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Adrobe robo help Tutorial

Adrobe robo help Tutorial pdf

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Adrobe robo help Tutorial

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  1. Adobe RoboHelp About the Tutorial This is a tutorial on Adobe RoboHelp 2017. Adobe RoboHelp is a Help Authoring Tool (HAT) that allows you to create help systems, e-learning content and knowledge bases. The latest version of RoboHelp is packed with features, which allows you to create Responsive HTML5 layouts that work on any device size. This tutorial will help the readers in understanding the basics of the program and enable to create help files or documentation for various technical communications. Audience Adobe RoboHelp is used by industry professionals looking to create great technical content for their end-users. As such, it does require some knowledge of HTML and other web technologies. Some advanced features such as creation of custom dialog boxes require programming knowledge in Visual Basic, C/C++, Java or JavaScript. However, newer versions make it easy for anyone to get started without having to write a line of code. Therefore, users of all experience levels can follow this tutorial. Prerequisites The reader should have proficient knowledge of navigating your way around the Windows OS (Windows 7 or later) along with good technical knowledge of the software for which the readers are going to prepare the documentation. Adobe RoboHelp is part of the Technical Communication Suite (TCS). You can purchase a subscription to TCS, which will also give you access to tools such as FrameMaker, Captivate, Acrobat and Presenter. If you are interested only in RoboHelp, the reader should purchase a separate license, which can be either an individual license, a perpetual license as part of the Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP), perpetual license as part of the Transactional Licensing Program (TLP) or an Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA). Prices http://www.adobe.com/products/robohelp/buying-guide.html. The reader can also download a fully functional 30-day trial version to test out the software from the following link – https://www.adobe.com/products/robohelp/download-trial/try.html#. and licensing options can be checked on the following link – Copyright and Disclaimer  Copyright 2017 by Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. All the content and graphics published in this e-book are the property of Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. The user of this e-book is prohibited to reuse, retain, copy, distribute or republish any contents or a part of contents of this e-book in any manner without written consent of the publisher. We strive to update the contents of our website and tutorials as timely and as precisely as possible, however, the contents may contain inaccuracies or errors. Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. provides no guarantee regarding the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of our website or its contents including this tutorial. If you discover any errors on our website or in this tutorial, please notify us at contact@tutorialspoint.com i

  2. Adobe RoboHelp Table of Contents About the Tutorial ............................................................................................................................................ i Audience ........................................................................................................................................................... i Prerequisites ..................................................................................................................................................... i Copyright and Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................. i Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................ ii 1.RoboHelp – Overview ............................................................................................................................... 1 2.RoboHelp – New Features ......................................................................................................................... 2 3.RoboHelp – Server .................................................................................................................................... 3 4.RoboHelp – Workspace Overview ............................................................................................................. 4 5.RoboHelp – Working with Tabs ................................................................................................................. 7 6.RoboHelp – Working with Pods............................................................................................................... 10 7.RoboHelp – Environments ...................................................................................................................... 13 8.RoboHelp – Keyboard Shortcuts ............................................................................................................. 14 9.RoboHelp – General Settings .................................................................................................................. 16 10.RoboHelp – Overview of Projects ............................................................................................................ 18 Project Files ................................................................................................................................................... 18 11.RoboHelp – Creating & Managing Projects .............................................................................................. 20 12.RoboHelp – Opening a Project ................................................................................................................ 23 13.RoboHelp – Configuring Project Settings ................................................................................................. 25 14.RoboHelp – Defining a Chapter Layout.................................................................................................... 26 15.RoboHelp – Managing Project Files ......................................................................................................... 27 16.RoboHelp – Managing Project Folders .................................................................................................... 31 17.RoboHelp – Multilingual Authoring ......................................................................................................... 33 18.RoboHelp – Importing PDF Files .............................................................................................................. 35 19.RoboHelp – Importing & Linking MS Word Docs ..................................................................................... 38 20.RoboHelp – Converting Word Styles ....................................................................................................... 42 21.RoboHelp – Importing DITA Map & XML Files ......................................................................................... 44 Importing DITA Map Files .............................................................................................................................. 44 Importing XML files ....................................................................................................................................... 46 ii

