Creating online Help for a PHP application in RoboHelp

[Guest]

Our developers are working in PHP and have been hard-coding Help into their applications. (We create Internet filtering software that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.) I would like to help them create a full-fledged Help system for our application, but I need help in convincing them that it is adviseable,  possible, and appropriate. Any testimonials?

Also, could someone advise whether to go with HTML Help, Web Help, or Adobe Air for Web 2.0 -- and outline how my Help files would be linked into their PHP code. (Unfortunately, I know virtually nothing about PHP and am not a programmer. I have previous experience creating HTML Help -- CHM files -- for use in C++ applications. As I recall, we had to map each of the Help topics to the appropriate page in the application.

If anyone could point me to examples of Help created for PHP, that would be tremendous. And general guidelines about how to get started would be extremely useful.

I'm also using Captivate and would also like to link in my Flash demos from Captivate.

KayS

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi KayS.

Not only do I know "virtually nothing about PHP" I don't even know what it is

Can you enlighten me?

---

Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips,  tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.

[Guest]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Php )

PHP, or PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a widely used, general-purpose scripting language that was originally designed for web development, to produce dynamic web pages. It can be embedded into HTML and generally runs on a web server, which needs to be configured to process PHP code and create web page content from it. It can be deployed on most web servers and on almost every operating system and platform free of charge.

Here is a link to the operating manual: http://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php  

And here is an excerpt from http://ca3.php.net/formats  about its online Help:

The most cross-platform format of the manual is the HTML version. This is provided both as a single HTML file and as a package of individual files for each section (which results in a collection of several thousand files). We provide these versions compressed, so a decompression utility is required to retrieve the files contained within the archives.

For Windows platforms, the Windows HTML Help version of the manual enhances the HTML format for use with the Windows HTML Help application. This version provides full-text search, a full index, and bookmarking. Many popular Windows PHP development environments also integrate with this version of the documentation to provide easy access. CHM viewers for Linux desktops are also available. Check out » xCHM or » GnoCHM .

There is also an » extended CHM version available, which is updated less frequently, but provides many additional features. It will only work on Microsoft Windows though, because of the technologies used to build the help pages.

As I said, I'm a technical writer and not a developer, so I'm not sure what magic programmer words to use to explain to the developers here about what format I need to create and how to link it into their code. It sounds as though Web Help would be a better format than HTML Help (because of the cross-platform issues) but I don't know if it would be a good candidate for the Web 2.0 Adobe Air treatment.

If you can help, I would appreciate it. I've already subscribed to your interesting-looking Blog on RoboHelp.

Kay Speed

Technical Writer/Trainer

Netsweeper Inc.

[Willam_van_Weelden]

Hi,

PHP is most commonly used to create dynamic webpages/web applications, so my guess is that your application is a web application that runs on some kind of server.

I don't have any experience with AIR Help, but my first thought would be to use a web output, like WebHelp of Flashhelp. The WebHelp is just a bunch of HTML files and javascripts so they should be easily integrated in your application. I thought that Adobe Air requires the user the install the Air viewer, while you can open WebHelp in most browsers without the user having to configure.

As for calling your help, see this article on Peter's site.

Greet,

Willam

[Peter Grainge]

There are two forms of AIR help, locally installed (requires installation of the AIR runtime if not already installed for an AIR application) or browser based AIR help. Regard the latter as webhelp in a different dress.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Guest]

Thank you very much. Your site is excellent -- well-organized and easy to understand! This is just what I needed. Another reader directed my attention specifically to the "Calling Web Help" pages of your site. Why doesn't the RoboHelp manual explain this so well?

I was definitely talking about the browser-based AIR help. I am still not clear whether the procedure is to create traditional webhelp with RoboHelp and then use the Adobe Air packager. My understanding is that Air adds Web 2.0 support, which carries with it some advantages.

Kay

Kay Speed

Technical Writer/Trainer

Netsweeper Inc.

[Peter Grainge]

If you took a moment to read Before You Post, I wouldn't have to ask which version of RoboHelp you are using. The answser to how you create the AIR help depends on that.

Here's the rub with AIR help. The browser based version does not have the same functionality as the locally installed version. It is effectively webhelp with an AIR help dress on it by which I mean it is pretty much the same thing underneath.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Guest]

I am using RoboHelp 8.

Kay Speed

Technical Writer/Trainer

Netsweeper Inc.

[Peter Grainge]

The Packager was a RH7 add-on that converted webhelp to AIR help. With RH8 it is built in, you just double click the AIR layout and make your selections. Most of the information you need is in the RH7 AIR article on my site, it's mostly that the fields are in a different order.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Guest]

Thank you very much. Your Web site is very thoughtfully planned and written.

Kay Speed

Technical Writer/Trainer

Netsweeper Inc.

[Peter Grainge]

Thanks for the kind words.

I posted an update of the AIR articles last night. Not 100% complete but close enough.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips