Robohelp software tutorial

You can open a project when starting RoboHelp using the Starter pod or traditionally by using the File menu. The Starter pod shows a list of recently opened projects. Click on the project name, which has to be opened. If you do not see the needed project, click Open Project and navigate to the location of the project on disk. Click on the File tab and select Open Project. Click on the Local or Network Path and select a project from disk.

If you are opening projects created in an older version of RoboHelp, you will be asked to convert the project into the new format. To change settings for a project, in the Project tab, click on Project Settings in the File section. You can change settings such as the title of the project, the primary output, and localization. You can also manage a To Do List by clicking on the Manage… button and adding the required to do actions.

You order topics and folders logically in the Project Manager pod to define a chapter layout. This chapter layout forms the basis for the Table of Contents creation by RoboHelp. To order topics, simply drag a topic or folder above or below another topic or folder. A green arrow is shown to indicate the placement of the topic or folder.

RoboHelp provides many ways to organize and work with project files. Project tasks can be tracked by using To Do Lists, which can be customized. To Do Lists are retained when converting projects from an older RoboHelp version. To add a task to the list, click Add. Type the name of the task item. To edit or remove a task, select the task and click Edit or Delete. The RoboHelp Starter pod lists recently opened projects.

To edit this list, go to the File menu and click on Options. Click the Recent Projects tab. If you want to change the number of files listed, specify a number in the Max Projects box. To remove a file from the list, select it and click on Remove. You can pin frequently used files by selecting it and clicking on Pin. Sometimes, you might have to add files to the Baggage Files folder, so the external elements appear correctly in the output. You can add individual files or even folders.

You can map file types to associate them with the applications for editing and viewing. To associate a file extension with an application, go to the File menu and click on Options.

Click on the File Association tab. To associate programs, click Add in the Associated Programs section and enter a filename extension. Select an editor to edit documents with the specified filename extension and then select a program to view the file.

It is recommended to back up all project files, view and print reports before removing project files. This is especially important if your project is not under version control.

In order to avoid broken links, do not remove files in Windows Explorer or version control software. Select one or more files and press Delete on the keyboard. As a precaution, it is recommended not to remove references to removed topics, so that they can be shown in the Broken Links folder for later review. To remove multiple topics, use the Topic List Pod.

Similar to project file management, RoboHelp also provides ways to manage project files. There are default folders that you can use to create folders and subfolders in the Project Manager. Enter a name and press Enter. To rename folders, expand the Project Files folder in the Project Manager pod. Right-click the folder you want to rename and click on Rename.

Type the new name and press Enter. To move a folder, select the folder in Project Files in the Project Manager pod and drag the subfolder to its new location. To remove a folder, right-click the folder in the Project Manager pod and click Delete.

RoboHelp allows for authoring content in multiple languages. The language applies to the text, dictionary and the index of the project. To compare content in different languages, open the topics created in different languages. Drag the tab of one of the topics a little below on to the Design button second row on the Document Pane and choose if you want to compare them vertically or horizontally.

You can change the following settings in the respective tabs in the Advanced Settings for Localization dialog box. The results are always returned for the searched words even when searched for the synonym.

RoboHelp allows you to import content from PDF files. The ToCs are carried over into the help file. Enter details of the project and click on Next. When you choose to create new topic s based on style s , RoboHelp will analyze the PDF for paragraph styles and headings and splits the topics for you.

You can create new help files by importing Word documents or import Word documents into existing help files. Before importing Word documents, it is important that they be optimized for online output. You have the option of either importing or linking Word documents. It is important to choose the one that suits your needs. Importing allows you to integrate the Word document in the help file and customize filenames from the Project Manager.

Linking allows you to dynamically-update the source document including ToC, index and glossary. You can also regenerate deleted topics and preserve changes in generated topics. You cannot however, change the filenames and topic titles from the Project Manager.

