RoboHelp is a Help authoring tool (HAT) created by the eHelp Corporation and now owned by Adobe Systems. The software is used by technical writers to create computer help files (documentation) in various formats.
#14372
Is Online “lnline” with Your Users’ Needs? 
In preparation for the next release of our flagship so~are product, the International Publications Department at Waters Corporation wanted to assess the usefulness of our current product software documentation with the idea of moving the next generation of documentation in the direction requested by our customers. Based on extensive customer contact, we formulated a plan to dramatically revamp the documentation, namely to replace the paper user’s guides and transform our existing online Help into a comprehensive Online User’s Guide.
Kroeber, Kurt A. and David L. Kelley. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Help
#30573
Issues in Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Help System
The design team for a major new product approached our publications group about ideas on developing an online manual and/or online help. Together, we developed a task-oriented, easy-to-use online help system, and continue to work together to evaluate it. Where do we best put the buttons that access the help for various subsystems?
Evans, Jeanette P. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#28789
Daigle, an Adobe community expert for RoboHelp, shares his reaction to the RoboHelp 7 sneak peak, and also explains the main features RoboHelp 7 will have: drag-and-drop functionality across the topics, double-byte language support for translation, the ability to have multiple topics open at the same time, snippets with graphics, removal of kadov tags, automatic breadcrumbs, and tighter integration with other Adobe products. Daigle speculates on reasons for Adobe's lack of transparency, and comments on the globalization of Adobe's development for RoboHelp.
Daigle, John and Tom H. Johnson. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#14351
The Key for Effective Documentation: Answer the User’'s Real Question
To successfully communicate to users, documentation must do more than meet the user’s information needs, it must present the information in the same way the user processes the information. The design of sofhYare and its accompanying documentation must be reconceived so that the design is done porn the problem-solver’s pornt of view. Effectively designing documentation requires the writer to: start with the user, answer the user’s rest questions, optimize all documentation as a smgle umt, allowfor user mistakes, and consider how you present the information.
Albers, Michael J. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Help
#24212
Key Roles In Developing Successful Online Help
There are many roles involved in developing a successful online help project. Understanding the relationship between these roles can increase everyone's awareness of the requirements and tasks necessary for a successful project. In many projects, individuals fill more than one role, moving between roles as needed.
Hall, Rebecca C. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#29367
A Lack of Coordination is Why Technical Support Isn't Working 
Technical support relies heavily on users' abilities to perform tasks, and we're all more than familiar with the difficulty involved with assisting inexperienced computer users. Most widespread worms and viruses take hold and spread due to poorly maintained systems, commonly home systems found on broadband networks.
Yarden, Jonathan. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Help
#26819
Links Anwenderfreundlich Formulieren 
Auf die Frage, wie Hyperlinks technisch in HTML zu formulieren sind, listet Google weit über 15 Millionen Treffer. Auf die Frage hingegen, wie die Linktexte gestaltet sein sollen, damit sie der Leser gut versteht, lassen sich brauchbare Empfehlungen an einer Hand abzählen. Auch die meisten Styleguides und Redaktionsleitfäden halten sich bei dieser Frage bedeckt. Im folgenden Beitrag finden Sie Tipps zu diesem wenig behandelten, aus Sicht der Technischen Dokumentation aber wichtigen Thema.
Achtelig, Marc. indoition engineering (2005). (German) Articles>Writing>Hypertext>Help
#14550
Low-End Online Documentation Viewing Systems: Why and How
Online documentation is now widely accepted for its convenience and cost savings. However, some small, non-Windows shops find very few offerings in the market place for online documentation software.
Sonnenberg, Beth Apple. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Help>Online
#12951
Making FrameMaker Help Usable and Searchable
You can convert FrameMaker's help files to a PDF file, thus making them fully searchable and far more usable than the originals. These instructions are Windows-centric, but can be adapted to work on all systems with Frame. (Directory/folder names are the only real difference.)
Forrest, Stephen and Scott Abel. TECHWR-L. Design>Documentation>Help>Adobe FrameMaker
#28764
Making Help More Human, and Other Discussions
Discusses a number of trends in the technical writing world, particularly the need to make help more human by adopting conversational tones and addressing the angry/frantic state of the user.
Johnson, Tom H. and Heidi Hansen. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Help
#23733
Making Online Help Helpful -- Perspectives of Professionals and Users
This paper reviews research done in online help information, analyses different views on it from the perspectives of professionals of technical communication and end-users, and suggests ways to solve problems.
Li, Yue. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#23734
Making Web-Based Online Help Accessible: A Case Study
Accessibility is about providing successful access to information, and the use of information technology by people who have disabilities. The IBM® WebSphere® Commerce development team adopted IBM’s mandate to make its software accessible, and achieved a high level of accessibility in its release of the IBM WebSphere Commerce, Version 5.4, suite of products. Continuing with the next release, the WebSphere Commerce development team strove for an even higher level of accessibility. This paper discusses some of the experiences and lessons learned from making WebSphere Commerce online help and software accessible. It examines some of the most common issues from the User Experience, Information Development, and Test perspectives.
