Category: RoboHelp

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Adobe RoboHelp: Favicons

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn View our videos on YouTube

During my online RoboHelp classes, students frequently ask for ways to brand a generated WebHelp layout. There are multiple ways to add a corporate identity to a layout including customizing a WebHelp skin and adding a copyright notice within the footer of a master page.

While working with skins and master pages is easy enough, one of the fastest ways to brand WebHelp is also the easiest: add a Favicon. A Favicon is an icon that appears in a browser's address bar or next to the site name in a bookmark list. In the image below, you can see the title of a generated layout (Technical Communications) as it appears in a Firefox tab. Just to the left of the title is a generic Favicon.

Adobe RoboHelp: Default Favicon.

To add your logo as a Favicon, show the Properties of a RoboHelp WebHelp layout (on the Single Source Layouts pod, right-click a WebHelp layout and choose Properties).

Select the General category and you'll find the Favicon field just below the Title Bar field.

Adobe RoboHelp: Favicon field

Click the Browse button and open the Favicon image you'd like to use. In the image below, I've loaded a Favicon I created called IcoFile.ico. You can use png, ico, or gif images as Favicons.

Adobe RoboHelp: ICO file loaded as a Favicon.

Generate the layout and view the results. You'll see your corporate Favicon in the tab or title bar of the web page in place of the default image.

Adobe RoboHelp: Favicon appearing in the browser's title bar.

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Looking for training on Adobe RoboHelp? IconLogic offers live, online Adobe RoboHelp classes each month.

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Adobe RoboHelp: Using Images in Variables

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Variable sets, which I've written about previously, allow you to define groups of definitions for a variable which allows you to easily support differently branded products from a single RoboHelp project. This week I want to show you another cool variables feature: images.

You can easily reuse images in multiple RoboHelp topics. Since the images that appear in the topics are linked externally to the original image, when you edit the original image, all of the RoboHelp topics are updated automatically. One drawback to this global update is that it only works if you use the same image in all of the generated layouts.

You can make your life even easier by adding images to variables. Take a logo for example. Many customers require that their software is personalized. For example, the application must use the client's brand colors and logo. By adding a logo to a variable and using variable sets, you can easily change the branding used in your Help content.

Add an Image to a Variable

  1. Open the User Defined Variables pod. (View > Pods > User Defined Variables).
  2. Select a variable (in the image below, I've selected a variable that I created called Logo).
    Adobe RoboHelp: Variable selected
  3. Choose Insert > Image.
  4. Select an image and then click OK.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Image selected

The image is added to the variable. At this point, you can use the variable within any topic, just like a typical variable.

Adobe RoboHelp: Image added to a variable

See also: Working with variables and adding variables to topic titles.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once a month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.

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Adobe RoboHelp: Variable Sets

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

I've previously shown you how to use variables in topic titles. As discussed in that article, variables allow you to quickly update text throughout a project. For example, variables are particularly handy should your boss decide to rebrand the project two days before your deadline.

RoboHelp also supports variable sets, which are alternative definitions for your variables. For example: a company markets the same product in different sectors, private and public. In the private sector, the product is called ACME; in the public sector the product is called EMCA. It's the same product, just a few naming differences. You use the same help output for both sectors. Before you publish, you just need to set the product name correctly using variables.

Using variable sets, you first define a single set of variables. Then you create alternative definitions for only those variables that need to be changed. When you generate the output, you simply choose which variable sets to use, allowing you to set the alternative product name a single time.

Creating a Variable Set

  1. Open the User Defined Variables pod. (View > Pods > User Defined Variables)
  2. Click the Add/Edit/Delete Variable Set button.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Add Variable Set button.
  3. Click the Add button and name the variable set.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Variable Set dialog box.
  4. Click the OK button to close the dialog box.
  5. Select the variable set from the drop-down menu and change the values as needed.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Variable Set drop-down menu.

Generating a Layout With a Variable Set

Prior to generating the layout, you simply need to choose the variable set from the Variable Set drop-down menu. (For WebHelp, the Variable Set drop-down menu can be found in the Content Categories area.)

