Dreamweaver or RoboHelp HTML...or...

Which tool would you buy today to create a tech pubs site that supports multiple internal and external audiences for multiple components.
Customers might be within the company and external and they should not know about one another's stuff, even though it's has similar purpose. Dev team and support need record and tracking processes: A document management tool, with access based on roles/responsibilities:
Internal:
Developers/designers of software
Training and technical support
Service (to resolve server/production errors in the field)
External (customers--within the company and outside the company):
Install
Config
Integration
Production
Products include multiplatform plugins, 8 distintct API interfaces, and 3 different GUIs--which can be standalone OR end-to-end setup...or anywhere in between.
Needs to support lots of code snippets, screenshots of the UI and of conceptual diagrams (integration points for perhaps 4 layers---some hardwired, some in the cloud.
Web based. RoboHelp supports building feature descriptions by component, with procedures in multiple workflows
DreamWeaver does, too. What can be used to stitch together Dev Content for internal reference (Dev, Service, Training) and interdepartmental proejcts (Dev, but probably not service or Training), and external (rollout new feature to 2 tiers of customer: Beta and End user).
Delivery/releases may be custom to both internal and external customers, in addition to "feature rollouts".

Hi,
It seems to me that a Wiki or a CMS like Drupal would suit your needs much better. Drupal and many wiki's are open source and free, although Drupal requires quite a bit of planning beforehand. Wiki's are especially suited for code snippets. With dreamweaver, you need to make all the pages yourself. RoboHelp is powerfull for help, but code snippets require a little more work. For good authorisation and tracking, you will also need RoboHelp server. Features that a good CMS or Wiki will have built in.
Greet,
Willam

Similar Messages

Is RoboHelp HTML 7 incompatible with Lotus Notes?

Has anyone noticed incompatibility between Lotus Notes mail
v6.1 and RoboHelp HTML v7.0? I've had LN installed for the lifetime
of this computer, ~3 yrs, and have worked with RH 7.0 for ~2 mns.
Just this week, I've had three instances of LN not opening after I
managed to crash RH. Rebooting worked the first time: the 2nd time,
I had to re-install LN; the 3rd time, rebooting worked.

Until Notes.6, I always suspected something was going on
between the two.
For many months, I haven't had any RH crashes I could blame
on LN.
If LN is doing any automatic stuff, try turning it off. Or,
as a test, close LN before you launch RH. Any crashes after that?
Automatic stuff means checking for new mail, alterting you
when new mail arrives, Calendar reminders, and so on.
I know, that's what LN is for, but you might find something
that always eluded me. For example, I turned off the new mail alert
long ago, but I can't prove a link.
Good luck.
Harvey
P.S. I should mention that sometimes I have LN and RH running
at the same time on one machine, but mostly I run them on separate
PCs. Still, I can't prove a link.

Can't create or open a project in Robohelp HTML 8

Hi,
I just installed RoboHelp HTML 8.0.0.203 trial on Windows XP (SP3). It's the first RoboHelp
version I've installed on this computer.
No error occured during installation the program starts normally.
1. When I try to create a new empty project the program only creates the folder with
following files and folders:
!SkinSubFolder!
Adobe AIR.ssl
default.css
FlashHelp Pro.ssl
FlashHelp.ssl
Microsoft HTML Help.ssl
testproject.cpd
testproject.glo
testproject.hpr
testproject.ppf
testproject.syn
WebHelp Pro.ssl
WebHelp.ssl
At the moment when the new project file should open nothing happens not even an error
message.
2. When I try to open the sample project file CCC.xpj an error prompt tells me that the
opening of the project was aborted or CCC.cpd couldn't be loaded.
3. When I try to import a PDF (File>New>Project>Import>PDF) an "unexpected error" occures
during conversion.
I already reinstalled RoboHelp and I have administrator rights, but still the same problem.
P.S. I had the same problem on another system with the Robohelp 7 trial some months ago.
But RoboHelp X5 works fine on a third system, I consider an upgrade if the problem can be solved.

