RoboHelp Office X4

By Dale Farris, Secretary Golden Triangle PC Club August 2003 Program Overview RoboHelp Office X4 is the industry standard application used in Help authoring to  quickly and easily creating professional Help systems for Windows and Web-based application. RoboHelp Office has won over 55 prestigious industry awards, and is the latest upgraded version to the prior X3 edition. If you have ever looked at the Help files built into Windows, then you have a sense of what this super program can do for your company. As you browse around the Windows Help system, notice that you can look at a table of contents, or look in the index, or even perform a search. You can also see how the Help files are structured in those classic purple books, that when clicked on open up other books or chapters. The Help system also integrates the use of hypertext links, that when clicked on take you to the hypertext Help files related to that clickable link. With RoboHelp Office X4, now you can create your own Help file system to accompany your software application you are creating, as well as help users inside company Intranets access their electronic documents stored on network servers. The intricacies of creating these Help files have been greatly simplified and made much easier to work with in this super program that is essential for all software developers, especially those with a desire to provide Help files for their end users. Benefits Of Use Fast & Easy to Use RoboHelp Office lets you quickly and easily create full-featured Help systems. Create Help topics, tables, browse sequences, popups, hyperlinks and other Help functionality. Insert graphics, multimedia or even tutorials. Create context-sensitive Help. Create print-quality documentation. Create a Table of Contents, Index and Glossary, or let RoboHelp create them automatically for you! Easy to Manage Keep track of all your Help files within RoboHelp's intuitive Project Manager. The Project Manager keeps every key file of your Help project neatly organized and easily accessible. Easy to Author Develop all Help formats with unique authoring flexibility (any HTML editor, our integrated WYSIWYG HTML editor or Microsoft Word). You can even go from WYSIWYG to TrueCode with one click, to spot-check your HTML code. Leverage Existing Content Import FrameMaker files, Word documents, HTML documents, or existing Help projects. RoboHelp automatically splits information into Help topics and preserves the TOC, Index and Glossary. Maximum Versatility RoboHelp grows with your needs and lets you transition to new Help formats with single source technology. Reduce Support Calls & Costs Your RoboHelp system, not your technical support staff, will be the first line of support for your users. Improve Usability Provide complete, easy-to-access Help content that improves the usability of your applications. International Language Support Author in 10 different languages including; English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Swedish. RoboHelp Asian Editions also available. Risk-Free Guarantee RoboHelp Office is completely risk free, and is backed by eHelp Corporation's 30-day money-back guarantee. Increase Your Productivity with Extra Utilities 15 bonus Help utilities allow you to resize graphics, improve the way you upload files, test your context-sensitive Help links, and more. These include:  Resize Graphics, Help-to-Source, HTML Help Studio, Multi-File Find and Replace, HTML Help BugHunter, HTML Help Registration, Graphics Locator, Find HTML Help Components, HTML Help Finder, WinHelp Inspector, Software Video Camera, What's This ? Help Composer, WinHelp BugHunter, Smart Publishing Wizard, and the CSH Test Tool. With RoboHelp, it's easy to create standard and advanced Help features, including topics, graphics, audio, special effects, and more. Use automated wizards to generate a Table of Contents and Index in seconds. Not only will you save time, but you'll dramatically improve your application as well. Work In Your Preferred Editor RoboHelp lets you create and edit your content in Microsoft Word, any popular HTML editor such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, or RoboHelp's built-in "WYSIWYG" HTML editor. Since you choose the authoring environment, you can skip the learning curve and get started immediately. Create Any Popular Help Format With a single click, RoboHelp can output your project in any or all of the following formats: FlashHelp Pure HTML WebHelp JavaHelp HTML Help OracleHelp for Java WinHelp Printed Documentation Create Cross-Browser, Cross-Platform Help Systems FlashHelp and WebHelp formats display reliably on virtually any popular browser and platform (Windows, Macintosh, Linux). FlashHelp offers greater consistency across different browsers and platforms than any other Help format available. With RoboHelp, you can be confident that all end-users can view your Help system exactly the way you designed it. Leverage Existing Content With RoboHelp, no previous work is wasted. Import FrameMaker files, Word documents, HTML documents, or existing Help projects. RoboHelp automatically splits information into Help topics and preserves your Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary. Create Printed Documentation In addition to generating all popular online Help formats, RoboHelp allows you to output your content as printed documentation, such as a User