New To RoboHelp (help!)

[Frank_Blackwell]

Hello. I've been a writer for many years but for the last year or two, I've changed gears a bit and have been working as a mutimedia analyst for a marketing group in a scientific diagnostic company. I love the work and have been recently asked if it is possible to take an existing set of user manuals and convert them to an online knowledge base or standalone help system. My first guess is that robohelp 8 is my best choice. Here are a few questions:

1) Will RoboHelp 8 allow me to import word 2003 documents and automatically convert them into help files based on their headings? The documents are from 60 to 300 pages in length with many figures and tables. They are all formatted in word 2003.

2) How difficult is the learning curve for a person with a writing and documentation background mixed with some web building and adobe product familiarity. I use many of the applications within the master suite.

3) is this the right tool for what I am trying to do?

Thank you in advance to anyone who replies. I am up against a wall on this one and will truly appreciate any help you might offer to better position me to head in the right direction. ~ Frank

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Frank.

Check out this link on Peter Grainge's site which explains the whys and wherefores of importing word documents into RH. Peter's site is full of useful info and although it hasn't been updated for RH8 yet the content still applies.

In short, importing word files into RH can be done and Peter's site explains what to do. There are other tools you could use but I think RH is by far the easiest tool to learn as if you are familair with the Word UI you can start to use RH out of the box.

[Frank_Blackwell]

Thank you for your reply Colum. I will take a look at Peter's site this morning and see if I can start to wrap my arms around this. I downloaded the trial version yesterday and started playing with it but it was not immediately clear as to how to best proceed. I think I will need some guidance.

I’m wondering if you or anyone else reading this thread might be able to recommend a particularly good training center for a 3 or 5 day class in roboHelp. I recently took some training in Premiere Pro at Future Media Concepts in Manhattan and they were pretty good but I am not sure they’re the best place to study roboHelp. Any input regarding reliable training with be greatly appreciated.

~ Frank

[RoboColum_n_]

Are you based in the US east coast? If you are, you are up early! let us know and we can point you in the right direction. Bare in mind that RH8 is still very new and whilst there are companies that train on it, there won't be as many as on RH7.

[Frank_Blackwell]

Yes, I am located on the east coast of the US. I'm located in New Haven, Connecticut but I can travel wherever it makes the most sense to be in order to learn what I need to know. If you can recommend a training center or a particularly competent and congenial trainer, that would go a long way toward achieving a solution. I work for a company that does DNA sequencing. We manufacture a machine that facilitates sequencing as well. We produce a set of manuals for this machine and I am tasked with bringing the manuals from a paper to electronic version. The manuals have many tables and figures but my hope is to add video pieces to the roboHelp version as well. Can that be done effectively and smoothly in roboHelp 8? My primarly [position is that of a marketing communication multimedia analyst. My hope is to bring a sample manual to class and use it as the basis for my training.

It has been a long time since I used html or worked on any web design. Should I refresh my web design skills and html familiarity prior to attending any course?

Thanks again.

~ Frank

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Frank.

Check out Rick Stone's training site - click here. He offers training in both RoboHelp and Captivate (which would be useful for your video tutorials. He can visit your site or offer on-line training.

[Frank_Blackwell]

Thanks Colum; I will contact Rick today. I have some familiarity with Captivate but I have in mind to create the videos outside of any such application if possible. These videos will be of laboratory protocols so will be comprised of digital video footage, rather than a series of screen captures. I will probably use captivate for some other applications I have on the horizon though. Do you happen to know of any other training centers you know to be reliable? Do you know people who have used Rick and were quite satisfied?

[RoboColum_n_]

I don't know Rick's students personally (I'm UK based) but I know Rick well through these forums. His knowledge of RoboHelp and Captivate is second to none. You could try googling for others. Accelebrate have an office in Boston which would be fairly near to you.

[Frank_Blackwell]

Thanks again. I will try to speak with Rick this morning. You have been a great help. I really do approciate it. It is nice to meet you Colum.

~ Frank

[RoboColum_n_]

No problem Frank. Say hello to the moose (and beautiful Connecticut) from me.