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Kevin Elmore
Known Participant
April 13, 2009
Answered

Alternatives to RoboHelp?

  • April 13, 2009
  • 3 replies
  • 10638 views

I've been tasked with finding some possible alternatives to RoboHelp for our online help.  We probably will ultimately stick with RoboHelp, but I have to do my due diligence and research some alternatives.  I thought I'd ask from those who are most familiar with this market.  What are some possible alternatives to RoboHelp?  If possible, I would also like to hear what you think of those alternative, good or bad.

One issue is that it should be something that is relatively painless to transfer a few thousand help files.  I have no illusion that it can be done with no pain, but a minimal amount is preferable.

We have already researched Knowtions's Coachware.  I am impressed enough by it that I would suggest it for a brand new help file, but the conversion from RoboHelp to Coachware would be a mammoth undertaking, so we are not pursuing that.

If I can get a few names, I would be greatly appreciative.

Kevin

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Jared Hess

I've used Doc-To-Help in the past. I haven't used it in five years or so, so my info may be old with it's current version. It was pretty good for what it did. But back then it didn't develop a CHM help file as quickly as I would have liked and I frequently ran into memory issues. We switched to RH and have been using it since.

I've since looked into MadCap's Flare and have considered switching mainly to better support localization efforts in our company, although from my llimited research it's unclear if it would really provide us any real benefits in that direction. If you're like me, you'll likely find pluses and minuses in each HAT.

Here are some links to some HATs listed on WinWriters site that may be useful:

http://www.winwriters.com/restools.htm

Personally, I find the ease of use of RH's simple interface hard to beat, not to mention the friendly helpfulness of this forum.

3 replies

R
romanos51
Participating Frequently
June 1, 2011

I'm using RoboHelp9 and I got it the first day it came out, and it has been nothing but trouble. Today is another day from RoboHell9.

When I first got the program and it converted all my help projects and I started working on them—I update constantly and publish to the web—the first thing I noticed was that what used to work didn't. You should be able to apply a style or a conditional build tag and it should just work. But it didn't. It sometimes took many tries, and sometimes it simply wouldn't apply at all. All you could do was delete the text and write it again, and then apply the style you want.

The first unlivable bug was the way conditional build tags in texts that were in tables would play hopscotch and apply themselves where you hadn't put them, and would disappear where you had. I had never seen anything like it in my life. After a lot of trouble trying, I finally got through to someone in New Delhi who told me that sounded like a scripting problem and she couldn't help me, but told me to leave a detailed note somewhere, which I did. A few weeks later a patch came out that actually did fix it. I was shocked but thankful.

Today, what is making my life unlivable is a bug I noticed before, but could work around for the most part until my current project, which is bringing into a single project several smaller ones, but by picking and choosing, not en masse. What I have found today is that applying styles is not working. RoboHell9 keeps coming up with popups asking me if I want to change the style to reflect what the text is doing that I have applied the different style to, or do I want to reapply the style. This is bad enough, and I've put up with it for months, but now that isn't even working. Even when I say reapply the style, nothing happens!

I have worked as the tech writer for this company for more than two decades, and when in the interests of keeping up with the world I was forced to change everything into a webhelp internet-publishable documentation set, using RoboHelp, that was bad enough, as we still needed print versions of everything and the interface between RH and MSWord was incredibly bad. Now with RH9, not only is the interface with Word no better (I figured out ways to get around it) but now I cannot even reliably prepare publications for webhelp, because the basic functionalities of this screwy program don't even work.

There is no reason why anyone who has paid the price that Adobe asks for this crappy product (I won't even call it a tool) should have to put up with even a few minor bugs, but my entire time with RoboHelp (I started using it with RH5 and went through the training classes in person) has been plagued with problems caused by the software not doing what they say it is designed to do, and me having to develop workarounds so that I can meet my company's expectations. This can't go on. I am out searching for an alternative. And no, I don't know of any yet, but by golly, I'll find one.

Captiv8r
Captiv8r
Legend
June 1, 2011

Hi there

Sorry to hear you are so frustrated with RoboHelp. All I can offer is to say that I've been using it since version 2 (circa 1992) and I've never encountered the issues you seem to be facing. However, I'll also say that in my own use of the product I've never seriously considered it as a vehicle for transferring content from Word. So perhaps that's where the bulk of the frustration and issues lie.

