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.
#20033
Review: A Review of RoboHelp Office 2002
This is the first in a series of articles that builds into a personal review of RoboHelp Office 2002. This first article introduces the new release and discusses Topic Templates, Headers and Footers, and the new MS Word Import capability.
Ellison, Matthew. WritersUA (2002). Articles>Reviews>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#15065
The Right Help in the Right Place 
Originally submitted to Builder.com, this article is an overview of how to add effective help to Web-based applications. It was written for developers and others who are not technical communication professionals. Builder.com changed direction and decided not to publish the piece.
Deaton, Mary M. Builder.com (2003). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#20036
Die Inanspruchnahme der Foren und das Einstellen von Beiträgen ist ohne Registrierung möglich.
Robo-Forum. (German) Resources>Documentation>Software>RoboHelp
#19763
The RoboHelp Community is a recognized leader in online support for technical writers and help authors. The RoboHelp Community includes the RoboHelp Knowledge Base, Community Help Author Forums, downloads, and other resources.
Adobe (2003). Organizations>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#23685
RoboHelp Office v.3x: the Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent
Overall, in my experience, writers and programmers prefer to use RoboHelp to create and maintain Help systems because the application has fewer issues with the Internet and programming platforms. In fact, for this latest version Of RoboHelp, I have only one minor complaint. Here is a summary of my findings.
Hewitt, Sally. MetroVoice (2003). Articles>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#20032
RoboHelp is the industry's top-selling Help authoring tool. Designed for WinHelp and Microsoft HTML Help, RoboHelp can also be used to produce WinHelp 2000, WebHelp, JavaHelp, and Oracle Help for Java.
Knopf Online (2003). Resources>Documentation>Software>Adobe RoboHelp
#19762
RoboHELP/RoboHTML Tutorials and Tips
A collection of online resources for RoboHELP and RoboHTML.
HyperTexas (2003). Resources>Directories>Help>Adobe RoboHelp
#22262
RTFM Part II, Looking Beyond the Printed Page
Last month I went through some fairly atrocious documentation. The letters I received from frustrated geeks really drove home the point that bad docs can make what should be a simple, routine, and--dare I say--fun experience, dreadful.
Krasne, Alexandra. PC World (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#11750
Secondary Windows in Online Help - What Do Users Really Make of Them?
Digitext, a UK-based consultancy specializing in online information, has recently conducted two different usability tests, each of which sheds new light on the way in which people respond to secondary windows in online Help. The overall conclusions from the two tests were: there is little reason to assign specific types of topic to different secondary windows; it can be helpful to use a secondary window for a link to a sub-procedure or layer of additional detail, as long as the current window remains visible on screen when the new window appears. This article explains how the tests led to these findings.
Ellison, Matthew. Usability Interface (2001). Articles>Documentation>Help
#24801
Seven Steps to Successful Online Help
How do you create an effective online help system and efficiently manage the project? This paper will cover some basics of practical online help design and project management. The presentation includes examples from a project we worked on.
Evans, Jeanette P. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#30826
Simple Ways to Improve the Usability of Help
According to Jacob Nielsen's How Users Read on the Web, usability of web content can be improved drastically by making content more scannable. Many of his ideas would apply equally well to online help. So, how can technical writers leverage this information to make the help for their product more usable?
Helpscribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Help
#15195
Single Sourcing with RoboHelp and Word
Details a nine-step process for single sourcing with eHelp's RoboHelp and Microsoft Word.
Barefoot, Darren K. Intercom (2001). Articles>Single Sourcing>Microsoft Word>Adobe RoboHelp
#30637
Social or Philosophical Issues Related to the Design and Delivery of User Assistance
User assistance is defined as a form of assistance that is provided to users of products to help them use the products more easily and efficiently. In the Information Technology industry, a product is a software product/application that users use to perform specific business functions. Users of these products/applications use them differently, based on their social and philosophical environment, their cultural context, their learnability and a number of other factors. While the same user assistance must necessarily be designed and delivered to the users of a product, because all users use a particular product/application to perform similar tasks, user assistance can be designed and delivered differently to users, based on their social and philosophical environment. This could enable users from diverse social and philosophical backgrounds use the same products/applications more effectively.
Das, Pradipto. Usability Interface (2007). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Help
#14560
Traditionally, custom document production begins with an empty “New” electronic document and with the writer confined to the paper delivery mode. Networked software reuse facilities can allow writers to avoid this requirement of continually starting from scratch. Hence, net worked software reuse may provide a framework for efficiently creating custom documents in either academic or industrial settings for single-source, multimode delivery (Reece, 1993- 1994). More importantly, software reuse facilities may also provide common ground for technical training within a variety of computing environments. This paper defines software reuse, recommends a process for the development of documents in a software reuse facility, and provides information on quality characteristics for evaluating such software.
