Macromedia RoboHelp - 8.0 Reviewer’s Guide

Reviewer’s Guide
ADOBE®ROBOHELP® 8
Innovative new features for online authors and their audiences
Adobe® RoboHelp® 8 software is a professional authoring tool for developing help systems, eLearning content, policies and procedures and knowledge bases.
Enhanced editing and layout

Contents

What you can create with Adobe
RoboHelp 8 ......................................... 2
What’s New in Adobe RoboHelp 8..... 3
Existing features authors have come to
expect .................................................. 7
Publishing Features – special
enhancements for the end-user............ 9
Single Sourcing Features - write once,
distribute to many audiences............. 40
Productivity Features - Work quicker,
smarter, more efficiently ................... 46
Usability Features - making the work
environment easier ............................ 49
Adobe RoboHelp Server 8 - robust search,
easier to administer ........................... 52
Major Online Help Enhancements with
Adobe AIR ........................................ 55
Additional resources and links .......... 58
System Requirements........................ 60
capabilities - An easy to use visual editing environment makes it easy for authors to create standards­based, validated XHTML code.
Scalable Single Sourcing - From one single project, you can publish to multiple channels and audiences. Use batch processing to publish many formats including WebHelp, Adobe FlashHelp®, Compiled HTML Help, JavaHelp, Oracle Help for Java™ and WinHelp. Now, you can also publish as an Adobe AIR™ application.
Automation with built-in Scripting - Choose from provided scripts or create your own scripts with Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit CS4 software (included in this release). For example, you can now add a dialog (User Interface) and add features and functions to the product which are customized to your workflow.
Multimedia eLearning platform - Include engaging interactive content such as PDF documents, FLV files, Adobe Captivate® show-me demos, and 3D models.
Robust end-user search functionality - Custom search keywords, synonyms, search context provided in results, exclude topics from search, search term highlighting, search rank, and ability to search text of MS® Office, Adobe PDF documents.
Part of the Adobe® Technical Communication Suite 2
It’s all part of the Adobe® Technical Communication Suite 2, a total authoring solution that combines the power of Adobe RoboHelp®, 8, Adobe FrameMaker®, 9, Adobe Captivate®, 4, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended and now includes Adobe Photoshop®, CS4 software!
Now with support for Adobe AIR output format that has excited the help authoring community at international conferences such as the Society for Technical Communication, WritersUA and DocTrain as well as Tekom and the UA Conference in Europe and AOCD in Australia.
Adobe RoboHelp software’s product line includes Adobe RoboHelp 8 and Adobe RoboHelp Server 8 software (sold separately). Adobe RoboHelp 8 comes with these applications:
Adobe RoboHelp 8 HTML
Adobe RoboHelp 8 for Microsoft® Word
Adobe RoboSource Control 3.1
Adobe RoboScreenCapture 2.0
•Adobe PDF Creator Add-on 9
Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit CS4

What you can create with Adobe RoboHelp 8

Use this best-of-breed application to create single-sourced output for multiple channels:
Online help for applications
Knowledge bases Easy lookup of information by a growing number of contact center professionals
Policies and procedures manuals
Many companies have used Adobe RoboHelp to create the online help that is provided with their desktop and browser-based applications to provide online user assistance.
who handle email, chat and phone support. All of this is powered by the best in class Search features.
Employees can quickly find accurate up to date information that keeps an organization running smoothly. Technical writers, content developers, and subject matter experts can write structured, searchable documents that can be easily accessed by anyone in an organization.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 2
An eLearning launch pad
When combined with Adobe Captivate 4 demonstrations, interactive simulations and quizzes, Adobe RoboHelp 8 output becomes a powerful repository for eLearning courses, lessons and virtual classrooms. The author or instructional designer can use popular Adobe Captivate (v2, 3, 4), which utilizes learning animations with text and FLV files playable in Adobe Flash® Player. Instructional Designers around the world use Adobe RoboHelp to create Performance Support Systems. From the published online project, learning objects can communicate with Learning Management Systems such as Adobe Connect™ Professional software and other open standards-based SCORM or AICC compliant programs.
Adobe AIR help applications
Easy-to-generate Adobe AIR help applications to keep your information base up to date with a single file that combines the best of the Web with speed of the desktop.

