Online Help tools: facts
The MSHelpWiki has a list of currently available Help authoring systems.
Char James-Tanny published an updated “Help Authoring Tools Comparison Matrix” in February 2006.
Key facts about commonly used tools follow.
AuthorIT is a single source content management application often used to produce Help systems. AuthorIT is often pronounced “author it,” and also pronounced “author eye tee,” IT spelled out.
Help & Manual is another help authoring option. (December 2005)
MadCap Flare is a new Help authoring tool by the former developers of RoboHelp.
RoboHelp is two applications: RoboHelp for Word (also called RoboHelp Classic) and RoboHelp HTML.
- RoboHelp for Word runs inside MS Word and creates WinHelp files. RoboHelp for Word can create HTML Help and WebHelp.
- RoboHelp HTML is more commonly used than RoboHelp for Word and does not run inside MS Word; it has its own HTML editor. RoboHelp HTML can create HTML Help and WebHelp, but not WinHelp files.
Blue Sky Software Corporation developed RoboHelp and subsequently changed its name to eHelp Corporation. eHelp was bought by Macromedia, which was bought by Adobe. RoboHelp is an Adobe product as of 2006. Macromedia’s last version is RoboHelp x5.
Joe Welinske offered a review of the development of RoboHelp and prediction for the future in 2005: “RoboHelp status update.”
From the Macromedia website, April 15, 2006:
“With RoboHelp Office, you can work in RoboHelp’s built-in HTML editor, any popular editor such as Dreamweaver, or Microsoft Word.”
“RoboHelp Office Pro includes all the features in RoboHelp Office, plus powerful server-based functionality, including real-time tracking of end-user activity in your Help system and application. RoboHelp Office Pro for .NET includes all the features in RoboHelp Office Pro, plus additional support for developing Help systems for the Microsoft .NET framework.”
This “server-based functionality” is part WebHelp Pro and was described by Scott DeLoach on the Online SIG email list, February 3, 2006:
“WebHelp Pro looks like WebHelp, but it adds the following features:
* User reports:
End-user questions left unanswered by the Help system
Frequently asked end-user questions
Areas of the application where end-users are seeking Help
Frequently viewed Help system content
Help system usage statistics
Trends in end-user search success
Help system errors
* Natural language search with built-in and author-defined synonyms
* Natural language search of included Microsoft Office and PDF docs (RH HTML
only searches your HTML files)
To use the reports and natural language search, your generated WebHelp Pro
files have to run from a Windows web server–it doesn’t work in Unix, Linux,
Mac, etc. If your company doesn’t use Windows web servers, you can’t use
WebHelp Pro’s features and there’s no reason to buy WebHelp Pro.”