Total Confusion; was, "RE: RoboHelp: Ready to Publish...how do I do that?"

["Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>]

Rick,

I am sorry you are "totally confused." Perhaps you should go back an
read Missy's first and second messages. Here they are:

Message 1
"My new employer wants to make our help system available to our customer
to download. What files are needed to create a "portable" help system?
Is this still WebHelp? 
	"Personally, I don't know why it is so critical to offer a
downloadable help system to customers. I can't understand why they can't
use a .pdf. All of our products are unique and the manuals are quite
navigatable through pdf. Any thoughts?"

Message 2
"Okay, I just came back from my boss' office. She showed me a zip file
that they distribute and the customer downloads. The only files it
contains is all html files and a folder with images. That's it. She
stabs her finger at the monitor and says, "That's what I want. 
	"I know the previous tech writing team used WebWorks but I have
no idea how that works or what kind of output that is. We have Frame9
and it doesn't work with WebWorks, plus we have TCS2 so Robo is the
answer. 
	"Do you know how I can get her what she wants? Thank you."

As I read Missy's words, I see no indication that she has already
finished creating a RoboHelp project or even that her department owns
RoboHelp. In fact, I get the exact opposite impression. She states,
"What files are needed to create a "portable" help system? If she
already has a project in RoboHelp, why would she be asking about how to
"create" a help system? Wouldn't the answer be in RoboHelp's help? As I
read them, Missy's words indicate that she has documentation in Frame
and needs to get it published as WebHelp.

But perhaps this isn't the only thing causing your bewilderment. Perhaps
you fail to understand the full purpose of Techwr-l. Please, allow me to
enlighten you. According to Techwr-l, "The TECHWR-L Mailing List
provides a forum for any discussions related to technical
communication." I am pretty sure that the point I raised was relevant to
the request Missy _actually_ made ("How do I get my Frame document into
WebHelp?"), is very much in line with the purpose of this forum, and
will be helpful to anyone who subsequently searches the Techwr-l
archives.

Still totally confused?

Leonard


-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Stone [mailto:rstone75 -at- kc -dot- rr -dot- com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:35 AM
To: Leonard C. Porrello
Cc: Missy Smith; ASK TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: RoboHelp: Ready to Publish...how do I do that?
Importance: High

Hi Leonard

I'm totally confused what the purpose is of your reply is or how it is 
supposed to help Missy with her issue.

Missy asked a question about how to accomplish something that may be 
accomplished using a tool she already has access to. That tool is 
RoboHelp. From what I understood of her question, it was very specific. 
She wanted to know how to accomplish publishing the output. She didn't 
seem to be asking which tool is better than another.

Can you please cite specific examples of how she can obtain Flare and 
immediately make it Publish the RoboHelp output she has just finished 
creating? That seems to be what you are suggesting.

Cheers... Rick :)

Leonard C. Porrello wrote:
> Regarding RoboHelp, there is at least one arguably superior
alternative:
> Flare. You should check it out before you decide which tool to use.
>
> Leonard
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