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AndreasHartmann
Participant
July 26, 2007
Answered

Questions about RH Server features

  • July 26, 2007
  • 2 replies
  • 430 views
Hi Adobe users,

we're considering to recommend RoboHelp Server as a publishing solution to a client. They are already using RoboHelp and want to make the contents available online. Another issue is centralized management of their help content documents. I'd be very glad if someone could answer the following questions:

Is it possible to integrate RH Server with a CRM system or another user management system for authentication? Can it be integrated in a single sign-on infrastructure?

How does the access control mechanism work? Can I set permissions who is allowed to publish certain documents/projects?

Does it support workflows (review/accept/reject)? Or is this done using the staging server?

Does it support content versioning? Or do we need RH SourceControl for that additionally?

Does it support locking (check-in, check-out) of documents to allow concurrent editing?


In short - does the RoboHelp server act as a document management system, or do the authors have to store the contents on their local computers and publish only the final version? Another issue is translation management - can the authors publish one language version, which is translated by other people (in other countries) and published to the same server?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help!

Andreas Hartmann
    This topic is closed to new replies. Start a new post to keep the conversation going.
    Correct answer johndaigle
    Wow, Andreas. Welcome to the Forums.
    That's quite a laundry list!
    The answers are pretty much, "yes", if I understand correctly. That said, I don't know that much about CRMs, so your mileage may vary.

    To start, you might want to take a look at my article on the Adobe Developer Network for an overall perspective.
    Adobe RoboHelp Server 6 improves the feedback loop

    I view RoboHelp and RoboHelp Server as a "content" management rather than a "document" management system though this is a bit a semantics. Using variables, conditional build tags and Single Source Layouts, you can manage the content of your output in a fairly granular way (including to some level, your translation issues).

    In other words a team of multiple authors can manage the content of a website in the way you describe with a combination of:

    1. The authoring client (RoboHelp's main application) to develop content and manage it.
    2. RoboSource Control (for the check in, check out and versioning you mentioned) where authoring content source material is stored on a central server for backup and access by the team.
    3. RoboHelp Server for managing the authentication of who has access to the web server for publishing, etc. RoboHelp Server is an Active Server Pages application running on IIS, typically with a MS SQL Server or Oracle DB as the back end. As such, it uses Windows Server straightforward authentication methods. When you set up the author's project to publish to the server it will ask you for the Username and Password. Once this is configured, it's seamless from there. That login name/password can be the same as whatever you call your single sign-on pair as long as it conforms to the Windows Server scheme mentioned earlier.

    The RoboHelp author who may be designated as the "admin(s)" of the team can create and assign permissions from the authoring client and otherwise manage the Server site remotely without having to pester the Web Administrator for maintenance of the site.

    The staging server scenario you mention is an option that is completely up to your team and the IT folks. RoboHelp Server doesn't care one way or another. It's just an application sitting on a IIS web server. That server could be the "development or staging" server or the so-called "production" or live server.

    The different languages you mention could be published to the same server and comingled into a single site (kind of messy) or you could have different language sites (as long as they are different domains/IP addresses) sitting on the same RoboHelp Server enabled machine.

    Regarding language, one important item to research is the RoboHelp version you are using and it's language support. The much-anticipated Adobe RoboHelp 7 (now in beta and expected "before the end of the year") will have full Unicode/double byte character support for 35 languages and a wonderful way of handling translation workflows.

    Well, that should get you started. Let me know what I've missed!
    Thanx,
    john


    2 replies

    johndaigle
    johndaigleCorrect answer
    Legend
    July 27, 2007
    Wow, Andreas. Welcome to the Forums.
    That's quite a laundry list!
    The answers are pretty much, "yes", if I understand correctly. That said, I don't know that much about CRMs, so your mileage may vary.

    To start, you might want to take a look at my article on the Adobe Developer Network for an overall perspective.
    Adobe RoboHelp Server 6 improves the feedback loop

    I view RoboHelp and RoboHelp Server as a "content" management rather than a "document" management system though this is a bit a semantics. Using variables, conditional build tags and Single Source Layouts, you can manage the content of your output in a fairly granular way (including to some level, your translation issues).

    In other words a team of multiple authors can manage the content of a website in the way you describe with a combination of:

    1. The authoring client (RoboHelp's main application) to develop content and manage it.
    2. RoboSource Control (for the check in, check out and versioning you mentioned) where authoring content source material is stored on a central server for backup and access by the team.
    3. RoboHelp Server for managing the authentication of who has access to the web server for publishing, etc. RoboHelp Server is an Active Server Pages application running on IIS, typically with a MS SQL Server or Oracle DB as the back end. As such, it uses Windows Server straightforward authentication methods. When you set up the author's project to publish to the server it will ask you for the Username and Password. Once this is configured, it's seamless from there. That login name/password can be the same as whatever you call your single sign-on pair as long as it conforms to the Windows Server scheme mentioned earlier.

    The RoboHelp author who may be designated as the "admin(s)" of the team can create and assign permissions from the authoring client and otherwise manage the Server site remotely without having to pester the Web Administrator for maintenance of the site.

    The staging server scenario you mention is an option that is completely up to your team and the IT folks. RoboHelp Server doesn't care one way or another. It's just an application sitting on a IIS web server. That server could be the "development or staging" server or the so-called "production" or live server.

    The different languages you mention could be published to the same server and comingled into a single site (kind of messy) or you could have different language sites (as long as they are different domains/IP addresses) sitting on the same RoboHelp Server enabled machine.

    Regarding language, one important item to research is the RoboHelp version you are using and it's language support. The much-anticipated Adobe RoboHelp 7 (now in beta and expected "before the end of the year") will have full Unicode/double byte character support for 35 languages and a wonderful way of handling translation workflows.

    Well, that should get you started. Let me know what I've missed!
    Thanx,
    john


    John DaigleAdobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate InstructorNewport, Oregon
    AndreasHartmannAuthor
    Participant
    July 30, 2007
    Hi John,
    thanks for your helpful and comprehensive answer!
    I'll be back when further questions pop up :)

    Have a nice week -
    Kind regards,
    Andreas
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