Macromedia RoboHelp - 10.0 Reviewer’s Guide

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Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information. Our award-winning software and technologies have set the standard for communication and collaboration for more than 25 years.

With a reputation for excellence and a portfolio of many of the most respected and recognizable software brands, Adobe is one of the world’s largest and most diversified software companies.

Reviewer’s Guide

ADOBE®ROBOHELP® 10

Taking content to your users where and when they need it

Multiscreen HTML5 brings new single-sourcing versatility for technical writers, documentation teams and instructional designers who create Application Help, Knowledge Bases, Policies and Procedures and eLearning content with unsurpassed easeof-use. By removing the technology roadblocks, you can focus on content. This release offers dramatic new workflows that make it easier than ever to create, import and deliver online and print content in a familiar, authorfriendly environment.

For your audience on the go, content follows with Multiscreen HTML5 singlesourcing

Technical communications professionals depend on Adobe to future-proof them for

the exploding world of multiple screens and devices. Future-proofing means Adobe RoboHelp 10 recognizes what is a popular device or screen size today may be replaced by another still to come! As a technical communications professional you need to be ready to deliver.

This release provides the power to prepare you for publishing to virtually any device

with any screen size. That delivery may be online like web delivery or offline like eBooks or even native applications. Imagine, creating your own native mobile application and installing your help system or knowledge base right on the device and run without an internet connection. Now you can even create Context Sensitive Help for mobile applications with a special application programming interface (API) for iOS and Android developers.

But Multiscreen HTML5 is just the beginning of the story. This release brings you major new solutions such as an end to end integration with Microsoft SharePoint and an even more powerful than ever Review and Collaboration Solution.

If you are part of a multi-author team, you will especially want to learn about how Adobe RoboHelp 10 makes it easier to keep team members and subject matter experts "in sync" so that content is accurate and up to date. This Reviewer’s Guide first offers a summary of these each new workflow and solution and then takes you to a more detailed view.

Now you have mobile-friendly Multiscreen HTML5 to deliver content to any device, no matter what the screen size

Single Sourcing just got better! Modern, frameless HTML5 output, not only looks better, it performs better for the end user. Information can be richer, yet easier to access. Authors can also enrich topics with metadata to lead readers to the right answers.

From iPhones and iPads to Android Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire, Android Phone and Desktop, Adobe RoboHelp 10 has you covered! Support for modern HTML5 output and CSS3 means authors are no longer limited to the old-fashioned and restrictive framebased "tri-pane" window. Convenient "presets" of common screen sizes are ready-touse and authors can specify their own custom screen sizes if they choose. Each screen size can be mapped to a different screen layout so that the appearance of the content is right for the device.

(Read more on page 13)

Choose from ready-made layouts or create your own with the Screen Layout Editor

The out-of-the-box Screen Layouts that are provided, are independent of your project

content. They are created in the Screen Layout Editor using CSS and a variety of Multiscreen HTML5 Widget Placeholders. Everything from Search boxes to browse buttons to Tabbed Panels and everything in between is added with a widget. The Screen Layout Editor helps you position the structure of various elements so that you can mix and match widgets to create a layout that suits your needs.

page 15)

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(Read more on

Context-sensitive help for mobile apps

“Creating exceptional

customer experiences involves delivering the right information to the right people at the right time in the right format and language. But increasingly, it also means making your content available to customers on the device of their choosing. With the versatile multiscreen HTML 5 publishing capabilities, RoboHelp 10 makes it easy to port your customer support and procedural content to iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, and other mobile devices out-of-the-box. The preview functionality adds an additional level of confidence, helping you ensure the experiences you create will dazzle your customers.” Scott Abel,

The Content Wrangler, Inc.

Mobile apps need help too! So, now you "have a help app for that!" Easily deliver help content for mobile apps using a library of Adobe APIs. Enable users to call a default help screen or jump to context-based help depending on the feature being used. View the help content within the app or on the local browser available on the mobile device. For more, see Context-sensitive help for mobile apps.

(Read more on page 19)

Automatic screen-based content optimization

Authors may want to customize the way certain features work as they move to Multiscreen HTML5 output. You can:

• Optimize each screen profile based on the size of the output screen by converting auto-size or text-only pop-ups to hyperlinks,

• Change absolute image and table sizes to relative sizes.

• Enable the pinch-to-zoom feature, and replace SWF content with Adobe Captivate® HTML5 files on iOS devices.