What’s New in Adobe RoboHelp 8

Publishing Features – special enhancements for the end-user

Adobe AIR™ technology provides a revolutionary new help application that provides many new ways for users to find information, add and share comments, in a system that is always up to date. It combines the best of the Web as well as the desktop, whether the user is online or not. Authors can generate this exciting new Adobe AIR help application and package it for easy deployment and management of automatic updates. See “Ad ob e A IR -
revolutionary Web 2.0 features for the end-user” on page 9.
Powerful Search engine
Search results are ranked by relevance with the initial text of the topic for context, search highlighting, a synonym editor and a brand new Keyword Search that can be defined to help the user find what they are looking for. Also added is a way to define search Phrases as well as Substrings. Another major feature is that text in Adobe PDF and MS Office documents can be searched. See “Powerful Search
engine” on page 17.
Enhanced Printed Documentation options
Breadcrumbs / Mini TOC
Improved Glossary Glossary definitions which are edited are automatically updated in glossary
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 3
More flexibility in mapping your online output styles to the printed version in Microsoft® Word or Adobe PDF. See “Enhanced Printed Documentation options” on page 20.
Breadcrumb navigation and/or a Mini TOC can be added with placeholders on a topic basis or with Master Pages. If preferred, breadcrumbs can be added globally with a single checkmark when generating output. See “Breadcrumbs” on page 21.
hotspot links. See “Improved Glossary” on page 24.
Merged Help implementation
Twisties Twisties provide both expanded and dropdown hotspots and can now have
Merged project enhancements provide a visually intuitive way to merge child projects which become part of a master TOC. See “Merged Help Implementation” on page 24.
configurable images which provide a visual cue to the user. See “Twisties -
expanded hotspots with graphic cues” on page 24.

More author-friendly enhancements

Adobe RoboHelp 8 is now an XHTML Authoring Tool
Clean XHTML code editing in RoboHelp software’s popular visual editing environment. See “A new XHTML Editor produces clean, standards-
compliant code” on page 26.
Code validation to assure World Wide Web Consortium compliance. See
“Code validation is easy with a simple command” on page 28.
A new Styles and Formatting pod
World class Table, List and Autonumbering
Easier import of MS® Word and Adobe FrameMaker files
Linking MS® Word files
Import DITA Topic-based content into a RoboHelp HTML project. This allows the DITA author
Quickly apply, create or edit CSS styles. See “Styles and Formatting Pod” on page 41.
Table designs (with many new prepared templates) can now be created or modified in the Styles editor using a graphical preview and exposed formatting tools. List support now includes enhanced handling of standard HTML Lists, MultiLevel lists and customizable autonumbering. See “World-class Table,
Standard HTML List, MultiLevel List and Autonumbering support” on page 28.
Define common Import and Conversion Settings for consistent use of CSS and Style Mapping across all projects. See “Set Import choices for easier import of MS®
Word and Adobe FrameMaker files” on page 36.
By linking to MS® Word files you can keep your content updated to the original source MS® Word document without re-importing each time. See “Linking MS®
Wor d f il es” on page 38.
to take advantage of RoboHelp software’s rich feature set of TOC, Index, Glossary and advanced publishing options. See “Import DITA topic-based content” on page 39.
Enhanced Unicode and Language Support
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 4
There is now Unicode and language support at the topic and paragraph level. See
“New multiple language support at paragraph, topic, and project level.” on
page 35.
FLV format now supported
IFrame support Include an external HTML or PDF inside a topic. See “IFrame support” on
For compelling eLearning and video presentations. See “FLV format now
supported” on page 35.
page 35.

