RH8 and RH Server 8 Assistance

[Chrodgers]

Hi All,

We are currently using RoboHelp HTML 8 to create webhelp for Java-based web applications. We recently received new requirements from our stakeholders, and I'm wondering if anyone can help me with some of the specifics. We're hoping we can continue using RH8. Since my questions spread across Air/RH8 Server/RH8 HTML, I apologize if I posted in the wrong category.

Requirement 1: Track help usage. I'm assuming we could purchase RoboHelp Server 8, generate our webhelp in the same manner, and then just deploy the help to the RH Server rather than another server. Is this correct? And I'm assuming providing context-sensitive help (either by giving Map IDs to developers or using an XML file) would still be possible?

Requirement 2: Provide embedded help in the form of inline help, docking panes, bubbles, etc. Does RH8 offer any of this capability? I think this one is a long shot... I'm not aware of any other help authoring tool that provides this capability for webhelp.

Requirement 3: Provide an updated look, as we’ve had comments that the current Webhelp skin looks outdated. Would using the Adobe Air – Browser based Help output in place of the Webhelp output pose any challenges?

Requirement 4: The ability for other departments to reuse our content. Currently another department is using Joomla to create our knowledge base. Does anyone know of a way to import RH content into Joomla?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

[johndaigle]

Hi, chrodgers

I'll take a crack at this:

Requirement 1: Track help usage. I'm assuming we could purchase  RoboHelp Server 8, generate our webhelp in the same manner, and then  just deploy the help to the RH Server rather than another server. Is  this correct? And I'm assuming providing context-sensitive help (either  by giving Map IDs to developers or using an XML file) would still be  possible?

Yes, publishing your project as WebHelp Pro to the RoboHelp Server is virtually the same as you are doing now. Also there are  CSH APIs that developers use (or use their own favorite methods) for calling topics using Map IDs or by URL.

Requirement  2: Provide embedded help in the form of inline help, docking panes,  bubbles, etc. Does RH8 offer any of this capability? I think this one is  a long shot... I'm not aware of any other help authoring tool that  provides this capability for webhelp.

You are right that this is more of an "engineered" or programmed windowing operation that only the developer can control. Still, I imagine you can provide the HTML topics via WebHelp that appear in the custom panes, with a little plannng.

Requirement 3: Provide an updated look, as we’ve had comments that the current Webhelp skin looks outdated. Would using the Adobe Air – Browser based Help output in place of the Webhelp output pose any challenges?

Have you tried to create from scratch or modify the existing skins in the WebHelp skin editor? Like anything else aesthetic there's nothing like having a graphic designer to accommodate color schemes and branding requirements If they supply the design and graphic elements, it's fairly simple to assemble the parts using the WebHelp skin editor. Using Adobe AIR browser-based help would work if you use the "out of the box" templates and skins. RoboHelp does not (yet) have an AIR Help skin editor. So you would be limited to the ones provided. You might try generating AIR Help Browser Based to see if it fits your needs. It's real simple to find out! Understand that are a couple of features of true AIR Help ( installed.air file) that are not included in the browser-based version (favorites, commenting, etc.)

Requirement 4: The ability for other departments to reuse our content. Currently another department is using Joomla to create our knowledge base. Does anyone know of a way to import RH content into Joomla?

I don't know enough to comment except to say if the Joomla platform can display HTML, it should work.

Hope this helps.

John Daigle

Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor

www.showmethedemo.com

[Chrodgers]

Thanks so much for your response, John! I have a few more questions if you don't mind.

Requirement 1: Are we able to publish the Air - Browser based help to RoboHelp Server? And if we stick with WebHelp, we would simply need to use the WebHelp Pro SSL to publish to RH Server, correct?

Requirement 2: So by providing HTML topics that appear in custom panes, are you referring to the field-level help that is described in your article: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/robohelp/articles/context_help.html? So creating another window and hiding the navigation pane is the closest way to provide the help types I mentioned (balloons, inline help, docking panes), correct?

Requirement 3: We have generated the Air - Browser based help and particularly like the accordian style with the contents/index/glossay appearing stacked in the bottom left. I don't know of a way to achieve this in WebHelp, but I could be missing something... I did look at the Skinny on Skins help and saw a way to move these buttons to the bottom, but didn't see instructions on how to stack them. Do you know if this is possible? Also, another point that was brought up was that the separator between the TOC and topic on the right looks outdated. Is there a way to customize this as well? I read in the Skinny on Skins that you can remove it or shrink the line, but what about changing it to something similar to the separator in the Air output?

Requirement 4: Thanks for your input. I spoke to the person who uses Joomla and he said that it's a CMS system that stores the content in a database, and because the articles are compartmentalized and stored as individual "pieces", this isn't possible. I've never used Joomla, so I don't know anything about it.

Thanks again for your help, John. Much appreciated.

[johndaigle]

Let's see.

Requirement 1: Are we able to publish the Air - Browser based help to  RoboHelp Server? And if we stick with WebHelp, we would simply need to  use the WebHelp Pro SSL to publish to RH Server, correct?

You are not able to publish the AIR Help - Browser Based help to RoboHelp Server at this time.

Yes, you would simply publish WebHelp Pro or FlashHelp Pro to the RoboHelp Server. Any skin you develop for regular WebHelp with the skin editor can be used in WebHelp Pro to the server. For FlashHelp (Pro), you would either use one from those available or you can get a Flash developer to create your own with provided templates.

Requirement  2: So by providing HTML topics that appear in custom panes, are you  referring to the field-level help that is described in your article: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/robohelp/articles/context_help.html?  So creating another window and hiding the navigation pane is the  closest way to provide the help types I mentioned (balloons, inline  help, docking panes), correct?

Yes exactly. Anything fancier than calling the topic in a typical popup browser window would have to be created by the application developer.

Requirement  3: We have generated the Air - Browser based help and particularly like  the accordian style with the contents/index/glossay appearing stacked  in the bottom left. I don't know of a way to achieve this in WebHelp,  but I could be missing something... I did look at the Skinny on Skins  help and saw a way to move these buttons to the bottom, but didn't see  instructions on how to stack them. Do you know if this is possible?  Also, another point that was brought up was that the separator between  the TOC and topic on the right looks outdated. Is there a way to  customize this as well? I read in the Skinny on Skins that you can  remove it or shrink the line, but what about changing it to something  similar to the separator in the Air output?

Skinny on Skins by my inestimable colleague, Rick Stone is an amazing resource. I don't know how much time Rick has spent on the AIR browser based output (probably not much). However, what Rick is mostly demonstrating is that if you have a knowledgeable JavaScript developer resource and a little nerve you can "hack" the standard frameset and decoration. Of course you're on your own for this . Whether this can be done with the accordion gadget, I have no idea?

John