  3. Adobe RoboHelp 22.RoboHelp – Importing WinHelp Files ...................................................................................................... 47 HTML Limitations with HLP Files ................................................................................................................... 47 23.RoboHelp – Version Control .................................................................................................................... 49 24.RoboHelp – Working with Reports .......................................................................................................... 51 25.RoboHelp – Generating & Customizing Reports ...................................................................................... 52 26.RoboHelp – Creating, Saving & Opening Topics ....................................................................................... 54 27.RoboHelp – Authoring Topics in XHTML .................................................................................................. 57 28.RoboHelp – Creating & Working on Master Pages .................................................................................. 58 29.RoboHelp – Managing Topics .................................................................................................................. 61 30. 30.RoboHelp – Spell Check, Find Find & Replace Replace .................................................................................................. 63 31.RoboHelp – Ensuring W3C compliance .................................................................................................... 66 32.RoboHelp – Editing ................................................................................................................................. 67 33.RoboHelp – Formatting Characters ......................................................................................................... 69 34.RoboHelp – Formatting Paragraphs ........................................................................................................ 71 35.RoboHelp – Borders, Backgrounds & Sounds .......................................................................................... 72 36.RoboHelp – Working with Tables ............................................................................................................ 75 37.RoboHelp – Working with Lists ............................................................................................................... 77 38.RoboHelp – Creating & Editing Variables ................................................................................................ 79 39.RoboHelp – Media Rules & Attributes in Styles ....................................................................................... 81 40.RoboHelp – Managing Style Sheets ......................................................................................................... 83 41.RoboHelp – Styling for Style Sheets ........................................................................................................ 85 42.RoboHelp – Creating Table Styles ............................................................................................................ 87 43.RoboHelp – Creating List Styles ............................................................................................................... 89 44.RoboHelp – Creating HTML Styles ........................................................................................................... 91 45.RoboHelp – Editing Styles in CSS ............................................................................................................. 93 46.RoboHelp – Creating & Printing ToC ........................................................................................................ 95 47.RoboHelp – Editing ToCs ......................................................................................................................... 97 48.RoboHelp – Managing ToCs .................................................................................................................... 99 iii

  4. Adobe RoboHelp 49.RoboHelp – Working With Multiple ToCs .............................................................................................. 101 50.RoboHelp – Creating Indexes & Keywords ............................................................................................ 102 51.RoboHelp – Editing Index Keywords...................................................................................................... 104 52.RoboHelp – Managing Indexes .............................................................................................................. 106 53.RoboHelp – Automatic Indexing ............................................................................................................ 107 54.RoboHelp – Creating Multiple Indexes .................................................................................................. 110 55.RoboHelp – Customizing, Adding ToC & Index Controls ........................................................................ 111 56.RoboHelp – Glossaries .......................................................................................................................... 113 Glossary Hotspots ........................................................................................................................................ 115 57.RoboHelp – Creating Text Links for Navigation ..................................................................................... 116 58.RoboHelp – Creating & Editing Bookmarks ........................................................................................... 117 59.RoboHelp – Linking Images & Multimedia ............................................................................................ 118 60.RoboHelp – Linking External Sources .................................................................................................... 119 61.RoboHelp – Maintaining & Repairing Links ........................................................................................... 120 62.RoboHelp – Link Controls ...................................................................................................................... 121 63.RoboHelp – Working With Text-Only Pop-Ups ...................................................................................... 125 64.RoboHelp – Create & Edit Browse Sequences ....................................................................................... 126 65.RoboHelp – Output Search .................................................................................................................... 128 66.RoboHelp – Optimize & Configure Search ............................................................................................. 131 67.RoboHelp – External Content Search .................................................................................................... 133 68.RoboHelp – Working With Images ........................................................................................................ 134 69.RoboHelp – Import Adobe Captivate Demos ......................................................................................... 137 70.RoboHelp – Adding & Removing Multimedia ........................................................................................ 138 71.RoboHelp – Adding DHTML Effects ....................................................................................................... 140 72.RoboHelp – DHTML Triggers & Targets ................................................................................................. 142 73.RoboHelp – Marquees .......................................................................................................................... 144 74.RoboHelp – HTML Comments ............................................................................................................... 145 75.RoboHelp – Working With iFrames ....................................................................................................... 146 iv

  5. Adobe RoboHelp 76.RoboHelp – Conditional Text ................................................................................................................ 147 77.RoboHelp – Context-Sensitive Help ....................................................................................................... 148 78.RoboHelp – Managing Map IDs ............................................................................................................. 149 79.RoboHelp – Dynamic Editing of CST ...................................................................................................... 151 80.RoboHelp – Developer Information ...................................................................................................... 152 81.RoboHelp –What’s This? Help .............................................................................................................. 153 82.RoboHelp – Single-Source Layouts ........................................................................................................ 155 83.RoboHelp – Generate DUCC .................................................................................................................. 157 84.RoboHelp – Generate Output for MS SharePoint .................................................................................. 159 85.RoboHelp – Multiscreen Layouts........................................................................................................... 162 86.RoboHelp – MS HTML, JavaHelp & Oracle Help Layouts ........................................................................ 163 87.RoboHelp – EPUB & Kindle Book Outputs ............................................................................................. 165 88.RoboHelp – Review & Collaboration ..................................................................................................... 168 89.RoboHelp – Managing Shared Resources .............................................................................................. 171 90.RoboHelp – ActiveX Controls ................................................................................................................ 173 91.RoboHelp – Forms & Frames ................................................................................................................. 175 92.RoboHelp – HTML Help Controls ........................................................................................................... 177 v