(Read more on page 17)

Make it look as good in print as in a web browser

Media queries are a convenient way to change the look and feel of your content depending on the output medium. For example, you may want a page that is printed to look different than when the page is viewed in a web browser. Use the Style pod to define and apply styles and define the media query. Choose the media view in your editor to view content to see how it will be rendered.

(Read more on page 21)

Preview output

Click View > Multiscreen Preview to check out the appearance of your content rendered across many types of browsers and screens such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

(Read more on page 16)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO-friendly) output

Make your Multiscreen HTML5 content even more search-friendly. Users will find relevant content faster by assigning a unique URL to each help page. Then use the metadata menu to define search keywords, project synonyms, and stop lists to make search results more powerful.

(Read more on page 31)

Integration with Adobe® Captivate® HTML5 eLearning

Easily integrate HTML5.MP4 or Flash SWF content either imported or created on-the-fly with Adobe Captivate. Enhance your help files with show-me demos and how-to video tutorials. To see one, go to the Salesbuilder Animated Tour topic in the Salesbuilder

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sample project. There is also a new Rapid Step by Step Authoring workflow that integrates with RoboHelp content.

(Read more on page 22)

Now you have the eBook layout to support EPUB 3 and Kindle Format 8 (KF8)

Deliver content to smartphones, tablets, and eBook readers in EPUB 3, KF8 and MOBI formats. Publish to devices (such as iOS and Android™ smartphones and tablets, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble NOOK™, Sony Reader™) and reader apps (such as Adobe® Digital Editions, Calibre, Aldiko, and iBooks).

(Read more on page 36)

New Features and Enhanced Workflows in Adobe RoboHelp 10

Enhanced importing of existing content including Automapping of styles from Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker

There are even easier workflows to import content from other sources, such as Adobe®

FrameMaker®, Adobe Captivate®, PDF, Microsoft Word, DITA, XHTML, and CHM. For example, style mapping from FrameMaker and Word has been enhanced and you can now create or import Adobe Captivate HTML5 format eLearning tutorials. In the Salesbuilder sample project, you can see how the Corporate Travel Microsoft Word document has been linked to this project. You will also find an Adobe Captivate 6 HTML5 Video which can be seen if you generate one of the Multiscreen HTML5 Single Source Layouts. It is in the Salesbuilder Animated Tour topic.

In addition, there is a new Automapping feature for Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker that conveniently allows the author to map styles from those applications to RoboHelp topics upon import. Automapping picks up the imported Microsoft Word or FrameMaker document styles and maps them to RoboHelp style names.

on page 45)

(Read more

Multi-file Find and Replace

There is an all new and robust Multi-file Find and Replace tool in its own pod for editing

content more conveniently. Search for text with multiple parameters, edit your search queries, view search results in a list, use pre-populated search filters, set a default

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Search path, and look up regular expressions and wildcard characters. (Read more on

page 40)

User Defined Variables (UDV)

Control and customize content better by applying a User Defined Variable to a wider range of content, including the Topic Title and Table of Contents. Automate updates by simply making a single change to the UDV value in the UDV pod. To see this in action, right click on this topic and choose "Topic Properties." You will see that the About RoboHelp 10 User Defined Variable has been inserted in to the Topic Title. This is also used in any topic where that variable has been placed. (Read more on page 41)

Glossary definitions even more easily exposed to your readers.

By popular request! The author can now choose Glossary terms to reveal definitions as text popups or even tooltips in addition to the expanding hotspot. Read details in Output Enhancements.

(Read more on page 42)

Automate commonly used procedures with the RoboHelp Scripting Engine and API

RoboHelp is virtually unique among help authoring tools in having an extremely extensible scripting capability. There are many "out of the box" scripts for common tasks and now, you can enable event-based executions of functions within a script rather than relying on manual interventions. Use the scripting pod to generate custom reports, automate frequently used workflows, and even extend the functionality of Adobe RoboHelp 10. To access these scripts, click View > Pods > Script Explorer.

Access to user-generated content with smart new Search features

Intelligent, searchable content

Create a superior search experience for your users by empowering them with the ability to view the total number of search results, search for all words in a string, and apply Conditional Build Tags (CBTs) on external search content.

To expose this unique feature and make it easier to use, External Content Search now

has its own pod for easily adding terms and URLs with CBTs applied where required.

