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.
#14558
Online Authoring Tools: Descriptions and Demonstrations 
It’s sometimes difficult to determine which tool is right for a particular job. This demonstration shows the types of online documentation projects that are best suited to each of three online authoring tools: Dot-To-Help by WexTech Systems, ToolBook by Asymetrix, and RoboHelp by Blue Sky Software. Technical writers who have used these products to create online help projects will discuss feature comparisons, system requirements for both author and user of the online documentation, and limitations of the tools. By seeing demonstrations of the authoring tools and the projects created with these tools, attendees should have a better understanding of what each tool can help them accomplish.
Roddy, Laurie C. and Lee S. Turner. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#27657
Online Communities for User Assistance Professionals
Online communities have become a very valuable source of assistance for answering questions unique to our industry. This article provides an introduction to online communities and describes how to access a few of the most useful sites.
Martin, Chuck. WritersUA (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>Help
#11749
Online Help - Too Much of a Good Thing?
Online help was originally thought of as an independent support system. It allows the user to access information easily and immediately, whenever it is needed. As such, it was thought to be the most often used support system on a user’s computer. However, from a number of sources, we have learned that online help is used less frequently than we originally thought. Usability tests, especially on web applications, often show that users do not use the online help; or if they do, they do not find the required information. Field engineers and customer support representatives often report that they need to explain information that is documented in the help because users do not use it. To provide more effective assistance, we must answer the question: 'Why is online help not used?'
Parush, Avi and Debi Kaporovsky Parush. Usability Interface (2001). Articles>Documentation>Help
#14765
Online Help: Beyond Error Messages
Knoth-Weber describes how her company developed an efficient means to collect customer feedback about system errors and publish solutions on their Web help page.
Knoth-Weber, Lieselotte. Intercom (2002). Design>Documentation>Help
#20748
Online Help: You Think It's Documentation but Your Company Thinks It's Software
As help systems become more complex, integrating text with multimedia, scripting languages, search engines, etc., the line between documentation development and software development blurs. Some companies, especially those that have to adhere to federal or ISO-regulated procedures, are starting to look at online help as a product with its own development needs. This shift is changing the online help from documentation into software, subjecting it to the same controls and processes. This paper looks at how one company is handling this transition.
Rupel, Roberta A. and Peggy Schillinger. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24925
Calls on technical communicators to suggest a new term for modular documentation accessible via a tri-pane interface.
Carmel, Patricia A. Intercom (2005). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#21435
Online-Dokumentation aus Anwendersicht
Benutzerinstruktion muß sein. In Form von Online-Documentation ist sie unmittelbarer Teil des Programms.
von Obert, Alexander. Techwriter.de (1998). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Help
#31099
The following includes the instructions for creating a model of a small help project and how to name and send it to your instructor.
McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2004). Academic>Course Materials>Documentation>Help
#30812
Our .CHM Files Don't Work Anymore. Why?
If you are delivering your help from a network location and you notice that .CHM files don't work anymore, don't be surprised. Recent Microsoft updates include tighter security for .CHM files. After installing the updates you can no longer run .CHM files from a network location. However, you can still run a .CHM file on your local machine.
HelpScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#13202
An Overview of HTML-based Help
HTML...HTML Help...HTML-based help...WebHelp... JavaHelp...Oracle Help...what does it all mean? There are so many online help options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused. This paper discusses the difference between HTML Help, WebHelp, JavaHelp, and Oracle Help. Specifically, it explains each help technology’s features and limitations, the user requirements, and best use.
DeLoach, Scott. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Documentation>Help
#21472
An Overview of JavaHelp 1.0 and Doc-To-Help 2000
JavaHelp is a new online Help platform created by Sun. Sun released JavaHelp 1.0 in April, but it's been publicly available through several beta releases for a while. (The just-released Doc-To-Help 2000 supports this new version of JavaHelp.)
Bannister, Bob. ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#22118
Planning an Online Help Project
This paper outlines some general principles you need to consider when planning an online help project and creating WinHelp files.
Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24430
Planning and Creating a Windows Online Help System
The basic requirements for creating accurate and useful technical documentation are good writing skills, an understanding of the audience, knowledge of the tools used for producing documentation, ability to use the product, and ability to successfully interview subject matter experts. While the same skills are essential for creating an online help system, writers also need to understand how help projects are set up, how to modify their writing to produce modular help topics, how to test the program-to-help links between the product and the help topics, and how to align help file development with engineering build dates. In addition, writers expand their hypertext awareness to include new terms such us jumps and pop-ups.
Mandavilli, Lavanya K. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#23908
Online documentation and software messages are important elements of the end-to-end user experience. They have a direct impact on the productivity of users and affect the total cost of ownership. This article discusses designing and executing usability testing of these two important components of the overall product offering. Based on usability tests that were performed on the IBM DB2® Universal Database™ (DB2 UDB) and IBM® WebSphere® Commerce and software products, the combined experiences provide guidance for usability professionals and information developers who need to organize and run such tests for a first time.