For example, you can apply Heading 1 style in your Word document, map this style to a similar RoboHelp style, and define pagination to create an HTML topic for each Heading 1 style. To ensure consistency across your topics, you can define a master page that contains the required header and footer information. Provide comprehensive information without adding redundancy by grouping related topics.

RoboHelp reads these footnote entries and assigns the map IDs to the generated topics. Enter the details of the project and click on Finish. Select one or more Word documents and click Open.

For converting Word paragraphs and character styles to RoboHelp styles, we should consider the following steps. Select the Import tab and click on Edit… in the Word Document section. Select [Source] to retain the appearance of Word text in your online Help format.

To edit the selected RoboHelp style, click Edit Style. Select Glossary Term checkbox to consider the style for the glossary term. Select the Word character style from the Character group and select the RoboHelp character style from the dropdown menu. You can edit the character style in RoboHelp by clicking on Edit Style.

They assemble topics into sequence and hierarchy tailored to specific delivery requirements. A DITA map file has the extension. You specify this location only once. It is stored in the registry. Select one or more XML files and the click on Open. HTML imports as code. RoboHelp can import compiled WinHelp 4.

Click Finish to convert and import the file as a RoboHelp file. You can however choose to keep bulleted lists. Other macros are not converted. To change the style, you need to create a new numbered list style and reformat it in RoboHelp.

What's This? Version control is an important enterprise feature, which saves every version of the document on a server. Multiple people can therefore, simultaneously make changes to a document without fear of disturbing the original document. Since all versions of a document are saved, users can revert to any version as needed.

RoboHelp supports native Microsoft SharePoint and above integration. Support for Microsoft SharePoint is installed during program setup itself.

The setup also installs the. NET Framework 4. To enable file comparisons between your computer and the server, you need to have a file comparison program installed. You can also enter any program specific arguments. The default is to check in as a major version. RoboHelp makes it easy to get reports about a project. You can export, print and send reports from the Reports Dialog Box. Click on the Tools tab and select a report type. Customize the report as needed.

In the Reports dialog box, customize the report as needed. Click on Print… to print the report. The report will appear in the body of the message, which you can edit before sending. With RoboHelp, you can generate and customize a wide variety of reports. We will look at an example of a non-customizable and a customizable report. All reports can be accessed from the Tools tab. It finds files that contain broken links.

This report is not customizable. Click on the ToC icon in the Tools tab and select Index from the dropdown menu. The following options can be customized in this report.

Each keyword lists the topics that use it. Each topic lists the keywords associated with the topic. Variables help manage changes and ensure consistency. Select a Master Page if required and specify a language for the new topic.

If you do not specify a language, RoboHelp uses the default language setting of the project. Keywords can be separated by comma, space or semicolon. If you prefer not to include this topic in search results, check the Exclude this topic from Search checkbox. To open the topic in an editor of your choice, right-click on the topic, go to the Edit With menu and select the editor.

XHTML allows for structured authoring that ensures well-written code. To do this, go to the File menu, then go to Options and click on General. To validate a topic, right-click the topic, and select Validate W3C Compliance to validate the topic. This will generate an Output View in the Document Pane showing the results. These will result in a non-compliant code. You will need to remove these features to pass the validation.

Master pages are a form of templates, which help in separating layout and styling from the content. The layout information of a master page is associated with a CSS file. In the New Master Page dialog box, enter a name for the master page. Go to the Appearance tab and select a style sheet to apply to the new master page and click OK. This can also be changed later in the master page properties.

To edit a master page, simply double-click on the master page in the Output Setup Pod or right-click on the master page and click on Edit. Make the desired changes. A new master page has a body placeholder by default. To insert a new placeholder, place the cursor below or after the body placeholder. Go to the Insert tab and in the Page Design section, click the Topic ToC button to select the desired placeholder from the dropdown menu.

From the topic list in the Project Manager, select one or more topics to which you want to assign the master page. Right-click on the topic s and select Properties. In the General tab, select the list of master pages available in the Master Page dropdown menu and then click on OK. You can also choose to have a preview by clicking the Spectacles Icon beside the Master Page menu or browse to a master page on the disk. RoboHelp makes it easy to manage topics. You can rename topics, update the topic references and even track the status of a topic.