Manual. You can even adjust the appearance and organization of your content specifically for the printed output. Generate Multiple Outputs from a Single Source RoboHelp's conditional text capability makes it easy to create multiple versions of your Help system, all from a single project. You can even preview all outputs before you compile them, so any errors are caught early. By saving the parameters of each output as a Single-Source Layout, you can save time and ensure consistency every time you generate your Help system. Customize Your Help System to Match Your Application FlashHelp and WebHelp formats support the use of "skins," graphical interface styles that increase the visual appeal of your Help system. You can customize navigation panes, toolbar, icons, fonts, buttons, and colors. Use FlashHelp to add compelling Flash animation and sound to your Help system. (See examples of skins in the Customer Showcase.) What's New in X4? RoboHelp X4 introduces FlashHelp, the Next Generation of WebHelp. FlashHelp is a revolutionary, Flash-based Help format unlike anything the industry has seen before. Additionally, due to popular demand, the breakthrough features that were introduced in RoboHelp X3's HTML authoring environment are now available to authors who work in Microsoft Word. eHelp has also added several more must-have features. New Help Format: FlashHelp - The Next Generation of WebHelp New for Microsoft Word Authors (and HTML Authors on RoboHelp 2002 or earlier): New Printed Doc Power Single-Source Layouts Conditional Text Batch Processing Glossary Support Additional New Features: FrameMaker Support WebHelp Project Merging Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Support FlashHelp:  The Next Generation of WebHelp FlashHelp is a revolutionary, Flash-based Help format that offers an unrivaled end-user experience. FlashHelp is bandwidth-efficient, firewall-friendly, and completely consistent across popular browsers and platforms. With FlashHelp, you can create dynamic Help interfaces that feature vibrant animation and compelling audio - without knowing Flash! FlashHelp offers: • Consistent navigation behavior across popular browsers and platforms • Fast-loading, efficient delivery of Help content, even through firewalls and over low-bandwidth connections • Consistent look & feel across popular browsers and platforms • Customized, dynamic Help interfaces featuring Flash animation and audio • Flexible integration with traditional tri-pane and innovative vertical orientation New For Microsoft Word Authors The following features were originally introduced in the HTML authoring environment of RoboHelp X3. Due to popular demand, they are now available in the Microsoft Word authoring environment of RoboHelp X4. These stunning innovations make RoboHelp X4 an essential upgrade for all Microsoft Word authors (and HTML authors on RoboHelp 2002 or earlier). Completely Re-Engineered Printed Documentation Capability: RoboHelp X4 offers unprecedented flexibility for generating printed output. You can independently re-organize and edit your content specifically for printed output, without modifying your online output. You can also map each of your online styles to a different style for print, so your printed manuals appear exactly as desired. Conditional Text (with Preview and Overlapping): Use conditional text to generate multiple outputs containing different content, all from a single project. Assign conditional text at the topic, paragraph, and character levels - even to graphics and tables! Overlap conditional text tags to include the same content in multiple outputs. Use the Active Test function to quickly preview a topic in each of its various conditional builds. Single-Source Layouts: Easily define and save your settings for each output, such as Help format, skin, and conditional text designations. The stored layouts save time and ensure a consistent look and feel every time you regenerate output after updating content. Batch Processing: Generate multiple outputs in multiple formats and publish them to multiple locations, all with a single click. Batch processing runs in the background, so you can keep working while it generates outputs. Glossary Support: Easily add a glossary to your Help system with the new Glossary Designer. End-users can use the glossary to quickly find definitions to unfamiliar words in your Help system. Additional New Features Enhanced FrameMaker Support When co-installed with Adobe FrameMaker on a single computer, RoboHelp X4 automatically adds a RoboHelp menu to the FrameMaker user interface. This menu enables FrameMaker users to rapidly convert any number of FrameMaker files or books for easy import into RoboHelp. Easy WebHelp Project Merging With RoboHelp X4, it's easy to merge multiple WebHelp projects on any desktop or server. Multiple authors can work independently on different sections of a Help system, and then all the sections can be merged together into one Help system at runtime. Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Microsoft's new Windows Server 2003 is designed to improve server security, reliability, availability, and scalability. RoboHelp X4 is easily integrated with Windows Server 2003 and includes full support for this important new technology. (Requires RoboHelp Office Pro or RoboHelp Office Pro for .NET.) How It Works Import Existing Content RoboHelp Office allows you to use Word documents, FrameMaker files, HTML documents, or existing Help project information such as ForeHelp, Doc-to-Help, or Help projects created with other Help authoring tools. RoboHelp automatically splits information into Help topics and preserves the TOC, Index and Glossary. Edit Content Use the built-in HTML editor, any other HTML editor, or MS Word to edit content. RoboHelp will automatically create a Table of Contents, an Index and search functionality for your Help project. Output Multiple Help Formats RoboHelp Office creates all popular Help formats, including Microsoft HTML Help, WebHelp (including a pure HTML version), WinHelp, Oracle Help for Java and JavaHelp, as well as printed documentation from a single set of source code. RoboHelp Office is the only Help authoring tool that makes it easy to develop Help systems with an integrated WYSIWYG HTML editor, Microsoft Word, or any popular HTML editor, such as Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or HomeSite. RoboHelp Office lets you create WebHelp, Microsoft HTML Help, WinHelp, JavaHelp, Oracle Help and printed documentation with ease. RoboHelp Office supports the creation of Help systems in 10 languages: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. RoboHelp X4 provides new features that dramatically increase your productivity and provide unprecedented flexibility in the areas of single sourcing, conditional text, printed documentation output, Help system merging and usability. Recommendations For Use If you've ever wondered how those Help files get set up inside software, now you can find out for yourself, as well as create these for your customers, with RoboHelp Office X4. All software application developers will want to seriously consider adding RoboHelp Office X4 to their tools, to enable them to more easily create the Help files their customers will likely want to see as they work with their applications. Inside company Intranets, RoboHelp will also make it easier to set up integrated listings of their key electronic documents, in a classic Help file system, with access to a listing of files, as well as an index and search of these files. Price $  899 RoboHelp Office X4 (after $100 mail-in rebate) $  499 RoboHelp Office X4 upgrade from v. 2002 and later $  699 RoboHelp Office X4 upgrade from v. 9 through v. 4 $1,248 RoboHelp X4 Studio (after $100 mail-in rebate) $   798 RoboHelp X4 Studio upgrade from v. 2002 and later $   998 RoboHelp X4 Studio upgrade from v. 9 through v. 4 $1,899 RoboHelp X4 Office Pro $   999 RoboHelp X4 Office Pro upgrade from v. 2002 and later $1,999 RoboHelp X4 Office Pro for .NET $   999 RoboHelp X4 Office Pro for .NET Upgrade $   379 RoboHelp for Word X4 $   299 RoboHelp for Word upgrade $   499 RoboHelp for HTML Help X3.1 $   399 RoboHelp for HTML Help X3.1 upgrade $     99 RoboLinker Minimum System Configuration Requirements P-300 processor or faster Windows 98, 98 SE, ME, NT 4, 2000, XP 128MB RAM (256 MB recommended) 200MB free hard disk space MS Word 97, 2000, 2002 for authoring in MS Word-based environment IE 4 or later About eHelp Corporation Headquartered in San Diego, California, eHelp Corporation is a worldwide leader in Help and user assistance software for applications, Intranets, and the Web. eHelp's software solutions allow Web site and software developers, managers, and technical writers to quickly and easily create integrated online user assistance. eHelp provides the foundation to more than 250 million online help and user assistance systems currently in use around the world and its products have won more than 55 industry awards. eHelp’s solutions dramatically improve end user usability and employee efficiency, while increasing sales and profitability. Their software tools raise customer satisfaction levels, decrease support and training costs, improve employee productivity, and include valuable feedback reports. eHelp Corporation, formerly Blue Sky Software, was founded in 1991 as an independent software vendor dedicated to the creation of the highest quality development tools. For the past decade, the world’s most successful organizations, including IBM, Symantec, Boeing, Cisco Systems, Deutsche Bank, Siemens Nixdorf, Arthur Andersen, EDS, Baan Company, Oracle, Disney and many more, have relied on eHelp Corporation for their online Help and customer assistance needs. Today, eHelp Corporation’s family of products includes RoboHelp Enterprise, RoboHelp Office, RoboHelp for WinHelp, RoboHelp for Microsoft HTML Help, RoboHelp for Word, RoboDemo and RoboInfo. eHelp is continually evaluating market needs to deliver industry leading software products that are affordable, easy to use and rapid to deploy. Privately held eHelp Corporation has become a multi-million dollar company with a cumulative average annual revenue growth rate of 30 percent since its inception in 1991. The company's leadership position and continuous product innovations have inspired Microsoft, Information Week, and Deloitte and Touche to publicly recognize eHelp Corporation as one of the fastest growing technology companies. In 2003, the San Diego Business Journal ranked eHelp Corporation as the 5th largest software company in San Diego. Contact Ms. Bella Alabanza Public Relations Specialist eHelp Corporation 10590 West Ocean Air Drive San Diego, California 92130 858-847-7455 800-358-9370 FAX 858-847-1426 balabanza@ehelp.com questions@ehelp.com www.ehelp.com