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# GuideLine: Interactive Tutorial Overlay for WPF Applications
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# GuideLine.WPF — Interactive Tutorial & Onboarding Overlay for WPF
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GuideLine is a powerful library for C# WPF applications that allows developers to create interactive, step-by-step tutorials. Enhance user experience by guiding users through your application with highlighted controls and explanatory dialogs.
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> **Step-by-step walkthrough overlays for WPF applications.** Highlight UI controls, dim the background, and guide your users through your app with contextual dialogs — no third-party UI framework required.
Most WPF applications ship with no built-in user onboarding. New users struggle to discover features, and support costs rise. **GuideLine.WPF** solves this by letting you add an interactive tutorial layer directly on top of your existing UI — without rewriting a single screen.
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- ✅ Drop it into any existing WPF window in minutes
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- ✅ Zero dependency on third-party UI frameworks
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- ✅ Fully customizable look & feel
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- ✅ Keyboard-accessible and animation-ready
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## Features
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-**Highlight Controls**: Draw attention to specific controls while dimming the rest of the application.
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-**Explanatory Dialogs**: Provide contextual information and instructions for each step of the tutorial.
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-**Navigation**: Easily navigate through tutorial steps with options to go to the previous step, next step, or skip the tutorial entirely.
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-**Customization**: Customize the appearance and behavior of the tutorial overlays and dialogs to fit your application’s style.
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-**🔦 Spotlight UI Elements**: Precisely highlight one or more controls (by reference or by name) while the rest of the interface is dimmed — directing the user's attention exactly where you need it.
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-**💬 Contextual Onboarding Dialogs**: Each tutorial step displays a title and message in a floating dialog, giving users clear, in-context guidance without leaving the screen.
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-**⏭️ Step Navigation**: Built-in Previous / Next / Skip controls let users move at their own pace. Arrow-key keyboard navigation is supported out of the box.
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-**🎨 Full Customization**: Control highlight corner radius, margin, background opacity, dialog animations, and animation duration. Swap in your own dialog template to match your app's design language.
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## Getting Started
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### Prerequisites
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- .NET Framework or .NET Core with WPF support.
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- Visual Studio or any compatible IDE for WPF development.
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- .NET Framework or .NET Core with WPF support
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- Visual Studio or any compatible IDE for WPF development
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### Installation
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Install the [GuideLine.WPF NuGet package](https://www.nuget.org/packages/GuideLine.WPF/) :
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Install the [GuideLine.WPF NuGet package](https://www.nuget.org/packages/GuideLine.WPF/):
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```
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Install-Package GuideLine.WPF
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```
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###Usage
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## Usage
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### Step 1 — Add the GuideLine overlay to your XAML window
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#### 1. Add the GuideLine View to Your XAML root view
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Place `GuideLine_View` as the **topmost element** inside your window's root layout panel. It renders as a transparent overlay that activates only when a tutorial is running.
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Include the GuideLine_View control in your main window or the appropriate user control.
#### 2. Define GuideLine Steps in the ViewModel or anywhere else
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### Step 2 — Define tutorial steps and start the walkthrough
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Create `GuideLineStep` instances to describe each step of your tutorial. You can target UI elements by direct reference or by their `x:Name`. Group them into a `GuideLineItem` and hand them to `GuideLineManager` to orchestrate the flow.
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Create instances of GuideLineStep to define each step in your guideline. Each step should specify the title, message, and the UI element to highlight (UIElement object or name).
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```cs
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usingGuideLine.WPF;
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guideLineManager.StartGuideLine("MainGuideline");
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}
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```
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## Customization
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#### Highlight Appearance
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You can customize the highlight appearance by setting the HighlightCornerRadius and HighlightMargin properties on the GuideLine_View control.
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### Highlight Appearance
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Set `HighlightCornerRadius` and `HighlightMargin` on the `GuideLine_View` control to control how the spotlight cutout looks around highlighted elements.
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### Animation
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Set `AnimateDialog="True"` to enable smooth dialog transitions. Control the speed with `AnimationDuration` (e.g., `"0:0:0.3"` for 300 ms).
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### Custom Dialog Template
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#### Animation
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Enable or disable animations using the AnimateDialog property. You can also set the duration of the animation using the AnimationDuration property.
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The default dialog can be fully replaced with your own `ControlTemplate` to match your application's design system. See the default implementation as a starting point:
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#### Dialog template
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Here is the default template : [Default GuideLine_Dialog_View template](https://github.com/V4SS3UR/GuideLine/blob/master/GuideLine/WPF/View/GuideLine_Dialog_View.xaml)
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