Single Sourcing Features - write once, distribute to many audiences

Brand new CSS Editor
Master Pages (formerly Tem pl at es )
Resource Manager Allows you to manage and reuse assets (including Images, Topics, Stylesheets,
Formatted User­defined Variables (UDV)
Provides a graphical way to define Table Styles, and complex List Styles. See
“Brand new CSS Editor” on page 40.
Help separate layout and styling from content. There are new placeholders for breadcrumbs and a “mini” Table of Contents and the Body section of each topic. See “Master Pages provide consistency and add navigational enhancements” on page 42.
Multimedia and Snippets) across multiple Robohelp projects. See “Resource
Manager - Storing and Sharing common resources” on page 44.
Provide a robust way to make global changes to common blocks of content throughout many topics. A major new enhancement is the addition of formatting and the inclusion of such things as images and links which are easily created in a Design and HTML editor. See “Formatted User Defined Variables - and Variable
Sets for single sourcing” on page 45.

Productivity Features - Work quicker, smarter, more efficiently

Scripting Automate with built-in scripts or create your own. The entire Adobe Extended
Scripting Toolkit CS4 is included with Adobe RoboHelp 8, including many ready­made scripts to get you started. See “Robust new built-in Scripting allows you to
automate many tasks” on page 46.
Integration with other Adobe applications
Custom To Do List This popular RoboHelp favorite now allows you to edit the supplied tasks and add
Adobe Captivate 4, RoboScreenCapture and RoboSource Control are separate applications that are integrated into the Adobe RoboHelp 8 interface. See “Ad o b e
Captivate 4 - used by instructional designers throughout the world” on page 48.
your own items depending on your own workflows. See “Customized To-Do List” on page 49.

Usability Features - making the work environment easier

Project Manager Enhancements
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 5
RoboHelp software’s strength has been its ability to help the author keep track of the many assets in a given project. Now, you can drag and drop topics and folders
to create the same hierarchy used in the TOC. There is a choice to customize the list of files shown or switch to the traditional view with its virtual folders.
See
“Project Manager Enhancements” on page 49.
UI Enhancements Color-coding to show pods with focus, easy close of topics in Design Editor, more
tooltips on Navigation buttons and more robust right-click Context Menu support are some of the user-friendly changes to the interface. See “UI Enhancements” on page 50.
Option to install RoboHelp for Word
Custom File Type mapping dialog
More functionality added to existing features
You can now choose whether or not to install this application and create desktop icons. according to your preference. See “Option to install RoboHelp for MS®
Wo r d” on page 51.
In addition to choosing your preferred HTML editor, there is an enhanced dialog to associate file extensions with your choice of applications. See “Custom File Type
mapping dialog” on page 51.
Snippets can now be added to Popups and Drop-down hotspots and DHTML effects in non-IE browsers. Because of improved HHActiveX support, Glossaries and Browse Sequences can be included in the HTML Help (.chm) format in Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) multibyte languages. Improvements have been also been made to Multiple TOC, Index and Glossary editing (including the ability to update Glossary definitions automatically.)

Adobe RoboHelp Server 8 - Now with versatile authentication and restricted access

Adobe RoboHelp Server 8 software (Optional purchase) - A completely rewritten and redesigned Java-based server is cross platform compatible and easy for the author to generate feedback reports for continuous improvement of the help system. Here are the highlights followed by the details below. See “Ad o b e
RoboHelp Server 8 - robust search, easier to administer” on page 52.
Search results are more responsive.
Generate User Feedback reports.
Supports the open source (free) Tomcat Servlet Container.
Supports both Apache as well as Windows® Internet Information Services (IIS) Web servers.
The new Java-based server is much easier to install and maintain than previous versions.
Create restricted areas with different access permissions for different user groups.
Authentication enabled and includes LDAP integration.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 6
Now supports REST Web services, instead of SOAP in previous version.

