RoboHelp (2019 release)

[Riccosta]

Hi there,

I am currently testing the new Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release, modern layout) to see if it will be worth implementing within the business, over Flare. It looks very straightforward and easy to use, however, it's not very responsive compared to the classic version and it's lacking crucial features.

Fonts:

1. Every time we are trying to change font a circular loading icon will appear, is this normal?

2. It never remembers the font and font size that we are currently using within the document; the boxes are always empty. Whilst, within the other style boxes (alignment, et cetera) there is always a default number/style.

Track changes/comment

1. I have noticed (or at least I can't find it) there's no option to track changes or add comments, however, I can find this within RoboHelp 2019 classic version.

    Will this feature be implemented within modern RoboHelp?

Adding tables

1. Every time we try to add a table, most of the options will freeze/crash or takes a few minutes to think.

Writing content

1. There's a 'lag' every time you are writing within RoboHelp 2019 (new layout). Is this normal?

Overall

I do apologise for the silly question, but I was trying to understand why there are two 2019 versions - will this mean, that we will need to use both software for multiple purposes since the classic version has more features over the modern one? Or the modern one is still in 'beta phase'? The modern one, looks amazing, more like a bespoke word - however, it's lacking a lot of 'common' features and it's less responsive over the classic.

Once again, thank you ever so much! We are currently deciding which platform to use within our business. Since we create a lot of handouts, eLearning material, et cetera. The Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2019, looks very promising - however, the authoring side of it, as a first approach, looks a bit confusing over Madcap Flare.

Warm regards,

Ricardo

[Peter Grainge]

Fonts:

What you are reporting is not normal. Are you trying with a new project? Try with one of the sample projects.

Track changes/comment

Will this feature be implemented within modern RoboHelp?

It will be implemented at some point. See the RoboHelp Reimagined sample project and look under Other Information in the TOC.

Adding tables

Every time we try to add a table, most of the options will freeze/crash or takes a few minutes to think.

Same answer as Fonts. Make sure you have Update 5 applied as tables were imrproved there.

Writing content

There's a 'lag' every time you are writing within RoboHelp 2019 (new layout). Is this normal?

No. Again try the sample projects.

Overall

I do apologise for the silly question, but I was trying to understand why there are two 2019 versions - will this mean, that we will need to use both software for multiple purposes since the classic version has more features over the modern one? Or the modern one is still in 'beta phase'? The modern one, looks amazing, more like a bespoke word - however, it's lacking a lot of 'common' features and it's less responsive over the classic.

Once upgraded to 2019, you cannot work on the 2019 project using Classic. It's either/or.

The new one is being improved with each update but there's still quite a bit or ironing to do. Right now, you will probably not find the new 2019 robust enough for heavy use.

Once again, thank you ever so much! We are currently deciding which platform to use within our business. Since we create a lot of handouts, eLearning material, et cetera. The Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2019, looks very promising - however, the authoring side of it, as a first approach, looks a bit confusing over Madcap Flare.

2019 Classic is OK for serious work but if you are looking at TCS, do you have FrameMaker expertise? If so you can author in that and it has the ability to output to RoboHelp without you touching RoboHelp.

---

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[Riccosta]

Fonts:

What you are reporting is not normal. Are you trying with a new project? Try with one of the sample projects.

Shouldn't this also be working with projects made from scratch?

Track changes/comment

Will this feature be implemented within modern RoboHelp?

It will be implemented at some point. See the RoboHelp Reimagined sample project and look under Other Information in the TOC.

Thank you!

Adding tables

Every time we try to add a table, most of the options will freeze/crash or takes a few minutes to think.

Same answer as Fonts. Make sure you have Update 5 applied as tables were imrproved there.

I have the latest update. The problem still persists.

Writing content

There's a 'lag' every time you are writing within RoboHelp 2019 (new layout). Is this normal?

No. Again try the sample projects.

It seems the issue resides from projects made from scratch. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

Overall

I do apologise for the silly question, but I was trying to understand why there are two 2019 versions - will this mean, that we will need to use both software for multiple purposes since the classic version has more features over the modern one? Or the modern one is still in 'beta phase'? The modern one, looks amazing, more like a bespoke word - however, it's lacking a lot of 'common' features and it's less responsive over the classic.

Once upgraded to 2019, you cannot work on the 2019 project using Classic. It's either/or.

The new one is being improved with each update but there's still quite a bit or ironing to do. Right now, you will probably not find the new 2019 robust enough for heavy use.

Thank you!

2019 Classic is OK for serious work but if you are looking at TCS, do you have FrameMaker expertise? If so you can author in that and it has the ability to output to RoboHelp without you touching RoboHelp.

