Convert RH8 HTML Project to RH8 Word Project

[TechWriter0312]

Hello,

I am new to this organization and taking over an existing RoboHelp 8 HTML online FlashHelp project. My supervisor has requested that I find out how to get our RH8 HTML project into a RH8 Word project, and after reading this forum and others, this sounds like it is not the way to go. The intent of converting to Word is to allow multiple authors (who are not HTML savvy) to create or update help topics. So, my questions are:

1. Is this the right path to take?
2. If converting from RH8 HTML to RH8 Word is not the correct path, what suggestions do you have for allowing multiple authors to create or edit content outside of RH8 (and then of course fold into the HTML online Help project)?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

1. depends on what your organization is trying to achieve

2. multiple authors in Word using a standardized, stripped down template so that all they are doing is creating content & not caring about formatting - that's your job when you import/link (probably import) all the Word docs back into a RH project & produce the FlashHelp output

[TechWriter0312]

Jeff,

Thank you for your response -- it was helpful.

Has anyone gone through the task of converting RH8 HTML to RH8 Word? If so, what level of effort was involved? Were there any pitfalls? lessons learned?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I still don't think you've really explained what you're trying to achieve. Is the idea to go from authoring in RH to authoring in Word? Are you looking to ditch RH completely? Or are you looking at still using it to create FlashHelp, just not author in it?

In my shop, we're moving away from authoring in Word to put all our content in FrameMaker & then use TCS2 to pull it into RH for the creation of WebHelp.

Authoring in Word is fine as long as the docs don't get too long or try to be too complex. I'm not doing it myself, but all the threads that I've seen on these forums tell you to keep your Word docs very simple so that importing them into RH is done in a consistent manner with few styles to worry about.

[Captiv8r · Accepted solution]

Hi there

In addition to what Jeff offered, there really isn't any clean manner to convert a project from RoboHelp HTML to RoboHelp for Word.

Now if you have a need to allow users to edit content in Word, you have the option in RoboHelp 8 of "Linking" Word documents to the project. When you do this you have icons in RoboHelp that alert you to changes in the linked Word content. You then simply update to pull the new content into RoboHelp.

Keep in mind that in order for this to be remotely successful, you will need to ensure everyone uses Word consistently. RoboHelp really works with Word content best if it has been consistently styled with Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3. Sometimes folks just swipe across text and adjust the font color and size to be larger instead of applying consistent styles. When that happens things become a big mess when it comes into RoboHelp.

Personally I would view converting projects from RoboHelp HTML to RoboHelp for Word to be a bad move. I'd suggest sticking with RoboHelp HTML and utilizing the linking feature to your advantage.

Cheers... Rick

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[TechWriter0312]

Thank you very much for your help! It supports my research in determining whether to convert or not.