If people say that RoboHelp is easy to use, consider how long you've been using it. RoboHelp's apparent ease of use is only because you've been using it for 10 years. I get the feeling that what's on the outside reflects the inside.ġ0. It doesn't undock, you can't change the order (the default arrangement is always alphabetical), and most frustrating, if you change the name of a style, everything that previously had that style applied to it requires re-application of the style with the new name.Įverytime I open RoboHelp, I think I'm going back to 1996. If you structure your writing with styles, RoboHelp's style editor may just about drive you crazy. Shouldn't that have been disclosed in the release notes?Ĩ. I don't use the command-line compile feature, but if I did, I would be pretty upset about it not working across a network. RoboHelp's command line compile doesn't work on networks. This is essentially the same problem as the cross references, and there is no easy workaround.ħ. If you're using RoboHelp as a single sourcing tool, and selecting different topics and arrangements for your print layout, the placement of "Figure 5" may change wildly with each output. Let's say you refer to screenshots in printed documentation with figure references, such as See Figure 5, and so on. With RoboHelp, figure references are problematic. I guess this all depends on your printed documentation style.Ħ. I run at least 15 macros in my output before the output is acceptable.
Adobe robohelp technical documentation pdf#
I don't know how anyone who outputs to printed documentation with RoboHelp can go straight to PDF without extensive cleanup. RoboHelp requires at least 15 macros to clean up printed documentation output (e.g., numbering). If they bury it, they will anger an immense group of RoboHelp users who recently spent $500 for the upgrade.ĥ. RoboHelp isn't compatible with Word 2007 ( nor with Vista), so when Vista and Office 2007 become mainstream, Adobe will either have to fix or bury RoboHelp. RoboHelp isn't compatible with Word 2007. So basically you would have to manually do all your cross references, or use a touchy macro workaround.Ĥ. If you link to another topic in the online help, when you output to printed documentation, the link doesn't translate into a cross reference. RoboHelp doesn't support cross references. So if your topic spans 3 pages, and the keywords relate to the last page, the index will point the reader to the first page, where the header is.ģ. But if you do output to print, your index will never be accurate because all the keywords are crammed into the topic headings rather than where they appear in the document. If all you create is online documentation, the printed documentation indexing glitch isn't an issue.
This is probably the biggest strike against using RoboHelp as a single sourcing tool. RoboHelp doesn't support character level indexing. Sorry Adobe, but you really get a D when it comes to communication.Ģ. But even the senior project evangelist, R.J. Vivek Jain, Adobe's RoboHelp blogger, either is totally clueless about responding to comments, or he doesn't understand that a blog is not a PR marketing vehicle. Today I just checked again and saw that someone else's comment had been approved. I followed up to ask if the comment got lost in the moderation queue. I assumed my comment was in moderation, but apparently it was filtered. Have you ever posted a comment on their blog? After I finished the RoboHelp podcast on Tech Writer Voices, I posted a comment on the Adobe RoboHelp blog letting them know about the podcast.
Adobe robohelp technical documentation upgrade#
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