When I began using RoboHelp HTML, any time I've ever been involved with Word, I've saved the Word document as a text file first, then only used the text from Word in my RoboHelp; topics. Word does some screwy things with text so it's likely that it will cause all manner of problems. Especially if God only knows who has "worked over" the Word document before you got it.

From what I'm seeing of the post, you seem to be a bit peeved that you were forced to leave the world of print and enter the world of HTML and you are now frustrated that many of the things that you understood in the print world either worked differently in this web world or didn't work at all for what you wanted and were accustomed to.

I will say that I wish you the best of luck in finding a suitable alternative. But bear in mind that nearly every tool out there will claim to solve all the issues and it's often very rare for a tool to honestly live up to the marketing hyperbole selling it. Combine that with the learning curve of coping with an alternate and you might not feel so bad about RoboHelp once you convert.

Cheers... Rick

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R
romanos51
Participating Frequently
June 1, 2011

Rick, I only use Word as the output software when I want to print. I've learned workarounds for that. The problems I am having have nothing to do with Word because I do not compose in Word and then import into RH9. I compose everything in RH9 following the rules and procedures that RH says will work. There's simply no excuse for a style not to apply when you select the text and apply the style name. But it just asks whether to redefine the style by the text or reapply the original style. Why should it ask this? I went to RoboHelp 'school' when I started using this software since RH5, and the earlier versions worked. My last upgrade was to RH7, and that worked no worse than the previous versions. But with RH9 a whole new experience of unacceptable and unpredictable malfunctions has been the story of my life with it. I fix one or think I've fixed it, and another pops up.

I just found a webpage of a company that has started a special service to help people 'fix' their pre-RH8 projects so that these kinds of malfunctions won't show up: http://www.hyperword.com/RoboHelpProjectCleanup.htm

That such a service has to be provided for users of a new software in order for their existing projects to be workable is atrocious! If such were the case, then Adobe should have taken this bull by the horns and provided workable solutions, instead of pretending not to know this would happen. Shame on them!

M
mr_scribbler
Known Participant
April 14, 2009

Hi Kevin, it's horses for courses. I use RH when I need  to produce CSH webhelp. I use Help and Manual (from EC Software) for single-source production of quality-looking PDFs and webhelp.

mike

RoboWizard
RoboWizard
Inspiring
April 13, 2009

Hi Kevin

Your question would be better suited for HATT. Asking here is a bit like walking into McDonald's and asking where the nearest Taco Bell may be found.

Out of curiosity, why are you considering a move away from RoboHelp? Has it suddenly stopped producing what you need? Are there concerns regarding its future?

Cheers... Rick

K
Kevin ElmoreAuthor
Known Participant
April 13, 2009

Out of curiosity, why are you considering a move away from RoboHelp? Has it suddenly stopped producing what you need? Are there concerns regarding its future?

Honestly, I'm asking because I've been asked to.  RoboHelp is still producing what we need, but there is always an eye pointed at the next great thing.

I am pretty sure that we ultimately will stick with RH (which is why I don't mind asking for a Taco Bell in a McDonald's).  I suppose if we find the Holy Grail of HATTs, that could change, but the cost to switch over to a new system is a huge obstacle.

So, as I said, I'm just doing my duty of researching alternatives. I have a suspicion of what will really happen, but I'll approach those with an open mind.

Although, I keep forgetting I'm a member of a Technical Writers listserv, so I'll hit that up as well.

Kevin

Jared Hess
Jared HessCorrect answer
Legend
April 13, 2009

I've used Doc-To-Help in the past. I haven't used it in five years or so, so my info may be old with it's current version. It was pretty good for what it did. But back then it didn't develop a CHM help file as quickly as I would have liked and I frequently ran into memory issues. We switched to RH and have been using it since.

I've since looked into MadCap's Flare and have considered switching mainly to better support localization efforts in our company, although from my llimited research it's unclear if it would really provide us any real benefits in that direction. If you're like me, you'll likely find pluses and minuses in each HAT.

Here are some links to some HATs listed on WinWriters site that may be useful:

http://www.winwriters.com/restools.htm

Personally, I find the ease of use of RH's simple interface hard to beat, not to mention the friendly helpfulness of this forum.

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