Reece, Gloria A. and H.J. Scheiber. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Help
#26720
Software User Assistance Project Management
This article takes a look at a methodology for developing and managing a Software User Assistance (UA) System, a way of doing things in a structured manner. It provides a complete walkthrough for managers responsible for designing, developing, and managing a software product’s user assistance system. The software’s UA system could comprise of both paper-based user manuals and online help systems.
Ferris, Tamara. Klariti. Articles>Documentation>Usability>Help
#29432
Sometimes You Really Can be Too Helpful
It's important to establish and maintain relationships with your audience: it gives you a handle on their changing needs so you can continue to meet those needs.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2000). Articles>Documentation>Audience Analysis>Help
#22918
Standards for Visuals for Online Help: Selected Examples
The panelists provide examples of standards for visuals that reduce text and increase access in online Help. They briefly cover how these visuals solve problems for both customers and Help designers, and they discuss standards for two of the visuals selected for the session. Audience ranking determines the order of the remaining visuals. In covering the visuals, the panelists use examples from Help for highly sophisticated engineering, applications whose users have varying levels of experience and comfort with computer software. The panelists also provide checklists for developing standards, including standards for how information should look and, more importantly, work.
Bibus, Connie M. 'C.J.' and Kristy J. Dale. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#30777
Standards in an Uncertain World 
Today, Help authors take HTML for granted. But XML is starting to displace HTML, bringing with it new technologies like DITA and Web 2.0, as well as the potential for disruption. Perlin examines how to prepare for the change through adhering to standards.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2008). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Help
#24307
How do customers expect to access online Help? Once in the Help system, how do they expect to navigate toward the information they need? In the absence of detailed research that tells us what customers know about getting and using online Help, we can look for clues in the marketplace. A survey of the Help systems in more than sixty Windows 95 applications (including those in the major suites from Corel, Lotus, and Microsoft) shows some clear trends. These trends can help us understand what customers are coming to expect from online Help based on their experience with other Windows 95 applications.
Elley, Frank. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#14811
Strategies for Producing Browser-Based Technical Documentation
This Technical Note attempts to provide a few good strategies for resolving some of the issues around producing and viewing Web-based technical documentation. The Note may be useful for engineers, technical writers and content producers who must wrestle with issues of producing documents such as ReadMe files, Release Notes, technical articles, and other forms of technical communication that land on the Web.
Apple Inc. (1996). Design>Documentation>Help>Online
#24302
Strategies for Using Information Types in HTML Help
Information types are a new feature of HTML Help, but they are not a new concept to technical communication. Information types are simply categories of information that can be assigned to a discrete piece of information so the information can be displayed or hidden, based on the category selected by the user. The goal of this paper is to get help authors thinking about ways that they can use information types to help their users filter, sort, and understand the structure of the information presented to them through online help.
Houser, Rob. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>HTML>Help
#29797
Taking Risks with a New Online Help Tool
Some might not think that converting FrameMaker content into online help and user documentation would involve taking risks. In this article, we tell our story of what risks were involved with one of my recent projects, how we overcame them, and what benefits we reaped by using state-of-the-art technology.
Grissino, Ann-Marie and Rebecca McMurry. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Documentation>Online>RoboHelp
#28961
Taking Risks with a New Online Help Tool
Some might not think that converting FrameMaker content into online help and user documentation would involve taking risks. In this article, we tell our story of what risks were involved with one of my recent projects, how we overcame them, and what benefits we reaped by using state-of-the-art technology.
Grissino, Ann-Marie and Rebecca McMurry. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Software>Help>Madcap Flare
#23910
This paper describes the types of terms that you should include in software product glossary and describes how to write definitions for these terms. It also describes a method for controlling word usage and managing terminology for software projects.
Sturgeon, Mary. IBM (2004). Reference>Style Guides>Glossary>Help
#31974
Several years ago, someone used the term WYSIOP (What You See Is One Possibility) when talking about the RoboHelp HTML editor, because what developers saw in the editor didn't usually match the results. I had what I thought was an absolutely brilliant leap of logic ;-) a couple of months ago when I realized that today's WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors are really WYSIOP, because the results are determined by whatever layout template is assigned at the time the results are viewed.
James-Tanny, Char. Helpstuff (2006). Articles>Web Design>Document Design>Adobe RoboHelp