Bot-Roche, Diba, Frances Mullally, Vijay Sivashankar and Donna Sutarno. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Accessibility>Help
#24766
Mastering the Mayhem: How to Manage a Hypertext Help Project
Two main forces affect a Help project: absurd deadlines and a complex web of hypertext files. Those responsible for managing such projects often ask: How do I gain control of all these forces? When do I need to start the project? How do I gauge its progress? Our demonstration will show how to successfully manage a Help project. We will illustrate how WordPerfect Domestic Documentation Services solves management problems using a timeline, checklist, and tracking database.
Calhoun, Deirdre and Wendy Fritzke. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#22860
Maximizing Windows Help is more than just converting printed documentation to Help. Help users want easy access to information so that they can complete their tasks expeditiously. A Help topic should contain information that adresses one subject, has one objective, and answers one question. To maximize Windows Help, chunk information and use hyperlinks. The use of macros can enhance how information is accessed.
Smart-Wycislo, Nicole Y. and Patryce Moshay. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#20722
Method to Evaluate Manuals and Online Help
In these testing times when time to market for software is constantly diminishing, the demand to make manuals and online help targeted, faster, cheaper and better is a tall order. While methods and tools are being constantly developed to help us do our work faster, and better, measuring the quality of the written word remains a deficient arena. Technical Communications gurus advocate methods like surveys and usability to make better end products. However, this requires good infrastructure and management support to carry out. This paper provides a method to evaluate technical manuals and online help for software products. It discusses how you can gauge a manual’s quality and suggests a method to quantify its effectiveness. It is cheap to implement and is customizable for your organization. All you need is good knowledge of your audience, and some faith and persistence!
Santhanam, Raji. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Assessment>Help
#20118
Migrating to WinHelp 4.0 for Windows ’95
WinHelp 4 is the help environment for Microsoft’s Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. Among the important new features of WinHelp 4 are more capable secondary windows, shortcut buttons, the ability to integrate multiple help files, What’s This? help, and better support for online coaches. Help authors must understand both the construction and the design aspects of these new features. They must also deal with the complexities of the transition from Windows 3.1 help to WinHelp 4.
Farkas, David K. and Joe Welinske. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24841
A Modular Approach to WinHelp Projects: The Process Behind the Success
The Knowledge Products group at Cisco Systems, Inc., provides online help for both PC and UNIX-based applications. The online help team for the Cisco Works for Windows product comprised of five writers who coordinated the online help development efforts. The online help team worked closely to produce an integrated help system that was modularized for better process control.
Mandavilli, Lavanya K. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24805
Users complain that there is too much information in help. We will explore ways to move beyond help and provide users with the types of support they really need: re-using information on commercial information services such as CompuServe or America Online, on the Internet, and on dial-up phone and fax services. Making application interfaces self-documenting. Providing information in overlaid notes, cue cards, and wizards.
Hyman, Francine N. and Jonathan R. Price. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#23739
Moving from Paper to Electronic Documentation: Tips for a Successful Project
With new tools and technologies available, more companies are choosing to move from paper-based documentation to electronic documentation. Being a pioneer is an exciting – and daunting – experience. In moving from paper-based to electronic documentation, you may be treading on a path never before explored for your product or your company. There are many decisions to make and many plans to develop, abandon, and develop again. Special attention is required in the areas of project management, writing and illustration, documentation design, and configuration management. A team that has experienced a paper-to-electronic documentation project can offer valuable advice if you are facing a groundbreaking project.
Finan, Jill Sutton, Joanna Natoli, Heather Healy and Mike Kocik. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#10681
MS Help 2.x was announced at WinWriters on March 5, 2001. MS Help 2 is the help system used by Visual Studio .NET help and MSDN Library, and now the Borland .NET IDEs. Getting started with MS Help 2.0? This site is a start.
Helpware.net (2001). Reference>Writing>Help>Technical Writing
#19765
A forum for discussing online help related issues.
#24353
Only a small percentage of users open Help, and they usually do that only when they have trouble with the application. One way to reach a broader audience is to integrate assistance into the user interface so that people understand the product as they use it. This paper describes our reasons for moving in this direction, provides examples of integrated user assistance, and discusses issues and concerns inherent in moving away from traditional Help.
Raiken, Nancy, Diane Stielstra and Richard Bloch. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Documentation>User Interface>Help
#24658
Next Generation Microsoft Online Help
Just as clothing styles change, and fall's fashion is different from summer's, so Microsoft presents it's new fall's fashion of online help to a fashion-consious entourage of software companies always eager to follow Microsoft's lead.
Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#29867
Non-Fatal Errors: Creating Usable, Effective Error Messages
'Memory requests for some applications may be denied.' 'Error 404: File not found.' 'Invalid entry. Check your info and resubmit.' 'Fatal error. Procedure aborted.' It's often easy to identify what kinds of error messages don't help users, but it can be tricky to avoid them, and even more of a challenge to create the opposite: error messages that give users a clear indication of the problem, offer information to help them fix it, and provide tips on how to avoid the same situation in the future. This paper details the steps involved in creating understandable, helpful error messages, and suggests ways of communicating the value of good error messages to managers and executives.
Wilska, Emily. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#24729
In the eras of Windows 3.x and earlier versions of Windows 95, the only help system people worked with or even knew about was WinHelp. Problems started with the transition to Windows 95, when developers and users alike had to learn to deal with WinHelp 4.0's separate dialog with the Contents, Index, and Find tabs.
Liske, David E. MVPs.org (2003). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