Existing features authors have come to expect

While this Reviewer's Guide focuses on new features, 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, all within one single project.
Snippets - Reusable blocks of content can be placed throughout a project making it easy to swap out the content quick updating.
Conditional Build Tags - Authors can assign tags to content which 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.
Environments - Create author defined workspaces called Environments which can be customized and saved.
Custom toolbars and menus - Provide the most comfortable workspace for the author.

Before you begin your tour of Adobe RoboHelp 8

There are sample files for the hands-on “Try it” exercises included with this Reviewer’s Guide.
There are also Adobe Captivate software “Show me” videos to visually guide you through many of the exercises. Links to these videos will be found at the end of this guide.
Installation of Adobe RoboHelp 8
If you do not already have Adobe RoboHelp 8, a trial version may be downloaded at www.adobe.com/go/try/robohelp. For system requirements, see “System
Requirements” on page 60.
When the installation dialog appears, select radio buttons for Adobe RoboHelp 8, Adobe PDF Creator Add-on (deselect if you have a different compatible product) and the Adobe ExtendScript Toolkit. After the installation, refer to the ReadMe file that is installed by default along this path for more information.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 7
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 8\Readme.htm (or readme.pdf). Opening a project and converting it to Adobe RoboHelp 8 will make it incompatible with previous versions. Therefore, it is best practice to install trial versions on test machines.
Install TryIt­Exercises
Also accompanying the Reviewer’s Guide, are the Tr y It - E xe r ci s e -F i l es . Copy and unzip this file to your local hard drive. This contains a special edition of the Web Graphics Sample project. This is similar to the sample project that accompanies RoboHelp, but has been modified for the exercises that follow. After copying the files, start RoboHelp and open the project with these steps.
1. Do one of the following:
Open RoboHelp by double-clicking the desktop icon named “Adobe Robo­Help 8 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 WebGraphics folder (sample project).
6. Double-click on the We bG r a ph i c s .x p j (RoboHelp's project file).
After the project opens, maximize the RoboHelp application window. You will see the project open in a view similar to this screenshot.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 8
Explore the interface.
The workspace is made up of pods. You can close any pod by clicking the X in the top right corner. As you rearrange the pods, you may want to restore them to the original layout. This can be done by clicking File > Environments > Load Default Environment.
For guided demonstrations of the main features, see the Adobe Captivate demos at the end of this Reviewer’s Guide.