(Read more on page 31)

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Editable image tags

Improve accessibility for your content by setting your own attributes for the Title and Alt tags in the HTML code when an image is added to the content.

Efficiently collaborate and rapidly review

Out-of-the-box integration with Microsoft SharePoint

Enable better version control on all multiscreen help projects by publishing directly to a SharePoint document library or folder. Publish directly to a SharePoint site from within RoboHelp. This may be in.aspx format if preferred.) Project team members can then check files in or out and maintain history records.

Multi-authoring productivity

Enable real-time collaborative content creation and increase productivity in multiauthoring environments.

(Read more on page 27)

• Manage assets across users and projects with Microsoft® SharePoint.

• Reuse shared assets from a common repository on a shared location

Enhanced PDF-based reviews

Expand the scope of PDF-based reviews by filtering topics based on the table of contents and including dynamic HTML content in the workflow. Now also review expanding and drop-down text, import comments related to them, and track changes.

(Read more on page 22)

Tracking usage added to Feedback Analytics

End-user Feedback Reports are key to improving your content quality as you better understand your user's behavior. This is accomplished by tracking key user metrics. Adobe® RoboHelp® Server 9* software feedback reports can be customized to gain insight into usage patterns and better meet their needs.

*Adobe ® RoboHelp ® Server 9 is a separate product from Adobe RoboHelp 10, and must be purchased separately.

(Read more on page 49)

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Projects can now be stored and worked on from a network location

Performance is always enhanced when a RoboHelp project is opened on the author's local drive. However, Adobe RoboHelp 10 now makes it possible for projects to be located on a network drive and worked on directly.

Import Content from many formats and output to many types

But before we get into the details of this workflow, let's step back for a minute and take a look at the overall input/output of RoboHelp which is what all this collaboration is part of. First, authors can import many source documents in many formats that can be brought into the project. Sometimes the technical communicator drafts the content right in RoboHelp. In other cases, content is received from other authors or subject matter experts to be imported. Once the content is brought into the project, there are many outputs that can be generated. Adobe RoboHelp has long been the leader of single sourcing.

An author might want the convenience of keeping only one project up to date. But, the author often has many types of output and many different audiences or channels to receive this content. For example, the project may be used to create traditional outputs such as WebHelp or Printed documentation. Or the author may choose from many other newer formats such as AIR Help for automatic updating or EPUB for handheld devices and ebook readers. The RoboHelp project can also output directly to a SharePoint site or perhaps publish to the Adobe RoboHelp Server 9 which provides Feedback Report Analytics for constant content improvement. RoboHelp remains at the core as the tool that helps the author make all this happen smoothly.

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All of this output goes into Help Systems, Knowledge Bases, Policies & Procedures, eLearning Content, Product Manuals

Existing favorites authors come to expect from RoboHelp

While this Reviewer's Guide focuses on new workflow solutions, we don’t want to forget

the many good reasons Adobe RoboHelp has become so popular in the first place. If you are new to RoboHelp, here is a recap of features introduced in previous versions:

• Single Sourcing - Adobe RoboHelp software continues its innovative history of helping authors publish to multiple channels with more output formats (print and online), all within one single project.

• Dynamic User-Centric Content (DUCC) - Delivering personalized content to the right people at the right time.

• AIR Help - a fast-growing and popular solution to keeping content updated and taking advantage of Web 2.0 commenting. All presented in an attractive and easy to navigate user interface.

• XML support for DITA

• An XHTML editor with clean code that can be W3C validated right within RoboHelp.

• Powerful search - RoboHelp provides many tools to make content findable. These include topic-level search keywords, project-wide synonyms, phrase search, boolean expressions and optional search ranking.

• Section 508 compliance for enabling important accessibility functionality while maintaining a single source of content.

• Master Page templates for consistent look and feel with placeholders for Breadcrumbs and Mini-TOCs

• Snippets - Reusable blocks of content can be placed throughout a project making it easy to swap out the content for quick updating.

• Conditional Build Tags - Authors can assign tags to content that can be excluded when the output is generated. One single source project can be customized for many audiences.

• Multiple TOCs, Indexes and Glossaries - Versatile workflow for multiple audiences

• Multiple Document Interface (MDI) - Have more than one topic open at a time for quick switching.

• Workspaces (also known as Environments) - Create author-defined Workspaces which can be customized and saved.

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• Custom toolbars and menus - Provide the most comfortable workspace for the author.

