Help & Manual provides excellent support for single source publishing, including user-defined builds, snippets, conditional text with IF THEN ELSE statements, and variables.
In addition to various help formats and ebooks, Help & Manual can also create high-quality PDF manuals without the need of using an external text processor, such as Microsoft Word, and without the need of an external PDF generator, such as Adobe Acrobat. The output is highly customizable, especially on the HTML side. You can turn this off, but you need to do so manually. On the downside are the lack of advanced linking features and the fact that the program by default not only analyzes your user behavior but even analyzes the files (the content) that you create and sends information on this to Adobe. However, RoboHelp’s Dynamic Filters are an interesting unique feature, which makes it possible to apply conditional text at runtime. Today, some of its competitors have caught up or even outperformed it.
With “MadCap Capture”, a full-fledged screen capture tool is also included.įor a long time, RoboHelp clearly was the market leader of help authoring tools. The optional add-on product “MadCap Central” adds a cloud-based platform for content and project management, hosting, publishing, task tracking, user permissions, and team collaboration. The optional add-on product “MadCap Pulse” provides social collaboration features, such as comments, and can track reader activity. “MadCap Contributor” provides a simplified user interface for casual content contributors, such as subject matter experts and reviewers. Within browser-based help files, sophisticated search features can be implemented. Concept markers make it easy to add structured related-topic links. Other advanced features are its DITA import (including relation tables), the option to have different structures for online help and printed user manuals generated from the same source, and the professional translation workflow. Can create PDF without the need of an external text processor, but can produce full-featured Microsoft Word files as well. Excellent single source publishing features. Ĭlearly not a tool for occasional users but for full-time technical writers. Tools and scripts for embedding information into (web) applications (onboarding walkthroughs contextual help)įor information on the indicated price levels, see Price Levels. Mere HTML and CHM compilers and converters General purpose HTML, CSS, and Markdown editors Tools with a focus on code and API documentation The tools can generate online documentation and context sensitive online help systems (help sites) as well as printable user manuals (PDF) from the same shared text base (single source publishing tools).Ĭonverters for Word and FrameMaker documents
This kind of technical documentation tools often has a focus on creating software documentation (software documentation tools). Market overview of recommendable tools for creating online documentation and context sensitive online help. Help Authoring Tools and Online Documentation Tools