Unfortunately, I do not find FrameMaker as authoring friendly as Flare or RoboHelp - it would defeat the idea. Especially when producing eLearning/blending or Policies/Legal content. Moreover, personally, I think the learning curve is steeper over Flare and RH.

Thank you once again, Peter. I will keep an eye on the upcoming updates for RH 2019 release.

[Peter Grainge]

Fonts:

Yes it should but patently it isn't, hence suggesting you try a known project to see if that is the same.

Adding tables

Again, try the samples. If they have the same problem, we begin to see an installation problem rather than a project problem.

Writing content

Not expecting a fix because it is not a common problem. Dare I say again, try the samples

Overall

I was only suggesting FrameMaker if you had expertise, not as something to learn.

****************************************

Post back when you have tried a sample project.

---

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[Stefan-Gentz]

Hi,

Fonts:

1. Every time we are trying to change font a circular loading icon will appear, is this normal?

2. It never remembers the font and font size that we are currently using within the document; the boxes are always empty. Whilst, within the other style boxes (alignment, et cetera) there is always a default number/style.

When you open the Font drop-down, RoboHelp first has to read all the fonts available on your system. While creating this list, the circular loading icon appears. If you have a lot of fonts on your system, this might take a few seconds. We will look into improving this.

Track changes/comment

1. I have noticed (or at least I can't find it) there's no option to track changes or add comments, however, I can find this within RoboHelp 2019 classic version.

Will this feature be implemented within modern RoboHelp?

We regard track changes as a very important feature 😉

Adding tables

1. Every time we try to add a table, most of the options will freeze/crash or takes a few minutes to think.

I cannot reproduce such lags here. If I click the table icon in the top toolbar, hover over the rows and columns, and click, the table is inserted immediately without any noticeable delay. Are you noticing this in a project migrated from a third-party tool? Might be, that there is a default table style in the CSS coming from that tool that is somehow buggy, not CSS3 compliant, or extremely complicated. Maybe this creates a lag there.

Writing content

There's a 'lag' every time you are writing within RoboHelp 2019 (new layout). Is this normal?

It seems the issue resides from projects made from scratch. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

No, this is not normal, especially not with projects created from scratch. Is this also happening if you create a project from scratch and start typing into the first topic before doing any other changes like customizing the CSS or selecting special fonts?

Overall

I do apologise for the silly question, but I was trying to understand why there are two 2019 versions - will this mean, that we will need to use both software for multiple purposes since the classic version has more features over the modern one? Or the modern one is still in 'beta phase'? The modern one, looks amazing, more like a bespoke word - however, it's lacking a lot of 'common' features and it's less responsive over the classic.

RoboHelp 2019 is a completely new version that Adobe has developed from scratch. It does not have 100% feature parity with RoboHelp Classic yet. We are releasing a free update for RoboHelp 2019 every few weeks, and improve/enhance/expand existing functionalities and add new features, so it's just a question of time, until there is 100% feature parity. New developments and innovations will only go into the new RoboHelp generation.

We have shipped RoboHelp 2019 Classic along with the new RoboHelp 2019 for three reasons:

1. Existing RoboHelp 2017 or earlier users can continue to work seamlessly with RoboHelp Classic 2019 if they prefer that and take advantage of the bug fixes/improvements that we have made in RoboHelp 2019 Classic. Or they can migrate their existing RoboHelp Classic projects to the new RoboHelp – for most RoboHelp Classic projects this works fine.
2. Users can continue to work in the RoboHelp classic that they already are used to and at the same time test the new RoboHelp 2019, play around with it, get used to it and plan their migration with enough time.
3. Second, we ship RoboHelp Classic 2019 along with the new RoboHelp 2019 because we have updated RoboHelp 2019 Classic to upgrade existing RoboHelp Classic projects to be more compatible with the new RoboHelp 2019. Therefore the recommended process is also to migrate a RoboHelp 2017 (or older) project to RoboHelp 2019 Classic first and then migrate to the new RoboHelp 2019.

[Riccosta]

Hello,

• Fonts

Indeed, I do have a lot of fonts within my machine, never thought about that before. I have moved certain 'custom' fonts and the loading icons don't show as often as before.

• Trach changes/comment

Looking forward to it. It's an amazing tool when you are collaborating with your team members.

• Adding tables

I have been trying to import legacy files such as Word files and RoboHelp 19 Classic projects onto RoboHelp 2019 release - it's a hit and miss, sometimes there's no lag, another time there is, but I found it easier to create the table from scratch within the imported document. 

• Writing content

Not when I first start typing, but If I am typing a lot for a few hours, it starts lagging a bit, especially when I'm moving between tabs; probably RH19 telling me to have a break 😉

• Overall

Thank you Stefan, makes perfect sense. Please keep up the good work! RH19 looks very promising! Can't wait for the upcoming updates.