• Scripting - Scripts that automate tasks and generate new outputs such as Eclipse

Help or EPUB format are provided. Authors can also create their own “macros” to automate tasks.

• Visual editors for Cascading Style Sheets, Tables and Multilevel Lists for taking some of the guesswork out of managing styles, lists and tables.

Translation workflows are smooth with Adobe RoboHelp

“Our projects are translated into over 20 languages with Trados and I never had a

problem” - customer on Adobe RoboHelp forum. Here are some of the many advantages provided by RoboHelp for translation and localization:

• Unicode support for 35 languages

• The Multiple Document Interface (MDI), which allows editing of topics side by side

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• Ability to have multiple tables of contents, indexes, and glossaries in different languages

• The ability to define a language at the topic and even paragraph levels in addition to the project.

• The LANG attribute is used for spell checking, thesaurus, Smart Indexing and creating the search index.

• The language attribute specified at the paragraph level is given the highest preference.

• Clean XHTML code

Installation of Adobe RoboHelp 10

If you do not already have Adobe RoboHelp 10, a trial version may be downloaded from

www.adobe.com/go/try/robohelp. For system requirements, see the end of this guide.

When the installation dialog appears, select radio buttons for Adobe RoboHelp 10, Adobe PDF Creator Add-on (deselect if you have a different compatible product) and the Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit.

Note: Opening a project and upgrading it to Adobe RoboHelp 10 will make it incompatible with previous versions. Therefore, it is best practice to install trial versions on non-production machines as well as to backing up projects before opening in a new version of RoboHelp.

Don't miss the Sample Projects for examples and tips

Sample Projects to explore and learn - Three Adobe RoboHelp 10 Sample Projects

(Employee Care, Global Site Consult and Salesbuilder-help) are included in the installation. They use a fictional company, Whirl the World Travel which has an online policies and procedures manuals as well as context sensitive Adobe AIR Help for its AIR Application, called Salesbuilder. Global Site Consult is designed to provide Context Sensitive Help for mobile applications.

Open these samples to get an immediate feel for RoboHelp. Be sure to open the AUTHOR_INFO_READ_FIRST folder in either sample to give you a headstart.

Notice this view shows off the author-friendly Design Editor with the brand new Review Pane showing at the bottom. This is where authors and their subject matter experts can participate in keeping the project “in sync”. On the left is the RoboHelp Project Manager which helps you easily track of hundreds or thousands of assets that are part of your project.

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Try it! Exercises

The Try it! Exercises in this guide are designed to use the Sample projects.

To access the Samples Projects, do one of the following:

1. Open RoboHelp by double-clicking the desktop icon named “Adobe RoboHelp 10 HTML”. Or, Click Start > Run > type “robohtml” and click OK.

2. RoboHelp will open to its start page.

3. On the start page, click the Open folder icon.

4. From the Open Project dialog click the Sample icon in the lower left panel.

5. Open the EmployeeCare folder (sample project).

6. Double-click on the EmployeeCare.xpj (RoboHelp's project file).

7. After the project opens, maximize the RoboHelp application window. You will see the project open in a view similar to this screenshot.

8. The same steps can be taken to open the Salesbuilder or Global Site Consult sample projects.

“In my 20 years of using

and teaching RoboHelp, I’ve never seen so many new workflows and features in a single release, making it an upgrade no-brainer.”

” John Daigle, Evergreen

Online Learning, LLC

Worth the upgrade. Whether switching or upgrading, this is a release not to miss!

Tight budgets require your tools to work harder and be up to date. Budget

tightening means your tools must work harder and be scalable in today's economic reality. Adobe RoboHelp 10is your insurance policy against falling behind as needs change and grow. Switching or upgrading assures a good return on investment (ROI) that will make everyone happy.

(Read more on page 49)

• Adobe RoboHelp is most often described as “author-friendly” and easy to use. (Yet, some competitor tools are often described as having a “steep learning curve” or “an

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interface only a techie could love”). The friendly interface provides the Adobe RoboHelp author with an immediate payoff.

• Affordable solution. Many organizations find that Adobe RoboHelp provides a robust, scalable solution for a lot smaller investment than more expensive Content Management Systems. For example, Adobe RoboHelp 10 can be purchased for less than $1,000 US and attractive upgrades are available for as little as $399 US. RoboHelp is also available on an economical monthly or annual subscription basis as part of the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 4.

