TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Chiming in a week late, as I got called away by an emergency:
Salan Sinclair wondered: <<Does the new RoboHelp really handle print manuals
better? I stayed away from RoboHelp in the past because I heard print was
challenging. Most of my clients need both print (PDF) and MS HTML Help.>>
Since RoboHelp uses Word for its standard WinHelp, it should provide you
with all Word's formatting options. Whether that's a good thing for manuals
I leave to each individual's taste. (I haven't used HTMLHelp, and will
continue avoiding it for as long as possible, so I can't comment on
RoboHTML.)
The bigger obstacle is that printed manuals and online help are different
beasties. I've yet to see a good implementation of a Help file as a manual,
or a good implementation of a manual as online help, and that being the
case, I'd suggest the answer to your question is "no way". You need to write
a manual specifically for its intended usage pattern and intended medium,
and unless you pick a true single-sourcing approach, you're not going to
succeed particularly well at meeting the needs of the online and in-print
reader by trying to take shortcuts.
Of course, if the client insists on an inadequate solution...
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can
think."--Edwin Schlossberg, designer (1945- )
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!
Order RoboHelp X3 in December and receive $100 mail in rebate, FREE WebHelp
Merge Module and the new RoboPDF - add powerful PDF output functionality
to RoboHelp X3. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