Publishing Features – special enhancements for the end-user

Adobe AIR - revolutionary Web 2.0 features for the end-user

Adobe AIR technology makes it possible to distribute help as an application that is automatically updated. It offers many new ways for end-users to find information and exchange comments. It combines the best of the Web as well as the desktop and enables you to create rich, branded customer experiences.
Authors can easily generate this exciting new Adobe AIR help application and package it as a single file (.air) for easy deployment. See below for a summary of
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 9
benefits followed by graphic examples of this new Single Source Layout for generating an Adobe AIR file. (Options may vary depending on output type selected)
Main Benefits A convenient installation file (.air) that has everything packed inside (content,
viewer and installer.)
Contemporary templates and skins with branding opportunities.
Enhanced Search with ranking and context.
Consistent look and feel across all operating systems.
Seamless use whether online or offline.
Advanced User Experience features
Breakout of Adobe AIR help features
Multi Tab browsing.
•Breadcrumb navigation.
Mini TOC - helps users navigate to places within a single topic.
Security provided by digital signatures.
End users can show or hide features.
Create “Favorites” for quick shortcuts.
Customize outside resources and subscribe to RSS Feeds.
Auto Update of content.
Commenting - for individual end users and for review among groups.
The screen capture below, illustrates many of the features that are part of an Adobe AIR help application generated by Adobe RoboHelp 8. The author can create a custom design from a number of color schemes, skins and other features. This example uses the Classic Help Template with the Ocean Blue skin.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 10
A The branding logo and title across the top.
AB C D E F
GH JKL
I
B Contents, Index, Glossary and Search tabs of the navigation pane.
C Mini TOC shown expanded to jump to a location in the topic.
D Tabs showing multiple topics open at the same time.
E Breadcrumb trail showing path where topic is located.
F Arrows to navigate a Browse Sequence defined by the author.
G “How do I?” tab for showing steps in procedures.
H Favorites tab to user-defined topic shortcuts, Resources to external blogs,
Wikis and Websites or for RSS Feeds.
I Comments tab to show user's notes along with others in a shared review.
J Preferences link allows a user to customize the items they prefer to view
and to configure Comments.
K A zoom tool for users who may prefer larger text.
L Send and Receive button for sending and receiving comments from
other users or reviewers.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 11
Contents pane
This example uses the Classic Help template with the Ocean Blue skin. Note the branding icon in the upper left.
Favorites pane
In this view, the end user can add and organize many internal and external links to resources such as Blogs, Wikis, Websites and message forums and RSS feeds.
How do I? pane
A custom-made list of steps in a task can be created for the user who has a certain process they want to work through.
The author creates these “How do I?” lists in the Adobe RoboHelp 8 Browse Sequence Editor. These sequences can use the order found in the TOC or specially organized in a very specific sequence the author defines.
Multi-Tab Accordion Template with the Midnight Black skin
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 12
Shown below are results of a search which includes the topic title, the first paragraph of text and the ranking of the topic among the results. This will help the user focus on the most likely target. In the lower panel is the Comment section along with several comments from a team of reviewers.
All comments are time-stamped. They can be shared and kept in sync with the team.
Classic Template with Icy Blue skin
A partial view of the Classic Template with Icy Blue skin is presented below. It shows the Topic and Comments panes. Notice that multiple users are able to add comments which can be shared among a designated group. These comments can be kept in sync according to the settings established by the author.
There is also a UniPane Template
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 13
The template below is designed for compatibility with Windows Vista®-style Help as shown below.

Creating an Adobe AIR Help Application

Adobe AIR runtime applications contain a lot of code and technology. However Adobe RoboHelp 8 software makes it very easy for the author to create Adobe AIR files.
Generate Adobe AIR Help
Tr y it:
To see the process of generating an Adobe AIR layout, open the Web Graphics sample project:
1. Open the Single Source Layout pod.
2. Right-click on the Single Source Layout titled, “Adobe AIR Multi Tab Black.”
3. Select Properties.
4. Take a look at each of the Settings: General, Content, Template and View items.
5. Examine the different items and then take a look at similar screenshots below. (Your paths may be different, but the settings are generally the same.)
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 14
The General settings provide four Output Types (see below for descriptions). This one shows the Adobe AIR Application. The folder location for the .air file is defined. A Help Title, version number and Help ID used for context sensitive help is also assigned in the Help Settings section.
Under Installer Settings, you can either use your own Digital Certificate for security or create your own for local viewing. The Program Menu Folder is defined to guide the installer to create a folder according to the author’s preference.
The Content settings provide a way to conditionally exclude topics and select the preferred Table of Contents, Index, Glossary and User Defined Variable set as well as the default topic. A Master Page or Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) can be overridden and substituted here.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 15
The Template settings dialog. Here you can select from 3 Templates and 2 skins, add a copyright notice, description and define the width and height you would like the initial window to be.
The View settings dialog. Here you can select the Search, Auto Update, Commenting, Resources and a URL for the online help location. The Server setting (shown in grey) lights up if you choose either the Browser­based Help or Help Content Only Output Type on the General Setting dialog. It provides a way to set up the path to the Web server or network share where the help will reside if this output type is selected.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 16

