Welcome to the Grav Helios Open Reader – a guide to publishing open textbooks and readers on the web with the Helios Open Reader plugin and Grav Premium Helios theme.
Work through the sections in order, or jump to any topic from the cards below.
Grav Helios Open Reader
A Guide to Publishing Open Textbooks and Readers on the Web
HibbittsDesign.org
First Edition, 2026
CC BY 4.0
Chapter 1
Introduction
What Helios Open Reader is, what it does well, and how it compares to other publishing tools.
Chapter 2
Installation
Server requirements, licensing, and step-by-step instructions for getting Helios Open Reader running.
Chapter 3
Creating Content
Folder structure, frontmatter fields, callout blocks, and embedding rich content.
Chapter 4
Publishing & Sharing
Git Sync for open authoring, LMS embedding, OER attribution, plain text export, and print output.
Chapter 5
Customization
Label customization, admin panel styling, templates, CSS and JavaScript assets, and all plugin settings.