Adobe RoboHelp: Attach a Variable Set to a layout.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.

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Adobe RoboHelp: Variables in Topic Titles

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

User Defined Variables have been a RoboHelp staple for a few years now. You were first introduced to variables in this 2009 IconLogic blog post. As a review, variables are placeholders for text that you need to use throughout a RoboHelp project (e.g.: a product name). You might be using the product name thousands of times within hundreds of RoboHelp topics. Should you need to change the name of the product, you would have to go through the entire project and manually change the product name, one-by-one (or use RoboHelp's Find/Change feature).

As an alternative to manually adding the product name throughout a project and then having to worry about manually updating the text later, you can create a variable. The variable will display the product name as if it were regular text, and insert the variable within topics, snippets, the Table of Contents (TOC), and/or the Index. Should the product name need to be changed, edit the variable text via the Variables pod and it will be updated everywhere. It's a powerful feature and very easy to use.

In this article, I want to show you a fantastic enhancement to variables that was introduced in Adobe RoboHelp 10: the ability to add variables within Topic Titles.

In older versions of RoboHelp, a Topic Title was static text, meaning that you had to manually type the Topic Title when you created the topic. If you added the topic to the TOC, the Topic Title appeared on the TOC. But since the Topic Title was static, a change to the Topic Title when editing the Properties of the topic meant that you also needed to edit the text that appeared on the TOC. The ability to add a variable within the Topic Title means the text will be linked to the Topic Properties and will automatically update everywhere.

Add a Variable Within a Topic Title

  1. After you've created the variable, display a topic's Properties dialog box. (You can display the Properties dialog box for the topic via the Topic List pod by right-clicking the topic.)
  2. On the General tab, click the Variables drop-down menu and and select a variable.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Adding a Variable within a RoboHelp Topic Title
  3. In the Topic Title field, select the location where you want to insert the variable.
  4. Click the Insert button.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Adding a Variable to a Topic Title

Now that the topic's Title is using a variable, should you update the variable at any time, the variable text will update within the topic text, title, Index and the TOC.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.
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Adobe RoboHelp: Embed Captivate HTML5 Output

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Adobe Captivate 6 introduced HTML5 output, allowing eLearning content to be interactive on mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad. By combining Captivate's and RoboHelp's HTML5 outputs, you can easily support interactivity for iPhones and iPad in your help system. Currently only RoboHelp's Multiscreen HTML5 output supports Captivate's HTML5 output. Other outputs, such as WebHelp, only support Captivate's Flash output.

Embed Captivate HTML5 Content Within RoboHelp

  1. Publish your Captivate demo as both Flash and HTML5.
    Adobe Captivate: Enable both SWF and HTML5 output.
  2. Create or open a RoboHelp project.
  3. Open the topic where you want to add the demo.
  4. Choose Insert > Adobe Captivate Demo.
  5. In the Multimedia Name field, open the swf you published from Captivate.
  6. In the HTML5 output field, select the index.html you published from Captivate.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Import both SWF and HTML5.
  7. Click the OK button.

By default, RoboHelp uses the Captivate Flash output when you generate the layout. To allow RoboHelp to use Captivate's HTML5 output, you need to make a small change to the Multiscreen HTML5 Single Source Layout.

  1. Open the Multiscreen HTML5 Layout in the Single Source Layouts Pod. (View > Pods > Single Source Layouts).
  2. Open the Optimization settings of your desired Screen Profile(s).
  3. Select Use Adobe Captivate HTML5 output.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Use Adobe Captivate HTML5 output
  4. Click the Save button.