Well I tested to install RoboHelp 8 on my machine at home where the RoboHelp 7 trial didn’t work. At first with Comodo Firewall Pro enabled and it blocked the two attempts of Windows Installer to access the internet. ->Creating a project still doesn’t work.
Then I uninstalled Robohelp 8 and disabled the firewall. Installed Robohelp 8 again and tried to create a project but it still doesn’t work.
Also I installed Robohelp 8 on different machines at home (XP, Vista Business, 7 Professional) all running with Zonalarm Firewall and it worked.
But installing a new OS is no option for the company especially when everything else works fine.
Before I opened this thread I googled some time for this problem but couldn’t find anything. This is weird because I’ve installed it on two systems which have noting in common besides both run XP.

RoboHELP HTML Freezes Different Ways

Using Windows XP and RoboHELP HTML 6.0:
If I start RoboHELP HTML from the START > Programs menu,
it freezes almost instantly and requires END TASK.
If I double-click a previously created .xpj file in Windows
Explorer view, then RH HTML starts up and I can work in the project
file... but if I try to IMPORT a file into the project file
list/topics, then the application freezes again. I'm only trying to
import an HTML file that was originally created with RoboHELP for
another project.
Why does RH freeze up??

Did this by chance happen to start after you had used a dual
monitor configuration? Folks around here are probably thinking I
believe that's the cause of every problem, but in some cases, we
have found that disappearing dialogs and "freezes" are actually
caused by going from dual monitors to one monitor, and dialogs are
appearing off-screen (which then makes RH look like it's inactive
and not working).
One experiment you can try with either "freeze" that you've
listed is to hit the Esc key and see if RH livens up again. If
there is a dialog open, Esc closes it and returns you to RH.
Just a thought,
Ben

Glossary in a RoboHelp HTML .chm not showing content on Win7

I created a RoboHelp HTML .chm with a Glossary using RoboHelp6.
My users with Windows 7 computers are unable to install and register the HHActiveX.DLL file and see the Glossary content. They are using the suggested procedure for WinXp but it does not work for Win 7.
My users with WinXP are able to install the DLL and see the content under the Glossary Tab.
My question is; what is the proper method for installing and registering the HHActiveX.DLL file on a Win7 machine?
Or is there a different file needed on Win 7 to make the Glossary content visible?
Note they can see the Glossary Tab but the content is blank.
Here is the procedure that works on WinXP:
1. Copy/save the attached HHActiveX.DLL file to the root of C:
To manually register HHActiveX.DLL: You can provide these instructions to your end users if you are distributing HHActiveX.DLL with your Help system.
Click the Windows Start button, then select Run.
In Open, type the following:
regsvr32 <path> hhactivex.dll (specify the path of the HHActiveX.DLL)
If the HHActiveX.DLL file is stored on the root of C: then I believe the command to type would be “regsvr32 C:hhactivex.dll”
Click OK.
Note: These instructions may require admin logon to complete.
Thanks for any guidance.
Bob

Please check the thread
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3479695#3479695

How can I convert a Flare project to RoboHelp HTML 10?

In my company, we work in RoboHelp HTML 10. We aquired a company that uses Flare for their online help project, and now it falls to me to convert it to RoboHelp. I searched online and found the converter on the Show Me The Demo site, but the download button doesn't do anything.
Is that converter posted anywhere else? Or is there another method of converting from Flare to RoboHelp? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi folks, sorry for the glitch in the download for the Flare to Robohelp Project Converter. I have been traveling and teaching and did not notice this post.
Until I fix the link, please email me using the address in my Profile and I will send it via an email attachment right away.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
John
John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com