  6. 1. RoboHelp – Overview Adobe RoboHelp Adobe RoboHelp is a popular Help Authoring Tool (HAT) from Adobe. It is used by industry professionals to deliver engaging help content, e-learning resources, organizational policies and knowledge base articles to a wide audience irrespective of device form factor. The latest version of RoboHelp (2017 release) helps you to easily create next-gen Responsive HTML5 layouts, which enable seamless navigation and rich interactivity. RoboHelp was first created by Gen Kiyooka and released by Blue Sky Software in 1992. Blue Sky Software was acquired by Macromedia, which was subsequently acquired by Adobe in 2005. Adobe RoboHelp 2017 is versioned as 13.0 although technically it is version 21 taking into account the previous versions released under Macromedia. RoboHelp has evolved from being just a HAT to a versatile tool, which can help you create eBooks and even web sites. RoboHelp can output to a variety of help formats using the following Single Source Layouts (SSLs) –  Responsive HTML5  eBook  Microsoft HTML Help  JavaHelp  Oracle Help  Eclipse Help  Adobe AIR Help  Standard Word and PDF documentation One of the biggest challenges faced in content delivery is ensuring that the intended audience is able to view it. RoboHelp allows content creators to create native apps for Android and iOS without the need for any extra software. With a plethora of new features in the latest release, Adobe RoboHelp remains the industry standard HAT for creating engaging help, e-learning and technical content which addresses the varied needs of the target audience in a dynamic way. It is easy to use – both by seasoned authors as well as by novices. 1

  7. 2. RoboHelp – New Features Adobe RoboHelp The 2017 release of RoboHelp packs in many new features. These include –  Next-generation HTML5 layouts  Auto-complete  Thumbnail support  Favorites in Responsive HTML5 layouts  Baggage file folder import  Variable views Let us understand them in detail. Next-generation HTML5 layouts The 2017 release of RoboHelp promises to help you create visually engaging borderless HTML5 layouts. These layouts offer a superior search and navigation experience and are preloaded with many features like topic sliders, show/hide widgets, etc. The responsive design enables the content to scale well across screens of different sizes. Auto-complete Now you can get predictive search results in the search field of the responsive HTML5 output after typing the first few characters. The results appear instantaneously and are contextual without the user having to enter the full search string. The results are ranked based on the frequency of the keyword in the content. Thumbnail support You can now publish thumbnails of images, which can reduce page loading times, saving bandwidth, while also being mobile friendly. If needed, the user can simply load the larger image by clicking on the thumbnail. It is possible to maintain a standard thumbnail size in order to maintain consistency throughout the content. Favorites in Responsive HTML5 layouts It is now possible to mark topics as favorites and add custom links with the new Indigo themed Responsive HTML5 layout. Baggage File Folder Import You can now add multiple baggage files stored in a folder in a single click by adding the folder to the project thereby making it easy to import folders containing support information. Variable views You can now easily toggle between the variable name and its value by a keyboard shortcut or from the context menu. You can toggle a single variable or all variables to view content exactly as your audience would view it. 2

  8. 3. RoboHelp – Server Adobe RoboHelp Adobe RoboHelp Server is a server based help solution. You can upload your help content on a server, which can then provide real-time end user feedback. It can log data on the queries, which is asked by the users. RoboHelp Server can graphically show how users are navigating around the help system. (Image Source: Adobe RoboHelp 2017 documentation) You can use an authoring tool to author the content, which can include multiple projects and upload the entire project onto the RoboHelp Server. The RoboHelp Server includes automatic project merging, which allows authors to work on different projects at different schedules and publish all of them to the same server. Authors can also publish projects written in various languages on the same server. The RoboHelp Server can also interface with database servers such as Oracle or MS SQL Server and generate reports and logs. The response to the user query is relayed back via an Apache HTTP Server. 3

  9. 4. RoboHelp – Workspace Overview Adobe RoboHelp The typical RoboHelp workspace comprises of elements called Pods, Panes, Bars and Windows. Let us have a look at some of the components of the workspace. Quick Access Toolbar The Quick Access Toolbar provides access to frequently used commands. It can be customized to access the commands you access the most. The default commands include: Save All, Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo. 4