Markov, Nikolay and Uliyana Markova. IBM (2004). Design>User Interface>Software>Help
#30457
Preserve Changes in RoboHelp for a Linked FrameMaker Book
While it is ideal to maintain all the content in FrameMaker, there are special situations which may require the RoboHelp content to be out of sync from FrameMaker documents either for short duration or for small set of topics. These special situations can relate to project deadlines or project requirements which make the process of maintaining a single source difficult.
Adobe (2007). Articles>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#29670
Problems in Navigating Online Help: Clues from User Search Patterns
We examined qualitative data from participants' comments about difficulties they encountered in using the help systems in three versions of a popular programming language. Users' main problems were not knowing which help systems were available or being unfamiliar with them, determining when and how to use the help system, framing the search question, applying the initial search target to the help hierarchy, moving laterally to another topic, and switching between declarative and procedural topics. The lessons learned from these responses should assist help system designers and authors in supporting users' search patterns. In this paper, we will examine qualitative data from users' comments. The lessons learned from these responses should assist help system designers and authors in supporting users' search patterns.
Krull, Robert and Angela Eaton. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Help>Search
#27642
Problems in Navigating Online Help: Clues from User Search Patterns
The largest problem our participants had in using the help system wasn't in processing the procedural information in the help, but rather finding the correct help topic, a topic generally unaddressed in the literature on how to write a help system. Specifically, participants had difficulty in searching for topics because their terminology differed from the terminology used by the help system, and they became lost in the unclear structure of the system.
Krull, Robert and Angela Eaton. WritersUA (2005). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#24326
Providing On-line Documentation to the Non-Networked Enterprise
We have all heard the terms, ‘telecommuting,’ ‘groupware,’ and intra- or internet at one time or another. However, the best designed information retrieval system is useless if you cannot get on-line to use it. Most companies are taking advantage of technology, and publishing their policies and procedures on their own intranet or Local Area Network. Unfortunately, some organizations with field offices, off-site agents or consultants, even executives on travel are not always ‘plugged-in’ to this information. There is a way to make dynamic information available to enterprises without internet accessibility or LAN/WAN connections. What follows is one solution to the quest for getting ‘plugged in’ and taking advantage of dynamic data exchange.
Anderson, Michelle E. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24074
Quality Online Help Development
Basic steps to developing successful online help include content planning based on available resources and user needs, use of a style guide, effective design and access, prototype development, usability studies, and being open to changes. Defining “quality” as “customer satisfaction” we can place the online help development process into the context of a continuous quality process model that focuses on meeting customer needs. This quality process includes identifying output, identifying customer and customer requirements, converting requirements into processes, measuring the output, and evaluating results.
Evans, Jeanette P. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#18646
Given our current economic conditions, it is proving very difficult for a lot of technical communicators to find new positions as either contractors or full-time employees. It is important now, more than ever, to look closely at the core skills we have and can offer our future employers. Almost all of you that I have talked to are technical communicators who develop online help and hardcopy documentation. You are writers, editors, and managers. Many of you understand the intricacies of the tools of the trade like Adobe FrameMaker and RoboHelp from eHelp. You understand the products so well that you can troubleshoot the problems faster than the product support teams.
Bates, Michael P. STC Northeast Ohio (2001). Careers>TC>Assessment>Adobe RoboHelp
#14548
A “Real World” Look at Windows Help Authoring Tools
Aha, you say, you’ve finally gotten permission to go online. And your boss has even allocated enough precious-budget dollars to buy the right hardware and software to do the job. How hard can if be to find a good authoring tool, you think. And then you start to receive the product literature from n developers of Windows help authoring tools . . .
Zubak, Cheryl Lockett. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Help>Online
#24320
This paper describes an online documentation delivery and feedback solution developed to meet the needs of a fast-paced project in which designers, developers, marketing specialists, technical writers, and beta-test customer sites were located all over the world. During the development of the IBM Health Data Network, we needed a way to provide drafts of the product documentation to all of the developers, reviewers, and users on a real-time basis. We also needed a way to get input and updates from the developers, and feedback from the people in the field who were working with beta versions of the new system. This paper describes how we set up a Web-based solution to meet these needs.
Vogt, Herbert E. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#21574
Reconstructing the Dialogs: Effective Methods for Structuring a Context-Sensitive Help System
When assigned to create a context-sensitive hypertext Help system, writers and editors often find themselves asking, 'Where do I start? What is context-sensitivity and how in-depth should it be? How do I organize Help topics for the interface?' We will demonstrate how to structure a Help system based on context-sensitivity, the interface, and useful access tools. We will show how WordPerfect Domestic Documentation Services uses interface information to create a topics database and a corresponding text file.
Calhoun, Deirdre and Wendy Fritzke. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#25846
Classic information for Windows Help authors.
Carroll, John M. PC Users Group (1995). Resources>Documentation>Online>Help
#14603
The Return to Content in Help Design
Zubak discusses four trends she has observed in the content development of online user assistance.
Zubak, Cheryl Lockett. Intercom (2003). Design>Documentation>Help