RoboHelp HTML 9 Search Pane Max results controls

RoboHelp HTML 9 with WebHelp as output...
I have a two part question. By default when our users do a search in compile dhelp, they see 10 search results per page. Is there a place in my RoboHelp interface where I can change that to larger number? I have found a line of code in a *.js file where it looks like I could manually change it, but would prefer not to have to do it that route in case that causes unintended hiccups elsewhere.
var nMaxResult = 10 ;
Second part of my question is related to statement in release notes/new features notes for RoboHelp 9 that state users can control the max search results per page on-the-fly as they use the Search pane. This feature only applies to WebHelp or WebHelp Pro and my output is WebHelp. I can see a line of code for that feature in the whfform.htm file but nothing shows up like that in the Search pane within compiled help. Is this a bug or is there a control somewhere in RoboHelp project settings that allows me to enable that option for users? The last 2 lines below would seem to control this area. The Search pane items referenced in first 4 lines do show up ok in my Search pane.
gsTitle = "Type in the word(s) to search for:";
gsTitle = "Type in the word(s) to search for:";
gsHiliteSearchTitle = "Highlight search results";
gsHiliteSearchTitle = "Highlight search results";
gsMaxSearchTitle = "Search results per page" ;
gsMaxSearchTitle = "Search results per page";
Thanks for any insight you can provide,
KF

I know this is an old topic, but I was trying to figure this out myself today and finally found it. In case others have been looking for this, it's in in this file:
whform.js
find this variable:
var gnMaxRslt = 10;
and then change the 10 to the number you want.
If you do that in the generated help, the number will change in the Search pane, but it will still display only 10 results. To get it to actually display more than 10 results, I had to edit the RoboHelp file, not the generated help. I made a copy of C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 10\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock\whform.js before I edited it. (Right-click the file, click Copy, then right-click in the folder and click Paste. Edit the one that doesn't say Copy in the filename. Then if you want to back it out, delete the one you edited and remove Copy from the original.) If you have your project open in RoboHelp, close it, then reopen it so it can "grab" the new info.
This ought to be in the WebHelp Setting dialog box on the Search pane.
--Karla--

Importing MS Word into RoboHelp HTML / TOC Creation/ CHM output?

Hello,
I am a newbie to RoboHelp 8 and am trying out the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2.5, and have a Windows 7 (64 Bit) OS.
At the moment, I have a single 40 page word document (MS Word 2010) that I would like to bring into RoboHelp 8.
With that said, I create a blank project, and then import the document. But, when I try to generate and view a help file, I am not seeing the table of contents. I have even done the AUTO TOC and verify that the links correspond to sections and sub-sections etc. - but still no TOC.
In addition, for some reason it brought in each of my figures twice, so that I have two figure 1s, two figure twos and so on.
Finally, it gave me an error message and was complaining about WidgetMax:
"Compilation failed while compiling http:\www.widgetmax.com."
I am not sure what that is about either.
Okay, one more question. Is there an easy way to break up all the sections/sub-sections into unique topics before or during inport into RoboHTML? It seems that RH 8 really needs to have multiple topics versus one long topic, containing what was formerly a MS Word document. What is the best approach to making that happen?
Overall, I am looking for a nice automated system, whereby I can take developer created documents (from protected MS Word templates) and bring them into RoboHelp HTML (version 8). Hopefully, I will not have to break apart the entire MS Word document first, before bringing it into RH 8.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions from a newbie.
-J

Hi there
My own guess is that you created a project using one of the supplied templates. Specifically, the Application Help template. This template already has a CHM window defined that contains a link to the WidgetMax.com site. When a link to a web site is defined in a CHM window, the compiler will squawk about it because it cannot resolve the link to a local HTML page. So you may safely ignore the message.
As for importing the Word content, you have some decisions to make. How do you want to edit the content after you get it into RoboHelp?
After you import you will abandon Word and make any changes to the documentation only using RoboHelp HTML.
You will continue to maintain the Word document using Microsoft Word and you will want to update RoboHelp HTML to reflect the changes
Depending on the avenue you wish to take, you will have different options for splitting the Word content into individual topics. Once we know which option you wish to use we can offer more guidance.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
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SorcererStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