  10. Adobe RoboHelp Tabs Tabs are logical groups of commands put together. A tab contains commands of related functionality. Tabs are contextual and change depending on the type of content and formatting. Document Pane The document pane generally comprises of three rows of tabs as shown in the following screenshot. These tabs are explained below.  The first row is the Tabbed Document Pane. Each tab comprises of one project. You can work on multiple projects at once and copy paste assets between these projects. The second row is the Design and HTML View Panes. For any given document, you can toggle between the design you are working on and the HTML code of your design. You can edit the HTML for even finer control. The HTML code is auto-generated as you keep working on the design. The third row shows the Document Area Selectors. These help you to jump to various sections of the document such as Paragraphs, Headings and Hyperlinks.   5

  11. Adobe RoboHelp Pods Pods are panes that you can dock anywhere in the workspace to get access to all features, which are logically grouped. For example, the Project Manager pod shows all the components of the project. Pods can be grouped together or can be free floating on the workspace. You can also make them auto-hide or move them to a different monitor. 6

  12. 5. RoboHelp – Working with Tabs Adobe RoboHelp RoboHelp makes it easy to locate and identify commands associated with a particular function by organizing them into tabs. The tabs are organized in a ribbon similar to the Microsoft Office suite of programs. The ribbon comprises several tabs, which include –  File  Project  Edit  Insert  Review  Collaborate  Output  Tools Let us understand each of these in detail. File Create new projects, open, save the existing project, view recent projects and change program settings. 7

  13. Adobe RoboHelp Project Create, import, edit, and delete project components such as topics, snippets, tags, and variables. You can save the currently unsaved changes across the project. Edit Creating and editing stylesheets, text formatting and content tagging. Insert Insert objects such as tables, images, Adobe Captivate content and snippets. Review Track changes, accept and reject changes in a document review. Collaborate Share project resources across users and enable version control. 8

  14. Adobe RoboHelp Output Create, search, setup, generate, view and open RoboHelp outputs. Tools You can create and view reports. RoboHelp ships with a number of scripts, which you can use to perform certain commands. Select and execute scripts from the Scripts list in this tab. 9

  15. 6. RoboHelp – Working with Pods Adobe RoboHelp A pod is a floating or docked window of the workflow or associated functions organized in a logical manner. To open a pod, go to the Project tab, then in the Open section, click on the Pods icon to reveal a list of pods. Select a pod from the list. You can either dock the pod or keep it floating on your desktop. You can also auto-hide the pod or open it as a tabbed document. RoboHelp includes many types of pods. Some of them include –  Starter Pod  Project Manager Pod  Output Setup Pod Let us discuss each of these in detail. Starter Pod The Starter Pod usually appears as a tabbed document but just like any other pod, you can make it float or even dock it. It usually the starting point in the RoboHelp workflow. The Starter Pod comprises of four sections, which are –  Recent Projects – Shows a list of recently opened projects. Create – Lets you choose the type of help file you want to create. Import – Import content from Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe PDF files, HTML or other supported formats. Resources – Contains links to help resources, seminars and knowledge base articles to help you get the most out of RoboHelp.    10

  16. Adobe RoboHelp Project Manager Pod The Project Managerpod contains all the various folders in which you store and edit your project files. The Project Managerpod has default folders for each content type. For example, all images in the project are stored under the Images folder, videos and sounds are stored under the Multimediafolder, etc. The Project Manager Pod also contains the Baggage Files folder, which contains the indirectly linked files that are part of the project. The baggage files might include –PDF files, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Double-clicking on files within the Baggage Filesfolder opens the file in its associated application. Output Setup Pod The Output SetupPod helps you to view and modify the output of the content based on the targeted device. It contains a hierarchical organization of the different output components such as the Window, Master Pages, Skins, Device Profiles, Screen Layouts, etc. 11

  17. Adobe RoboHelp Right-click on any container to change its properties. For example – If you want to alter the dimensions of the MS_HTML output window, right-click on the MS_HTML container in the Windows folder and select how you want the window to be displayed on the screen. 12

  18. 7. RoboHelp – Environments Adobe RoboHelp The arrangement of workspace elements such windows, pods and other elements is called an environment. Environments can be customized as desired by the user. There can be specific arrangements of windows and pods, which can be saved as an environment. Environments can then be recalled by selecting the environment from the Workspace menu on the upper right hand corner of the window. Environments are saved in an ‘.rhs file’, which can be exchanged with other authors. Creating and saving an environment Arrange all the pods in the workspace. Click on the dropdown arrow next to the Workspace in the upper right hand corner of the RoboHelp window. Click on Save... and select a location and name for the workspace. Loading a Saved Environment Click on the dropdown arrow next to the Workspacein the upper right hand corner of the RoboHelp window and select Load… Browse to the file location of the .rhs file and click on Open to load the environment. Deleting an Environment To delete an environment, navigate to the location on the disk, where the .rhs file was stored and simply delete the .rhs file pertaining to that environment. 13

