VPforce Rhino Manual

Complete documentation for the VPforce Rhino FFB stick base - a high-performance force feedback controller for flight simulation.

📖 About This Documentation

This documentation provides comprehensive guides for:

• Getting started with your Rhino
• Setup and configuration
• Using the VPforce TelemetryFFB application
• Game-specific force feedback settings
• Troubleshooting and maintenance
• Product information and spare parts

Live Documentation: Visit the documentation site (when deployed)

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Whether you're fixing typos, improving explanations, adding new sections, or creating additional resources—your help makes this documentation better for everyone.

Ways to Contribute

• Fix typos or grammar - Found a mistake? Submit a quick fix
• Improve clarity - Reword confusing sections
• Add examples - Share configuration examples or setup tips
• Report issues - Found outdated or incorrect information? Open an issue
• Create new sections - Have knowledge to share? Propose new documentation

Contributing Guidelines

1. Fork and clone the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b improve/your-improvement
3. Make your changes
4. Test locally (see Local Setup below)
5. Commit with clear messages: git commit -m "Add: improved X section"
6. Push to your fork and open a Pull Request

Please follow the style guide for consistency:

• Use clear, concise language
• Keep sentences short and direct
• Use active voice
• Maintain consistent terminology
• Provide working code examples

🚀 Local Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7+
• pip (Python package manager)
• Git

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/walmis/VPforce-Docs.git
   cd VPforce-Docs

2. Create a virtual environment (recommended)

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Start the development server

   mkdocs serve

5. Open in your browser

   • Navigate to http://localhost:8000
   • Changes to documentation files will auto-reload in your browser

Project Structure

vpforce-rhino-manual/
├── docs/                      # Documentation source files
│   ├── index.md              # Homepage
│   ├── rhino/                # Rhino manual sections
│   │   ├── index.md
│   │   ├── 2-getting-started.md
│   │   ├── 3-using-the-rhino.md
│   │   ├── 4-the-vpforce-telemffb-application.md
│   │   ├── 5-game-specific-ffb-settings-tips-and-tricks.md
│   │   ├── 6-troubleshooting-maintenance.md
│   │   ├── 7-appendix-a-known-issues.md
│   │   └── 8-appendix-b-legacy-telemffb-documentation.md
│   ├── images/               # Image assets
│   ├── media/                # Media assets
│   └── stylesheets/          # Custom CSS
├── mkdocs.yml                # MkDocs configuration
├── requirements.txt          # Python dependencies
├── SETUP_LOCAL.md           # Detailed setup instructions
└── .github/workflows/       # GitHub Actions CI/CD

📝 Editing Documentation

Documentation is written in Markdown. Each page corresponds to a .md file in the docs/ directory.

Recommended Editors

• VS Code - Excellent markdown support with built-in helpers. Automatically generates syntax when pasting images, and GitHub Copilot can assist with writing documentation.
• Milkdown Editor - A plugin-based WYSIWYG markdown editor framework if you prefer a visual editing experience.

Workflow

The repository uses a continuous deployment workflow similar to TelemFFB:

1. Edit locally - Use mkdocs serve --livereload to preview changes in real-time
2. Test changes - Verify your edits look correct before committing
3. Push to master - When satisfied with changes, push to the master branch
4. Automatic deployment - The site automatically renders and uploads to the docs server

You can also use mkdocs serve --livereload -a 127.0.0.1:9000 to serve on a specific port.

Adding a New Page

1. Create a new .md file in the appropriate docs/ subdirectory
2. Add content using Markdown syntax
3. Update mkdocs.yml navigation if needed
4. Run mkdocs serve to preview

Markdown Features Supported

• Headings, lists, and tables
• Code blocks with syntax highlighting
• Admonitions (notes, warnings, etc.)
• Footnotes and abbreviations
• Task lists
• Keyboard key notation
• Strikethrough and emphasis

For advanced markdown extensions and formatting options, see the MkDocs Material reference guide and the MkDocs documentation.

🔨 Building for Production

To build the static site for deployment:

mkdocs build

This generates the complete static website in the site/ directory, ready for deployment.

🚀 Deployment

This project uses GitHub Actions for automated building and deployment. On every push to the main branch:

1. Documentation is built using MkDocs
2. The built site is deployed to the server via SSH

See .github/workflows/deploy.yml for the deployment configuration.

📜 License

This documentation is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY-4.0).

You are free to:

• ✅ Share, copy, and redistribute the documentation
• ✅ Adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material
• ✅ Use it for any purpose, including commercial use

Under the condition that:

• 📝 You give appropriate credit to the VPforce project and contributors
• 🔗 Provide a link to the license
• 📌 Indicate if changes were made

For full terms, see the LICENCE file.

🙋 Questions or Issues?

• Found a bug? Open an Issue
• Have a suggestion? Start a Discussion
• Want to help? See the Contributing section

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Thank you for helping improve the VPforce Rhino documentation! 🚀