When you generate the Multiscreen HTML5 layout, the layout will now use Captivate's HTML5 output whenever it is available.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.
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Adobe RoboHelp: Using SharePoint for Version Control

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

In a previous article I showed you how you can use SharePoint to host a shared review. You'll be happy to learn that with RoboHelp 10, you can also use SharePoint for version control. Version control is a method by which you store all project files on a server. You work with a local copy and synchronize all changes with the server. The benefits of using version control include:

  • Version history: the server makes a new version of topics for every change. This allows you to retrieve old versions right from your RoboHelp Project.
  • Multiple authors: multiple authors can work with the same project simultaneously.
  • No more backups: the server does that for you.

Prepare SharePoint for Version Control

On the SharePoint site, add a new library. Enable version control for the library and require files to be checked out before editing. You can choose to use either minor or major versions. All reviewers must have edit permissions for the library. Your SharePoint administrator can help you with this.

Add a RoboHelp Project to Version Control

  1. Open or create a RoboHelp project.
  2. Choose File > Version Control > Add to version control.
  3. In the Select Version Control Provider dialog box, select RoboHelp SharePoint Connector and click the OK button.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Select Version Control
  4. In the Connection Details dialog box, add the URL of the SharePoint site in the SharePoint Site field (and then click the OK button).
    Adobe RoboHelp: Version Control Connection Details
  5. Choose a library to use for the version control.
  6. Select a folder in the library (or create a new folder) and click the OK button.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Library Folder
  7. Click the Yes button to add all of your RoboHelp project files to the SharePoint library.

Adding files to the SharePoint library could take time initially. However, once the files are added, you should not see any performance issues. To enable the version control toolbar for easy check-in and check-out, choose View > Toolbars > Version Control.

Want to know more about working with version control? Click here.
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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.
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Adobe RoboHelp: Using Multiple Twisty Styles

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

In a previous article, I showed you how to use Twisties (images) with RoboHelp drop-down menus. The Twisties indicate to a user if a drop-down menu is open or closed.

Adobe RoboHelp: Example of Twisties

By default, all drop-downs will use the Twisties you defined for the style Drop-down hotspot. With Adobe RoboHelp 10, you can use multiple styles for your drop-downs and thus use different Twisties for different drop-downs.

To use multiple Twisties, you must create a new style in your style sheet and apply the new style to the drop-downs.

Setting up Multiple Twisties

  1. Open a RoboHelp project.
  2. Go to the Project Manager pod (View > Pods > Project Manager).
  3. Double-click your project's style sheet to open it for editing.
  4. In the Styles dialog box, click the New button and choose Hyperlink Style.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Create a new Hyperlink Style.
  5. Give the new style a name. In this example I named the new style Twisty.
  6. Click the Set Twisties button to define the look of the Twisty.

  7. In the Select Twisties Images dialog box, select the images you want to use as the Twisty.

    8. Adobe RoboHelp: Define Images for the Twisty

  8. Click OK to close each of the open dialog boxes.

Your alternative twisties are now set. You can now proceed to applying the twisty to a drop-down menu within a topic.

Applying Twisties to a Drop-down

  1. Open the topic containing a drop-down menu.
  2. Click within the drop-down text.
  3. Go to the Styles and Formatting pod (View > Pods > Styles and Formatting).
  4. Find the alternative hyperlink style you created.
  5. Right click the style and choose Apply.

    6. Adobe RoboHelp: Styles and Formatting pod.

  6. Save your project.

The alternative twisty style is now applied to the drop-down. Repeat these steps for every drop down menu where you want to set an alternative Twisty.

Adobe RoboHelp: Alternate Twisty Applied.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.
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Adobe RoboHelp: Working with Twisties

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Twisties are images you include with DHTML drop-downs and DHTML expanding texts. The twisties indicate whether a drop-down is opened or closed. This gives a visual indication to readers that they can get more information. For example:

Adobe RoboHelp: Example of Twisties


Setting up Twisties
  1. Open or create a RoboHelp project.
  2. Go to the Project Manager pod (View > Pods > Project Manager).
  3. Double-click the project's style sheet to open it for editing.
  4. In the Styles dialog box, choose Hyperlink > Drop-down hotspot.
  5. Click the Set Twisties button.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Drop-down hotspot
  6. In the Select Twisties Images dialog box, browse and open the images you want to use as twisties.

