RoboHelp 6 vs AuthorIT

[KC_in_Colorado]

I am about to start a new project and have been asked to consider AuthorIT before purchasing the RoboHelp 6 upgrade. This project will involve authoring CHM Help for a new .NET application. I currently have RoboHelp X5 and have been using RoboHelp since 3.0.

As much as I've loved RoboHelp through the years, I'm at my wit's end with Adobe. I've been trying since Jan 25 to purchase upgrades to FrameMaker and Acrobat, been on the phone with customer support a whopping NINE times, been told the products didn't ship because (a) they were ordered from a quote, then (b) because I had an old customer ID number, then (c) they were stuck in the system for some reason, and the last straw today: because my credit card was declined (!) -- it's been one excuse after another, apologies all over the place, and still no software. Given this experience (of begging this company to take my business for nearly a month and still being unable to get the upgrades I need), I'm hesitant to start down this path again with a RoboHelp upgrade. It remains to be seen if I'll EVER get the FrameMaker and Acrobat upgrades ordered in January... (Sorry -- I'm ranting.)

Is anyone out there familiar with AuthorIT and how it compares to RoboHelp? Any advice or gotchas? By the way, this Help file will be integrated with the application, include context-sensitive Help, and not be Web-based. I assume that means there's no need to even consider purchasing RoboHelp 6 Server, only the upgrade for RoboHelp x56 Office.

Any advice appreciated!

kc

[Roger_N]

KC -

I'm probably not the most unbiased witness, as I've used RH for, well, a long time. I've also had to use AuthorIT in my current job. As far as ease of use goes, RoboHelp wins hands down. AuthorIT excels at creating customized documentation with a high degree of granularity, but is hardly intuitive. I have employees who have been using it for years that still dislike it. What can I say?

Both create all the major help formats and Word docs, but AuthorIT often demands more post-production tweaking. You often have to resize images. Formatting and inserting images feels clumsy in AuthorIT. The files are kept in a database, so are not so accessible. The database does make versioning more convenient, though.

I try to steer most projects to RoboHelp when I can - it's just easier for everybody.

[Guest]

Hi,

Well I've used AuthorIT and RoboHelp for similar period; I agree with Roger, RH is easy to use compared to AuthorIT.

The other things you may want to consider:
1. A great support from the forums (This is one of the best forums I've ever used).
2. The Price - RoboHelp is cheaper compared to AuthorIT (at least when my company bought RH X5, but X6 is the way to go)

Ta,