Some advice for a newbie

[brianlethert]

Sorry for the basic question, but I would like to know the advantage of robohelp over, let's say dreamweaver, for creating an online help site.

Second question:

Can robohelp create a stand-alone help utility that can sit on a local computer or be emailed? If so, would this open in Internet Explorer? Would I need some programming expertise to do this?

Thanks

B

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

For starters, I'll assume you are referring to RoboHelp HTML here.

RoboHelp HTML and Dreamweaver are both HTML editors. But Dreamweaver is designed for working with Web Sites while RoboHelp HTML is designed for working with Help Systems.

RoboHelp HTML offers an ability to create navigation structures such as a Table of Contents and Index. I don't believe Dreamweaver offers those features.

RoboHelp HTML creates many types of output. All types of its output are capable of being viewed as a "stand alone" format. But usually when we think of "Stand Alone" types of help, we think of Microsoft HTML Help (CHM - pronounced chum) files. CHM format is a single file that may be E-Mailed to another user. No, you should not need any programming expertise whatsoever.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[brianlethert]

Thanks.

Is there a difference btw robohelp html and robohelp 8, which i would be purchasing?

Also, doing a little more reading about AIR, do I understand correctly that I could create a help system that would operate as an AIR app?

Is AIR a sort of virtual machine like the Java virtual machine?

Sorry if my questions don't make sense, I'm trying to come up to speed fast.

Thanks!

B

[brianlethert]

I'd like to try the sample from gooberguides, but it seems to want to install like an application.

Is that how it should work?

Thx

B

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Indeed. The format is a compiled and Electronically Delivered book (eBook)

[brianlethert]

Did you need anything else to compile it as an ebook? Or was techcommsuite all you needed?

Thanks again!

[Captiv8r · Accepted solution]

Yes, the eBooks are created using RoboHelp HTML to create the content as WebHelp. This is then fed into some eBook software I purchased separately. The eBook software compiles the WebHelp pages into the EXE, assigns security and other options.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[Peter Grainge]

I hope Rick won't mind me adding some other things that RH has that are not in Dreamweaver.

• Conditional build tags so that one source file can generate different outputs.
• Snippets that can be changed so the change reflects everywhere the snippet is used
• Variables whereby the value changes in different outputs.

Collectively these are very useful features.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Captiv8r]

Never! The more info the better!

[Captiv8r]

Hello again

If you were to purchase RoboHelp 8 you would obtain a few applications.

* RoboHelp for Word (where you use Microsoft Word as your editor and RoboHelp works in concert with Word to create help systems)

* RoboHelp HTML (normally used if your output is HTML based)

* RoboSource Control

* RoboScreen Capture

AIR is a technology that Adobe hopes will take off and become as prevalent as the Flash Player or PDF Reader. With AIR, your end user must have the AIR runtime installed. Then you create your project and package it as an AIR output. This output is a single file that you distribute to end users. The end users have to install the AIR package (assuming they have the requisite AIR runtime installed) just as you would install any other application. As that package installs, it copies all the individual HTML files to the end user's PC. So it's no longer a single package.

I'm probably not doing AIR justice with the explanation. It's a much more segmented and faceted technology than what I've talked about here.

Hope this helps a little... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks