RoboHelp Server 6

[Guest]

Hi,

Can everyone tell me what is the difference between RoboHelp Pro X5 and RoboHelp Server 6 ? Is RoboHelp Server 6 just a new version? Does RoboHelp Server 6 include RoboHelp 6 functionalities plus Server aspects?

Thanks in advance for your Help,

Br,

Bernie

[RoboColum_n_]

HI Bernie. My understanding is that RH Server 6 is the same product as RH Pro 5 but also a newer version. It provides additional RH support such as natural language search and the ability to see what parts of the help a user uses.

[CraigCC]

Hi Bernard,

The new offering of RH6 splits Robohelp into two products RobHelp 6 and Robohelp Server 6. RoboHelp Server 6 is an add on providing additional features such as tracking user activity and deploying help on a server (and lots more). Best to check out the following link:

http://www.adobe.com/products/robohelpserver/

Also check out the following FAQ which describes the new product range at a higher level:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/robohelp/productinfo/faq/

"Adobe Systems has simplified the product offering and added many user-requested features and improvements. As a bonus, RoboHelp 6 also includes extra utilities and tools, including Adobe Acrobat Elements, at no additional cost, bringing it on par with other best-of-class Adobe technical documentation and eLearning applications, such as Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe Captivate, and Adobe Acrobat. The RoboHelp 6 family now consists of two software products designed to meet two distinct needs: RoboHelp 6 and RoboHelp Server 6. "

thanks
Craig

[johndaigle]

If I could chime in here and add to what Craig and Colum said. I am writing an article for the Adobe Developer Network describing RoboHelp Server 6 and assorted changes. There are many improvements which I will outline. There is also a major change for those who are upgrading from the old RoboEngine to the new that they should be aware of.

The RoboHelp Server 6 installation is much easier because "permission scripts" have been created for the web adminstrator. Also an author no longer has to pester the web administrator to make certain configuration changes. The author can make administrative changes from within RoboHelp 6 client app or a web browser interface, which is really cool.

Also, it no longer costs extra to substitute the more robust SQL Server or Oracle as the Database instead of a less capable Access database. In other words the ODBC Data Connector comes built in instead of an add on.

Another item that formerly cost extra but is now included for free is an API for .NET users who want to tie in their .NET web applications to the WebHelp Pro system as a web service.

The user can also search the text contents of any Acrobat PDF or MS Office document (Word, Excel, etc.) and those documents will actually come up in the results along with the html topics.

NOTE: There is a major change however and something upgraders need to plan for. "Natural language" based search capabilities have been replaced by keyword based search. Because of Google, Yahoo, etc., over the last few years, keyword search has become more popular and customers are more comfortable typing a few keywords rather than typing a complete question.

This means users should no longer type in a natural language phrase, but more traditional keywords to get a better search result similar to other popular search engines. The results will depend on the match between the keywords entered and the published content.

RoboHelp Server is a great way for authors to answer the age-old question, "Am I being helpful" because of the feedback reports. It is an innovative feature and I'm not aware of anything quite like it in any other tool.
Thanx,
john

John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp Instructor