Use a completely new Single Source Layout - Adobe AIR

Four output types - Using the Single Source Layout in RoboHelp 8, you can generate the Adobe AIR runtime application. The Single Source Layout offers options to generate four different types of help systems:
Adobe AIR as an output
The .air file output can be installed as a stand-alone application or as context sensitive help using CSH APIs. Note: You need to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.6 or higher before generating the Adobe AIR application. However the JRE is not necessary for installing the application to end users.
Browser Based Help as an output
AIR Application and Browser Based Help as an output
Only Help Content in a zipped format (.rha)
Generate Browser based Help as an Adobe Flex® application and you can use it as online help or embedded help. You can publish this output on the server with specific configurations. You can view this Help using Web browsers with Adobe Flash® plug-in 9.0 or above installed. (Consult online help for some limitations and more details.)
This option generates both the Adobe AIR application and the Browser based Help simultaneously. You can view the AIR application after installing it on your machine and the Browser based Help by linking it to the server. View as:
•Browser based Help.
An online version in a new Help Viewer (which the author can create with the new Help Viewer Wizard.
As an AIR application which shows offline data.
You may have need to distribute many different help systems to a single desktop. To help with consistency in presentation and single sourcing, you can package the Help content into data files (.rha). Then, using the Help Viewer Wizard, you can create a single, branded viewer and install that once so the user can display any number of help data files in the same viewer.
Summary: The Adobe AIR help application has a very rich feature set. To learn
more, you can read an article on the Adobe Developer Network or consult Community Help, a major new online assistance feature. See “Community Help -
a new Web 2.0 way of providing user assistance” on page 56.

Powerful Search engine

The author works hard to create thorough documentation, but the information may as well not exist if the user can't find it. A totally new search engine helps direct users to the most relevant information. Here is a quick summary followed by more detail.
Summary of Search features
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 17
Search results can now be ranked.
Search highlighting draws attention to the relevant term.
Topic context in the search results list provides a quick glance summary.
Topic Keyword search lets the author include metadata to guide users to what they want.
•Synonym search.
Excluded topic search.
Multiple-language search.
Substring search (“Log” will return log, catalog and logarithm).
Phrase search - place a phrase in quotes to filter better results.
Baggage file search (search text of MS Office and PDF files).
The red highlight boxes below point to the search highlight, search ranking and search context features.

Synonym Highlighting

When the author creates a synonym for a word and the user searches for the synonym, the corresponding word is now highlighted in the topic. For example, if you look at the WebHelp output of the Web Graphics sample and search for the term “jaggies,” the results will return topics with the keyword, “artifacts.”
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 18

Search MS Office and Adobe PDF files

If you hyperlink within a topic to MS Office and Adobe PDFs, these files are added to the project’s Baggage. As a major new feature, the published output will include those files (even though they were not converted to HTML) and bring them up in the search results.

Searchable Topic-specific Keywords created by the Author

Often a user may search for a word where the subject matter is covered but the word itself is not actually in the topic text. Now the author can anticipate words the user may be looking for and force the topic to come up in search results.
These special search keywords (think of them as synonyms for a single topic) are authored at the topic level for very specific control. For example, you can assign the keyword “formatting” to a topic about fonts, styles, and point sizes. If you enter “formatting” as a search term in the generated help, RoboHelp displays that topic even though it doesn't contain the word “formatting.”
Topic-specific
Try I t : To see the power of Search Keywords, here is how to create them.
Search Keyword Try It
1. Open the Web Graphics sample project.
2. In the Project Manager, open the “All_About_Graphic_Formats” folder.
3. Double click on the topic, “Bitmaps and Vector Graphics” to open it in the Design Editor.
If you read the topic, you will notice the word “drawing” does not appear even though Vector graphics are typically edited by drawing applications. You would like your users to be able to bring this topic up in search results if they type in the word, drawing. To do this:
4. Right-click on the topic in the Design Editor and Select Topic Properties.
5. You will notice on the General tab in the Keyword field there are already two keywords (lossy, lossless). To add your new Keyword, type in the word “drawing” (without quotes) in the Keywords field. A comma to separate the Keywords may be used but is not necessary.
6. Click OK and Save the topic.
Adobe RoboHelp 8 Reviewer’s Guide 19
Loading...
+ 43 hidden pages