• Start developing content immediately without learning complicated “techie” interfaces and workflows that don't work the way you do.

• It's scalable and can easily grow with your needs.

• The new Review and Collaboration workflow solution streamlines your workflow and can save lots of time and money as the team communicates more accurately and efficiently.

• Extras are provided without additional purchase such as RoboScreen Capture, RoboSource Control and Extended Scripting automation. Adobe Reader is free for reviewers to use.

• The tight integration and affordability of the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 3 is an assurance of Adobe's commitment to excellence and constant improvement suggestions incorporating thousands of user suggestions over many years.

• With the Adobe Technical Communication Suite, the savings are even greater. Five Adobe applications are included for less than half the cost if purchased separately.

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Multiscreen HTML5

Single Source Layouts

Now you have mobile-friendly Multiscreen HTML5 to deliver content to any device, no matter what the screen size

From iPhones and iPads to Android Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire and Desktop, Adobe RoboHelp 10 has you covered! Support for modern HTML5 output and CSS3 means authors are no longer limited to the old-fashioned and restrictive frame-based "tripane" window.

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“The new Multiscreen

output in Adobe RoboHelp 10 lets me quickly and easily publish one set of files for all devices. The Help system queries the device, and formats the output based on screen size rules I set up.”

Matt Sullivan, Independent Adobe Certified Instructor

Choose from a Gallery of prepared Screen Layouts

The New Screen Layout dialog shows a Gallery of out-of-the-box layouts which can be

modified in the Screen Layout Editor to suit your branding or color scheme.

Modify the Screen Layout Pages for your own branding and color scheme

For example, perhaps you would like to change out the logo shown in the screenshot below. Double-click on it and browse to the location of the new logo. Click OK to replace. Use the Multiscreen Widget tool bar in the upper right of the Screen Layout Editor to insert major structural elements such as:

• Tabbed Panel of Table of Contents, Index, Glossary

• Browse Sequence buttons

• Print button

• Hyperlinks

• Horizontal Accordion tabs

...and many more. In addition to the widgets, authors can access the Screen Layout Properties to fine-tune the CSS Attributes for the layout.

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“The addition of HTML5-

based multiscreen outputs, CSS3, and support for Media Queries moves Adobe RoboHelp 10 into the mobile space in a big way—from smartphones to tablets and beyond. At the same time, RoboHelp maintains its familiar interface and feature set for those authors that aren’t yet ready to add mobile to their single source outputs and workflows. RoboHelp 10 is a well thought-out, flexible, and futureoriented extension of RoboHelp by Adobe. Nice job!”

Many ways to Preview your work on different screen sizes

See how your designs work on different sized screens using the built-in Multiscreen Previewer. You can also view with a Screen Profile in an emulation of a device.

Neil Perlin, President, Hyper/Word Services

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Automatic Screen Optimization so content adapts to the device

Convenient "presets" of common screen sizes are ready-to-use and authors can specify their own custom screen sizes if they choose. Each screen size can be mapped to a different screen layout so that the appearance of the content is right for the device.

The screen profiles and layouts are shown in Project Set-up. Here you will see all the

profiles and layouts available to the project. You can add and delete as required.

When generating the Multiscreen HTML5 Single Source Layout, you can select

Optimization settings so that the content will “flow” and adapt to fit the target screen. For example, popups are commonly used for larger desktop screens, but are not always supported by smartphones and other devices. Items like image and table sizes will also adjust to fit the screen. Optimization can also properly deliver the new Adobe Captivate 6 HTML5 files for eLearning content.

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“Adobe RoboHelp 10

represents an important step in supporting the next generation of software applications. As more and more computing is done through mobile devices, it is vital to adjust Help to match. The support of HTML5, Media Query, and Multiscreen output in RoboHelp 10 assists technical communication professionals in reaching their objectives.”

Joe Welinske, President,

WritersUA

Responsive Design promotes fluid layouts

Notice how the four images and text of the web browser on the left automatically adjusts to single stacked graphics on the phone device.

Use the Multiscreen HTML5 Single Source Layout to generate content

The screen profiles are mapped to the layouts within the new Multiscreen HTML5

Single Source Layout. All the screen profiles in the project will always be listed on the left. On first accessing this dialog all the profiles will also be listed on the right and be

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mapped to a screen layout. If you don't want an output for all the devices, simply highlight them on the right and use the Remove Screen Profile(s) button.

Context-sensitive help for mobile apps

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