RoboHelp HTML 9.0.2.271 crashes when opening .htm files

Hello. I'm using RoboHelp HTML 9.0.2.271. When opening a certain RH project (I have three that I access regularly), the project opens fine, but when I try to open any of the topic files, RH hangs/crashes. I can perform any other tasks in the project (generating, publishing, updating the browse sequence, etc.), but I can't open any .htm files. In trying to fix this problem, I have:
Updated from 9.0 to first 9.0.1 then 9.0.2
Renamed the .cpd file
Imported one of the topics in the crashing project to a project that isn't crashing
Updating and renaming the .cpd file didn't work and importing the topic into a healthy project allowed the topic to open (so the topic doesn't seem corrupt).

Also using 9.0.2.271, I had exactly the same problem: open project, double-click a topic in the Topic List pane... crash.
However, immediately after opening the project I had Windows 7's blue 'busy' doughnut symbol constantly flashing under the mouse pointer. This is described (for RH8) in Peter Grainge's description on his excellent website (RoboHelp > Opening RoboHelp Projects). The same topic mentions the .hhp file, so I checked the contents of mine...
At the very end, in the [MERGE FILES] section, it listed two other .chm files; one which was supposed to be there, and one which was not (Dummy.chm). I had merged Dummy.chm only during the early testing stages of my project, and had long since removed all references to it from my project. I have no idea why it was still listed in the .hhp file.
I deleted the reference to Dummy.chm from the .hhp file and regenerated the project... and Dummy.chm reappeared in the .hhp file! After deep-searching my project files using NotePad++, one remaining reference to Dummy.chm was also listed in the .xpj file:
<file>
<name>Dummy.chm</name>
<comments></comments>
</file>
So I manually removed those lines and saved the .xpj using NotePad++, reopened the project using RoboHelp, and regenerated. The rogue reference to Dummy.chm is now gone. I have opened, saved, and closed the project several times and it now seems to be reliable.
Probable cause of bug: I had recently performed a cleanup of my project folder and deleted Dummy.chm, but unknown to me I suspect RoboHelp was still looking for it when opening the project, hence the permanent 'busy' doughnut and the crash when trying to do anything else, like opening a topic.

RoboHelp HTML 9 Webhelp Layouts include all (unnecessary) project files

I am currently using RoboHelp HTML 9 on Windows 7 Pro. I have administrative rights on the computer.
My current project contains over 30 different webhelp layouts with 30 different TOCs that are all based on the different functions in a web-based application for a client. The project also includes over 30 different print layouts based on the same TOCs. I use build conditions to specify what I want to appear in the webhelp and print layouts. My project is organized into basically three main folders that represent Tasks, References and Concepts (as close to DITA as I can get this client). Each of these main folders has a subfolder named after a function and it contains the topics and screen captures that relate to that specific function task, function reference or function concept.
I created each webhelp layout in the SSL pod based on the specific TOC that was created for the function. In the WebHelp settings, I specified the TOC in the Content section along with enabling the "exclude unreferenced topics from output" and "exclude unreferenced baggage files from the output" options. In the Navigation section, I selected the appropriate skin that I customized along with enabling Contents and Search options with adding the About box.
With these settings my problem is that ever single webhelp layout includes all of the files in the three main folders, even when they are not referenced in the TOC. This has caused my outputs to explode in size because of the unnecessary folders filled with files (topics and graphics). How can I compile the webhelp layouts so they only output the files referenced in the TOCs and not every single file in the the three main project folders?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated because my client is not local and I have to send these files to them over the internet.
Thanks in Advance!

"Exclude unreferenced topics from output" starts by excluding topics that are not in the TOC etc. However if a topic in the TOC has a link to a topic that is not in the TOC, the linked topic will also be included to avoid a broken link. It also daisy chains so that if the second topic has further links, that too gets included.
The idea behind this option was that people wanted TOC only outputs but Adobe chose to implement it in this way. I can see why but I take the view that if that results in broken links, that is the author's responsibility. If you agree, then please follow this link and ask for true TOC based authoring.
http://www.Adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform&product=38
Meantime you will, as Amebr points out, need to create build tags and expressions. There is a page on my site that covers that.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

RoboHelp HTML 10 is taking one of my topic files and copying it multiple times.