  19. 8. RoboHelp – Keyboard Shortcuts Adobe RoboHelp Keyboard shortcuts help in quickly completing tasks and RoboHelp has many keyboard shortcuts to enable you to get your work done faster. You can also customize your own keyboard shortcuts. Create Keyboard Shortcuts The following points will explain how to create keyboard shortcuts in RoboHelp.  In the dropdown menu, next to the Quick Access Toolbar select the More Commandsoption. In the General section, under User Interface Options, click onCustomize Keyboard Shortcuts... Choose a tab category in the Category dropdown and select a command for which you want to assign a keyboard shortcut. In the Press new shortcut keybox, enter the keyboard shortcut or combination and click on Assign. If keyboard shortcuts are already assigned, it will show up in the Key assignments: box. Once you have done assigning all keyboard shortcuts, click on Close to close the dialog box. You can also export the list of keyboard shortcuts as a CSV file by selecting Export.      14

  20. Adobe RoboHelp Remove Keyboard Shortcuts The following points will explain how to remove the keyboard shortcuts in RoboHelp.  To remove an assigned shortcut, navigate to the Customize Keyboard Shortcuts… dialog box and click on the command of which you want the keyboard shortcut to be removed. Then click on Remove to remove the keyboard shortcut assigned to that command. To restore the keyboard shortcuts to their default settings, select Reset All.   15

  21. 9. RoboHelp – General Settings Adobe RoboHelp To configure general program options, go to the Filetab, then go to Options and select the General section to change the settings. An overview of some of the important settings is given in the following screenshot – 16

  22. Adobe RoboHelp Preferences for General Settings Following are the preferences for general setting in RoboHelp.  Use underscores in filenames: Topic file names are saved with underscores between words, which are required for HTML projects. Automatically check for updates: Checks for updates upon exit. You can also enable this option by selecting File  Help  Accounts and updates  Updates... Allow editing of multiple topics: Opens topics in different tabs in Design Editor and allows editing. Clear project cache (.cpd file) before opening any project: This helps to Delete the old <ProjectName>.cpd file every time. While opening a project and a new <ProjectName>.cpd is created from the project files. Remember project state: Ensures that RoboHelp remembers the location of the opened files and pods, so that the project will open in the same state, the next time you open the program.     Generation of Commands Following are the list of commands in RoboHelp.  Auto-compile outdated files: Automatically generates your primary layout, when the output files are out of date. Auto-display output view: Shows the Output View at the bottom of the program window, when a project is generating. Convert RoboHelp-edited topics to HTML: Converts XHTML topics into HTML in the output. Topics created or edited with third-party editors are not converted. Show learning resources on Starter page: Show or hide the area that has a stream of learning resources on the Starter page.    17

  23. 10. RoboHelp – Overview of Projects Adobe RoboHelp A project is a collection of source files that becomes the help system, which the end user sees. Project files are stored in the .xpj format and contain the information and properties of the project. A project file comprises of the following components –  Content  Properties  Navigation Let us discuss each of these in detail. Content The project content includes the topics and information about the location of topics, images, index, ToC, etc. Properties On a new project, default properties are used. These properties include settings such as – Title, Language, Windows, etc., which can be modified based on the requirement. Navigation Projects include a ToC, Index and full text search to enable the user to navigate the content. Project Files A RoboHelp project comprises of the following files –  Main project file (XPJ)  Folder files (FPJ)  Single-source layout files (SSL)  Auxiliary project files (APJ) and  Other types of files Let us discuss each of these files in detail below. Main project file (XPJ) The project file (.xpj) is XML-based. Older .mpj files convert to XPJ files in the latest version of RoboHelp. Folder files (FPJ) The FPJ file lists the folder contents. Only those subfolders and topics that are listed in the FPJ file of a folder are displayed. 18

  24. Adobe RoboHelp Single-source Layout Files (SSL) Stores properties of the single-source layout and is modified when you edit the properties. Auxiliary Project Files (APJ) Components such as windows, baggage files, map files, font sets, etc., have corresponding APJ files, which get modified or edited. Other types of files Other types of files in a project include the following –  Browse sequences (BRS)  Topics (HTM)  TOC (HHC)  Index (HHK)  Glossary (GLO)  Image and multimedia files (filename extension varies)  Style sheets (CSS) 19

  25. 11. RoboHelp – Creating & Managing Projects Adobe RoboHelp You can create a project from scratch or by importing data from an external file such as FrameMaker, Word or PDF. Creating a New Project The following points describe how to create a new project in RoboHelp.  A new project can be created either by selecting File  ‘More’ option in the Starter pod under Create New. In the New Project dialog box, double-click a project type. You can change the project type after your project is created.  New Project or using the  20

