Cross-platform Help: Which?

[Margaret_Becker]

Our product is being ported to the Mac OS. I want advice on which Help platform will work best for publication on the Internet. I need it to work for Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X, IE, Firefox, and Safari. So far I have found problems with all browsers including IE.

WebHelp:
Safari/Chrome: Navigation panel is empty, popups appear in separate windows, links inside a popup window do not return you to the main page.
All other browsers: Links inside popups return to main page, but navigation panel does not display.

FlashHelp:
Safari/Chrome: Links inside a popup window do not return you to the main page, but display the topic in the popup window.
All browsers: Links inside popups return to main page, but navigation panel does not display.

Is there a way around these problems, or do I have to eliminate popups?

In addition, I am seeing display problems with our localized versions of WebHelp when run from a Mac using Safari. The navigation panel is totally garbage. The English version works fine, but the German, French, Spanish, etc. versions do not. Example: www.de.rhino3d.com/4/help/rhinov4.htm.

[MergeThis]

Sounds like the RoboHelp Packager for AIR (or the Adobe AIR layout option in RH), which is available for RH 8, will be your best bet. It will create a single-file executable skin around your WebHelp, and looks like it will remove all browser issues from the distribution equation.

You can find some forum posts for this app in the "Other Single Source Layouts" category.


Good luck,
Leon

[Peter Grainge]

To be browser independent, you will need the locally installed version of AIR help. If you need to use the browser version of AIR help, then you will need to check it with those browsers. Feedback on that would be interesting.

[Margaret_Becker]

On a quick trail, the Air application does a lousy job of formatting bullets and numbered lists. There might be a way around this, I haven't experimented yet. The bullets and numbers jam into the text. Other stuff seems to work.

[Peter Grainge]

I have not had any problems but you don't say whether you are talking about the browser based version or locally installed. If browser based, which one?

[Margaret_Becker]

Locally installed. I haven't seen all the options. How does the browser option work? I'm finding the whole installation a bit confusing.

[Peter Grainge]

The locally installed version is on the user's PC, just like a CHM. The browser version is like webhelp and is installed to a server. It does not have all the functionality of the local version.

[Margaret_Becker]

The bullet problem was a formatting problem. Some browser/help format combinations don't like bullet lists that are "outdented."

[Margaret_Becker]

For popups, the destination window was not consistent, so this was my fault, too.