I am using RoboHelp HTML 10 to update a reference project with about 1,500 topics in it. Today, I created a new topic with several internal bookmark links. I have edited this topic file several times and saved it without any problems but late today, when I wanted to save the file and close the project, RH gave me an error message about the file name being too long and the TOC reference was too long. This error message repeated over and over so I used Task Manager to kill RH and I rebooted my PC. When I got RH running again, I discovered 40 copies of the topic file listed in the Project Manager window. Each file name is a unique creation made up of the original topic file name and one or more of the internal links. Here is a sample of the names:
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm (topic file with several bookmarks)
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm#View_Data (no .htm suffix - when I open one of these files using NotePad, the file contains an exact copy of the original html code)
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm#View_Data#Detailed_View
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm#View_Data#Detailed_View#Summary_View
The file names get longer and longer until the 260-? character limit is reached.
RH appears to be parsing the topic file, pulling out the bookmark code, concatenating various bits together and then saving copies of the original file under these new names. Perhaps this is occuring because of some interaction between RH and the version control system we are using. However, I don't know what version control system we have. I have a "source folder" on my local desktop and RH is doing some type of checking in and checking out of all the files that I work on.
Any suggestions on how to stop this problem would be great, as I have several new topic files to create over the next few work-days.

This is a new one on me.
Have you tried deleting the CPD file and then working on the project?
Where is the project located?
Does your working environment have a backup tool running all the time, such as Memeo?
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

RoboHelp HTML Version 10 - Navigation panel not displaying in published project

We are generating a WebHelp project in RoboHelp HTML Version 10 and the navigation panel (TOC, Search, etc.) is no longer visible in the index file (viewed locally) and it's only visible by clicking "Show" when viewed in a web server. This issue is occurring with Internet Explorer 11 and Google Chrome Version 39.0.2171.99 m. I also tried to view the index files of previously generated projects and am experiencing the same issue (this did not occur before). Is this a known issue? It appears that there a few other discussions posted recently experiencing similar issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nikki

Hi there
Sorry, but I'm a bit confused. What you are describing sounds like perfectly normal behavior.
Can you share a link where this is happening? Not so we can click it, but so we can see what the link looks like.
If you want a topic to open with the surrounding navigation (TOC, Index, Search, Glossary) you need to click the Show link, then look at what's in the Address bar. Copy that link and you should have what you need.
Cheers... Rick

RoboHelp HTML does not generate .chm file

We have a large help system for F1 help with about 2,000 help
topics in about 50 different Word .doc files. We had used RoboHelp
for Word previously, but with the goal of generating a single .chm
help file, we tried using RoboHelp HTML to change the Word .doc
files to .htm files. RoboHelp HTML does this conversion and creates
2,000 .htm files.
When we try to generate the .chm file for the help system,
RoboHelp for HTML does not respond and does not create the .chm
file. Is RoboHelp HTML not capable of handling such a big help
system? Are there any workarounds to generate the .chm file
successfully?

Peter, thanks for your input. Here's where we are. We opened
RoboHelp HTML and converted the Word docs into .html files. Then we
were able to generate the .chm file (it worked this time) using
RoboHelp HTML. We have about 50 .gif images, and no external links.
The actual number of HTML files with help topics is close to
4,000 for this F1 field help in our application. Ideally, we would
love to have a master project with sub-projects, but it doesn't
appear as a practical alternative. The .hh file (for F1 field help)
is generated from the application by the developer and given to us.
In order to have a master project and slave projects, we
would have to manually split that automatically-generated.hh file
into individual .hh files, true? That means we would have to
correlate which .html help topic file corresponds with which map id
number, then chalk out how we want to divide the .html help topics
into individual projects that correspond to their .hh files?
This help system I inherited is 10 years old, and the
resource time we would spend (if we chose to modularize this help
system) would be gigantic in scope. If there is a simpler and
efficient way to modularize our F1 help system, I would love to
hear about it!