  26. Adobe RoboHelp  In the New Project Wizarddialog box, specify the options such as Project Title, File Name, Location on Disk and the title of first topic and click on Finish to create the project. Create a Project by Importing Documents The following steps explain how to create a project by importing documents in RoboHelp.  You can create new projects by importing content from external sources such as FrameMaker or Word documents. Go to the New Project dialog box File  New Project or by using the ‘More’ option in the Starter pod under Create New. Select the Import tab. Choose the type of document that you need to import and click OK. In the New Project Wizarddialog box, specify the options such as Project Title, File Name, Location on Disk and the title of the first topic and click on Finish to create the project.    21

  27. Adobe RoboHelp 22

  28. 12. RoboHelp – Opening a Project Adobe RoboHelp You can open a project when starting RoboHelp using the Starterpod or traditionally by using the Filemenu. Opening a project from the Starter pod. The Starter pod shows a list of recently opened projects. Click on the project name, which has to be opened. If you do not see the needed project, click Open Projectand navigate to the location of the project on disk. Opening a Project from the File Menu Click on the File tab and select Open Project. Click on the Local or Network Path and select a project from disk. If you are opening projects created in an older version of RoboHelp, you will be asked to convert the project into the new format. 23

  29. Adobe RoboHelp 24

  30. 13. RoboHelp – Configuring Project Settings Adobe RoboHelp To change settings for a project, in the Project tab, click onProject Settings in the File section. You can change settings such as the title of the project, the primary output, and localization. You can also manage a To Do List by clicking on the Manage… button and adding the required to do actions. In the Index section, you can choose to either add new keywords to the project index file (HHK) or save as individual topic files (HTM). Select the BinaryIndex option if you want to combine indexes from multiple CHM files. 25

  31. 14. RoboHelp – Defining a Chapter Layout Adobe RoboHelp You order topics and folders logically in the Project Manager pod to define a chapter layout. This chapter layout forms the basis for the Table of Contents creation by RoboHelp. A few important points to note here are as follows –  If you rename a folder or a topic, the topics and folders retain their order. If you delete a topic or a folder, the remaining topics retain their order. If you add a new topic or a folder, it is added at the top inside the parent folder. If you drop a topic or a folder on a non-topic/folder item (such as CSS, image, or baggage), it moves to the last position inside the parent folder of the target.    To order topics, simply drag a topic or folder above or below another topic or folder. A green arrow is shown to indicate the placement of the topic or folder. 26

  32. 15. RoboHelp – Managing Project Files Adobe RoboHelp RoboHelp provides many ways to organize and work with project files. We will look at some of the common operations below – List Topics by Title or Filename Open a project, and in the Project tab, go to the View section  Display Topics and select to display topics By Topic Title or By File Name. Using the To Do list Project tasks can be tracked by using To Do Lists, which can be customized. To Do Lists are retained when converting projects from an older RoboHelp version. To edit a To Do List go to Project Settings, click on the Generaltab and then click Manage… To add a task to the list, click Add. Type the name of the task item. To edit or remove a task, select the task and click Edit or Delete. 27

  33. Adobe RoboHelp Edit the List of recently Opened Projects The RoboHelp Starter pod lists recently opened projects. To edit this list, go to the File menu and click on Options. Click the Recent Projects tab. If you want to change the number of files listed, specify a number in the Max Projects box. To remove a file from the list, select it and click on Remove. You can pin frequently used files by selecting it and clicking on Pin. 28

  34. Adobe RoboHelp Add Files and Folders to the Baggage Files Folder Sometimes, you might have to add files to the Baggage Files folder, so the external elements appear correctly in the output. You can add individual files or even folders. To add files or a folder to the Baggage Filesfolder, right-click on Project Files, go to Import Baggage and select File or Folder. Mapping File Types You can map file types to associate them with the applications for editing and viewing. To associate a file extension with an application, go to the Filemenu and click on Options. Click on the File Association tab. You can associate programs as well as HTML Editors. To associate programs, click Add in the Associated Programs section and enter a filename extension. Select an editor to edit documents with the specified filename extension and then select a program to view the file. To add an HTML editor, click Add in the HTML Editors section and select from the recommended or other programs registered to edit or view .html or .htm files and click OK. 29

  35. Adobe RoboHelp Remove Topics from Projects It is recommended to back up all project files, view and print reports before removing project files. This is especially important if your project is not under version control. In order to avoid broken links, do not remove files in Windows Explorer or version control software. Select one or more files and press Delete on the keyboard. As a precaution, it is recommended not to remove references to removed topics, so that they can be shown in the Broken Linksfolder for later review. To remove multiple topics, use the Topic List Pod. 30