    Adobe RoboHelp: Twisties Image

  7. Click OK to close the Select Twisties Images dialog box.
  8. Click OK to close the Styles dialog box and save the edited style sheet.

And that's it. Once you have set up the twisties, they will automatically be applied to all of your project drop-downs.

Note: If you want to apply twisties to your project's expanding text and the drop-down hotspots, simply Set Twisties for the style Expanding text in your style sheet as you were shown above for the Drop-down hotspots.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.

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Adobe RoboHelp: SharePoint Shared Review

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

A few weeks ago I wrote about Shared Reviews using Adobe RoboHelp. The Shared Review works by creating a PDF and importing the reviewed PDF into RoboHelp. This method works if only one or two others need to review your content. If you want multiple people to review your content, it is easier to use a server to collect reviews centrally.

Many companies use SharePoint for team collaboration. And with Adobe's Technical Communication Suite, you can use SharePoint to centrally store all reviews. The advantage of using a server is that everyone has his or her own copy of the document and all comments and changes are synchronized.

Note: As the person starting the review, you will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer (Acrobat is part of the Technical Communication Suite). Reviewers can use the free Adobe Reader 9 or newer.

Prepare SharePoint

Before you can use SharePoint for Shared Review, you have to create a workspace with at least one document library to store the reviews. All reviewers must have edit permissions for this library. Your SharePoint administrator can help you with this.

Creating a review using SharePoint

  1. Open or create a RoboHelp project.
  2. Choose Review > Create PDF for Review.
  3. In the Create PDF for review dialog box, select any (or all) of the topics, snippets and master pages you want to include in the review.
  4. From the PDF Settings area, select Send for shared review.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Send for shared review
  5. Click OK to create the PDF.
  6. In the Send for Shared Review dialog box, choose Automatically collect comments on my own internal server.

    Adobe RoboHelp: Collect Comments drop-down menu.

  7. Click Next to continue.
  8. In the Send for Shared Review dialog box, select SharePoint workspace for your review.
  9. Add the URL for the site that contains the workspace in the URL field. Note: You must add the URL of the parent site of the workspace, not the URL of the workspace or document library.

    Adobe RoboHelp: SharePoint Workspace.

  10. Click Get Workspaces to select the workspace and document library for the review.
  11. In the Get Workspaces dialog box, select the workspace and document library you want to use and then click OK.

    Adobe RoboHelp: Get Workspaces.

  12. In the Send for Shared Review dialog box, click Next to continue.
  13. In the Send for Shared Review dialog box, select the method for distributing the review. For this example I am saving the document locally so I can send it to reviewers manually. Note: This only determines how you send the PDF for review. It has no impact on the SharePoint workspace or where the comments will be stored.

    Adobe RoboHelp: Save Locally

  14. Click Next to continue.
  15. Set a name for the review settings. This allows you to use the same settings for other reviews.

    Adobe RoboHelp: Nave the server.

  16. Click Next to continue and then click Finish.

Important: Once you have created the review PDF from RoboHelp, don't edit the RoboHelp topics, snippets and master pages that are included in the PDF. The only way you can reliably import comments back into the RoboHelp project is when the content remains unchanged.

Document Review

You can now send the PDF to your reviewers. The reviewers add their comments to their version of the PDF. When they are done, they publish their comments to the server.

Adobe RoboHelp: Publish Comments.

Import Review Comments

Once all reviewers have published their comments to the server, you can import the review into RoboHelp.

  1. Open your copy of the review PDF.
  2. Click Check for New Comments to get all comments from the server.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Check for New Comments.
  3. Save the PDF and close it.
  4. Open the reviewed RoboHelp project.
  5. Choose Review > Import Comments from PDF.
  6. Click Yes from within the Import comments from PDF dialog box and then open the PDF.

Once the import is complete, RoboHelp displays the comments, inserts and deletions similar to the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word. At this point, you can use a Review toolbar to accept or reject suggested changes within your project.

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Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.