents name. |
Store PDF
Once you generate a PDF, the system automatically stores it on the server. So, when your end users select “Save Site as PDF” from the toolbar, the PDF will instantly be available for download. It will significantly improve the processing time.
Important:
After a site contains 50+ pages, "Save site as PDF" will no longer display in the Print toolbar by default due to performance issues. Rather, you have to go into Settings > PDF and select "Store a copy of the PDF on the server" and "Show link in the toolbar to save page as PDF."
Once you do this, the option in the toolbar will appear. When the user clicks it, it will download the PDF stored on the server.
That is all about publishing the help site to PDF in ProProfs Knowledge Base.