  36. 16. RoboHelp – Managing Project Folders Adobe RoboHelp Similar to project file management, RoboHelp also provides ways to manage project files. We will look at some of the common folder operations below – Creating Folders There are default folders that you can use to create folders and subfolders in the Project Manager. These folders include –  HTML Files (Topics)  Images  Multimedia  Style Sheets and  Baggage Files. To create a folder, right click on the Project Files folder in the Project Manager pod, go to New and select Folder. Enter a name and press Enter. Rename Folders To rename folders, expand the Project Files folder in the Project Manager pod. Right-click the folder you want to rename and click on Rename. Type the new name and press Enter. 31

  37. Adobe RoboHelp Move Folders To move a folder, select the folder in Project Files in the Project Manager pod and drag the subfolder to its new location. Remove Custom Folders To remove a folder, right-click the folder in the Project Manager pod and click Delete. 32

  38. 17. RoboHelp – Multilingual Authoring Adobe RoboHelp RoboHelp allows for authoring content in multiple languages. The language applies to the text, dictionary and the index of the project. However, keep in mind that the end user’s OS must be in the same language for HTML Help systems as the project language otherwise it will be overridden by the OS language. You can compare content in different languages or select a different language for translation. Comparing Content in different Languages To compare content in different languages, open the topics created in different languages. Drag the tab of one of the topics a little below on to the Design button (second row on the Document Pane) and choose if you want to compare them vertically or horizontally. Language for translating a Project File In the Output tab, select Stop Words as shown in the following screenshot. 33

  39. Adobe RoboHelp You can change the following settings in the respective tabs in the Advanced Settings for Localization dialog box.  Stop List: Add words that must be ignored during a text search. Phrases: Add a phrase for the Smart Index Wizard to include when searching topic content for keywords. Labels: Modify the text for each user interface element listed. "Always Ignore" Words: Add a word or phrase that the Smart Index Wizard ignores when generating the index. Synonyms: Add a synonym for a word. The results are always returned for the searched words even when searched for the synonym.     In the next chapter, we will understand how to import PDF files in RoboHelp. 34

  40. 18. RoboHelp – Importing PDF Files Adobe RoboHelp RoboHelp allows you to import content from PDF files. The ToCs are carried over into the help file. However, keep in mind that encrypted PDF files or files containing SWFs will not import. You can either create a project by importing a PDF or import a PDF into a project. Creating a Project from a PDF File To create a project from a PDF file, we would need to follow the steps given below. Step 1: Go to the File menu, click on New Project and click on the Import tab. Select PDF document in the list of file types and click OK. Step 2: In the Import PDF Wizard, browse to the location of the PDF file you want to import and click on Next. Enter details of the project and click on Next. Select the desired conversion options and click on Finish to import the PDF as a HTML help file. Step 3: When you choose to create new topic(s) based on style(s), RoboHelp will analyze the PDF for paragraph styles and headings and splits the topics for you. 35

  41. Adobe RoboHelp Import PDF Files into a Project To import PDF files into a project, we have to follow the steps given below. Step 1: You can import PDF files into an existing project. Make sure the Project Manager Pod is open, then right-click on the Project Files folder. Click on Import Topics… and browse to the location of the PDF file on disk. Note: You can also select multiple PDF files at once by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each file. 36

  42. Adobe RoboHelp Step 2: In the Import PDF Wizard, browse to the location of the PDF file you want to import and click on Next. Enter details of the project and click on Next. Step 3: Select the desired conversion options and click on Finish to import the PDF as a HTML help file. When you choose to create new topic(s) based on style(s), RoboHelp will analyze the PDF for paragraph styles and headings and splits the topics for you. 37

  43. 19. RoboHelp – Importing & Linking MS Word Docs Adobe RoboHelp Just like PDF files, you can import and link Microsoft Word Documents in RoboHelp. You can create new help files by importing Word documents or import Word documents into existing help files. Before importing Word documents, it is important that they be optimized for online output. You have the option of either importing or linking Word documents. It is important to choose the one that suits your needs. Importing allows you to integrate the Word document in the help file and customize filenames from the Project Manager. Linking allows you to dynamically-update the source document including ToC, index and glossary. You can also regenerate deleted topics and preserve changes in generated topics. You cannot however, change the filenames and topic titles from the Project Manager. Optimizing Word Documents for Online Output To optimize word documents for online output, we should consider the following points.  Heading hierarchies: Apply hierarchical headings before conversion to achieve automatic pagination. For example, you can apply Heading 1 style in your Word document, map this style to a similar RoboHelp style, and define pagination to create an HTML topic for each Heading 1 style. Inline styles and style overrides: You can convert inline styles to CSS styles in RoboHelp. Header and footer information: RoboHelp can convert headers and footers. To ensure consistency across your topics, you can define a master page that contains the required header and footer information. Chapter versus topic: In online Help, the organizational unit is the topic, and users see topics one at a time. Provide comprehensive information without adding redundancy by grouping related topics. ToCs: You can also import the Word ToC into the RoboHelp ToC by defining the topic hierarchy and representing it in RoboHelp TOC. Context sensitivity: You can assign context-sensitive Help markers in Word documents using custom footnote entries. RoboHelp reads these footnote entries and assigns the map IDs to the generated topics.      Importing a Word Document into RoboHelp Unlike PDFs, which do not require you to have Acrobat or Acrobat Reader installed, you need to have Microsoft Word installed to be able to import Word documents into RoboHelp. To import a Word document, in the Starter pod, go to the Import tab and select the icon representing Word documents (*.docx, *.doc) and select the Word document you want to import. Enter the details of the project and click on Finish. 38