You can also click the Rename button in the File section of the Project tab. It is important to update the topic references when renaming the topic title. If the link text in any topic includes the topic title, then we have to update each topic.

Enter the new title. Right-click on the keyword in the upper pane and select Rename. Type the new title. The default status of new topics is, In Progress. The status information is shown in the Project Report. To change the topic status or to set priorities, open the Properties of the topic from the File section of the Project tab and click on the Status tab.

You can change the development stage of the topic from the Status dropdown menu. Enter a number to assign a priority in the Priority field. You can also set the estimated or actual hours of development in the Hours field.

You can check off items in the To Do List as you complete them. Any other description can be entered in the Comment field. You can spell check a topic or an entire project. RoboHelp scans the document and recommends corrections for words. You can also add words to the current dictionary. You can also spell check the entire project including the glossary, index and ToC. To do this, in the Review tab, click on Spell Check Project.

This will open up a similar Spelling dialog box as before. You can skip to different parts of the project by clicking on Skip. You can add extra words to the dictionary using the Dictionary Editor. Words in the Dictionary Editor are case-sensitive. In the Review tab, click Spelling Options.

Type the text, tag, or attribute that you want to search in the Find box. You can enable Show Advanced Filters to select the filters and specify the text, tag or attribute for RoboHelp to build a regular expression. Type the text, tag, or attribute that you want to replace in the Replace With box. If you want to search without replacing, leave the Replace With box empty. You can choose where to look for the text by using the Look In option to search in the following.

You can validate both topics and projects for W3C compliance. RoboHelp validates all content and shows warnings or error messages for any non-compliance. Depending on the situation, the following messages are seen in the Output View Pod and Error List pod. You can directly navigate to this line by double-clicking on the error.

You can also use third party editors such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Dreamweaver for editing. Select a topic file from the Project Manager pod, to open it in the Design Editor. You can also add index keywords to topics, apply conditional text, create browse sequences, map IDs, and edit master pages. You enter HTML tags and text. You can use keyword expansions to auto-suggest keywords or tags as you type. When you start typing a keyword, you can select it from the keyword expansion list to insert the keyword or tag.

In addition to the existing keywords and tags, you can also specify your own keywords by right clicking in the HTML Editor and selecting Edit Expansions…. You can use third-party HTML editors, while RoboHelp is open, but RoboHelp specific features such as text-only pop-ups or link controls are not available. Insert the images and the JavaScript based special effects into the Baggage Files folder.

If you are inserting them using a third-party editor. In the HTML Editors section, click on Add and choose from the list of recommended programs or browse to the location of the program on disk. The Edit tab provides options for working with characters and fonts. This is a tutorial on Adobe RoboHelp The latest version of RoboHelp is packed with features, which allows you to create Responsive HTML5 layouts that work on any device size.

This tutorial will help the readers in understanding the basics of the program and enable to create help files or documentation for various technical communications. Adobe RoboHelp is used by industry professionals looking to create great technical content for their end-users.

To attach a topic to the keyword you just created, select the Index word from the upper pane and drag-and-drop the appropriate topic from the Topic List pane down to the Index Topics pane at the bottom of the Index keywords. RoboHelp for Word-Index. Select the Glossary tab at the bottom of the RH Explorer pane. Type in a glossary term at the top of the pane and click Add. RoboHelp for Word-Glossary. Did you like this post? Can we improve it in any way?

What are the points that I must keep in mind? How to use Review and where is it hosted? Is an Adobe ID required to access it? Why won't RoboHelp download? Can I get a trial version of RoboHelp?

Also, how can I check for and install RoboHelp updates? Can I install RoboHelp on another computer? Account management. How can I change my password? How can I change my credit card info? My subscription has expired. How do I renew it? How do I cancel my subscription? Can I still use the software I have?

How can I manage my licences if they are allocated through my organisation?