RoboHelp 8 for Word not installed with RoboHelp HTML?

My workplace just upgraded from RoboHelp Office 5x to RoboHelp 8. Come to find out, *all* that was installed was RoboHelp 8 HTML. The RoboHelp 8 for Word part of the application was not installed.
The department responsible for software installations says that they don't have the RoboHelp 8 Word program--that it didn't come with the RoboHelp download. They are insisting that it's not available, and will probably have to be purchased separately.
Has anyone else installed a volume license from a download?
If so, were the HTML and Word portions of the program both available?
Did both parts of the application install (HTML and Word)?
If one installer was used, was the the RoboHelp 8 for Word portion missing? (I.e., is this a bug?) Or did you get the whole thing?
If more than one installer was used, were the components downloaded in separate installation files? (Could someone have missed an installation file, in other words?)
FYI, please, I don't need all the advantages and reasons why I should use HTML Help or WebHelp instead. I work for a government agency, and need to just generate WinHelp to replace an existing Help file, not make everyone change a whole bunch of stuff to use WebHelp or a CHM file. I need WinHelp output from Word. And, one more thing: I do not have administrator access on my PC either.
Feedback, experiences, and suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance for your help!
Di

The licence you bought was for RoboHelp Office which includes both the RoboHelp for Word and RoboHelp HTML applications. Each of these three has it's own installation file so I suspect that they have installed just the RoboHelp HTML application. They should have the details for the RoboHelp for Word application, or better still the RoboHelp Office application which gives you the options of what to install according to your needs.
The RoboColum(n)
@robocolumn
Colum McAndrew

How to create FrameMaker glossary entries which convert properly to RoboHelp HTML 8?

I have been having a challenging time creating FrameMaker 9 glossary
entries which convert properly into RoboHelp HTML 8. Here is the process I'm doing, and perhaps someone call tell me what I'm doing wrong.
1.) In the FrameMaker document, I highlight a word or phrase which serves as the "glossary term" to be defined.
2.) I open the Marker dialog box, select the Glossary option, then enter the "glossary definition" for the highlighted "glossary term." I commit the entry.
3.) In the FrameMaker Book file, I create a new "Index of Markers" (IOM) of "Glossary" type. Upon generation of the IOM, my FrameMaker output is much like a standard index: There are letter delimiters ("A," "B," C," etc.), and under each is the "glossary definition," then a page number where the "glossary term" is.
4.) Now I go to RoboHelp HTML 8 and update the document there. The glossary displays such that the "glossary term" is the entire paragraph in which the marker had been placed in the FrameMaker source file. The "glossary definition" is displayed properly (the text I placed into the Marker dialog box.
So, how am I to create auto-generating glossaries? This implies that I need to create a manual glossary whereby the "glossary term" is in a paragraph by itself (much like a printed glossary would look). Furthermore, I would need to add this manual glossary as a file in the FrameMaker Book file for RoboHelp 8 to detect and pull the entries.
Surely this isn't as how it was designed. I suspect I'm doing something wrong in how I create glossary entries or create the file in the FrameMaker Book file.
Could someone offer some assistance?
Thank you very much in advance!
Most sincerely,
Sammy Spencer

It's because you're doing your markers backwards. The text inside your Glossary marker should be the term. The paragraph your marker is inside is the definition.
I should say, rather, that Robohelp does it backwards, because when I think of glossary terms and definitions, I think there should be a way to highlight a word and provide the definition in the hidden marker, not hide the term inside the marker.
I am still figuring out how to make a glossary in my Framemaker file that will work with my Robohelp file, and not have Robohelp generate a separate content file for the glossary file. I think I'll get it, though. Eventually.

Dreamweaver or RoboHelp HTML...or...

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