  44. Adobe RoboHelp Linking a Word Document to a RoboHelp Project To Link a Word document to a RoboHelp project, we should follow the steps given below. Step 1: In the Project Manager Pod, right-click on the Project Files folder and select Word Document from the Link submenu. Select one or more Word documents and click Open. 39

  45. Adobe RoboHelp Step 2: Right-click on the linked Word document in the Project Files folder and click on Properties. Step 3: In the Word Document Settings dialog box, specify settings for the ToC, index and glossary. Step 4: To generate a ToC from the Word document, click on the Convert Table of Contents checkbox and choose to either append to an existing ToC or create a new associated ToC. Step 5: To generate an index from the Word document, click on the Convert Index checkbox and choose to either append to an existing index or create a new associated index. Step 6: To generate a glossary from the Word document, click on the Convert Glossary checkbox and choose to either append to an existing glossary or create a new associated glossary. 40

  46. Adobe RoboHelp 41

  47. 20. RoboHelp – Converting Word Styles Adobe RoboHelp Word styles are mapped to RoboHelp styles using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The default CSS used by RoboHelp is called RHStyleMapping.css. You can change this to a file of your choice or edit this CSS file in your preferred CSS editor. Selecting the CSS for Style Mapping To select the CSS for style mapping, we should follow the points given below.  Link or import the Word document whose style needs to be mapped to RoboHelp. Open the Project Settings dialog box from the Project tab and click on the Import tab. Select the CSS from the CSS for Style Mapping dropdown menu. You can also select a custom CSS by selecting the <BrowseCSS> in the dropdown menu.   42

  48. Adobe RoboHelp Convert Word Paragraph and Character Styles to RoboHelp Styles For converting Word paragraphs and character styles to RoboHelp styles, we should consider the following steps. Step 1: Import or link the Word document and go to Project Settings. Select the Import tab and click on Edit… in the Word Document section. Step 2: In the Conversion Settings dialog box, select the Word style from the Paragraph group. You can choose to map a RoboHelp style to the Word style from the RoboHelp Style dropdown menu. Select [Source] to retain the appearance of Word text in your online Help format. To edit the selected RoboHelp style, click Edit Style. Step 3: To mark a style for the glossary, select the Glossary Definition checkbox to consider the style for the glossary definition. Select Glossary Term checkbox to consider the style for the glossary term. Step 4: To create a Help topic at each occurrence of the selected Word paragraph style, select the Pagination(Split into topics based on this style) checkbox. Step 5: You can also select or enter a User Defined HTML Tag for the selected paragraph style. Step 6: You can similarly also map and edit the Word character formats to character styles in RoboHelp. Select the Word character style from the Charactergroup and select the RoboHelp character style from the dropdown menu. Step 7: To import the Word character style, select [Source] from the pop-up menu. You can edit the character style in RoboHelp by clicking on Edit Style. 43

  49. 21. RoboHelp – Importing DITA Map & XML Files Adobe RoboHelp A Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) map is like a table of contents listing and linking the topics for a specific output. They assemble topics into sequence and hierarchy tailored to specific delivery requirements. A DITA map file has the extension .ditamap. You can import both DITA map and XML files to generate an XHTML output. Importing DITA Map Files To import DITA map files, we should follow the steps given below. Step 1: Go to the File menu, click on New Project and click on the Import tab. Select the PDF document in the list of file types and click OK to open the DITA Open Toolkit Processing Options dialog box. Step 2: Review the following settings that are available in the dialog box and then click on Finish.  Replace default XSLT file for conversion: Select an XSL file to use for transforming the DITA files to XHTML instead of the default XSL file used by the DITA Open Toolkit. Use DITA val for conditional processing: The XHTML is generated based on the Val file. A DITA Val file contains filter, flagging, and revision information. Specify a DITA Val file to use for conditional processing of the DITA files. Show Index entries in Topics: Select to show the index entries in RoboHelp topics. Show image filename in Annotation: Select to add annotations to images showing the filename of the image or the full path to include in the topics.    44

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