Re: HTML 5 web help versioning

[Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>]

We were planning to do that at my last job. It's a fairly trivial bit
of programming, at least with RoboHelp or WebWorks ePublisher Pro. The
help call first tries
http://company.com/help/<product>/<version>/<help URL>, if that
returns an error it tries
%program_home%/help/<product>/<version>/<help URL>.

On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 11:29 AM, Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com> wrote:
> What we are planning on doing is have the software try to connect to the
> Internet, and if it can't then pull the help file locally, so yes installed
> software. Any additional thoughts?? Thanks, you have all been very helpful!
>
>
> On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>
> wrote:
>>
>> The FrameMaker URLs are the links in my first reply. The base URLs use
>> the format /<language>/<product>/<version>:
>>
>> /en_US/FrameMaker/11.0/
>>
>> /en_US/FrameMaker/10.0/
>>
>> Local help installed with the product would use the same path, or you
>> could drop local help and use only the web version. Or is this an
>> installed product at all?
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 9:40 AM, Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com>
>> wrote:
>> > Thanks! I've actually never used FrameMaker. We are planning on using
>> > new
>> > directories currently -- what are the FrameMaker URLs?
>> >
>> >
>> > On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> The simple way to do it is to have the developers change the directory
>> >> for the help files in each version, along the lines of those
>> >> FrameMaker URLs.
>> >>
>> >> Then you don't need to do anything special in Flare, and the versions
>> >> can coexist happily on a web site.
>> >>
>> >> On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 9:24 AM, Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> > Flare
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Robert Lauriston
>> >> > <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Which authoring tool are you using?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Standard practice is to put the product and version in the URL, so
>> >> >> each release of the product has a unique base URL for the help. For
>> >> >> example:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/11.0/Using/WSd817046a44e105e21e63e3d11ab7f7561e-7fff.html
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/10.0/Using/WSd817046a44e105e21e63e3d11ab7f7561e-7fff.html
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Typically on the web site the latest release has no version, so a
>> >> >> URL
>> >> >> without a version gets you the latest and greatest:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> http://help.adobe.com/en_US/framemaker/using/WSd817046a44e105e21e63e3d11ab7f7561e-7fff.html
>> >> >>
>> >> >> What tool Adobe uses to generate the pop-up version menu in the
>> >> >> bottom
>> >> >> corner I don't know but that's external to the help. Maybe
>> >> >> Dreamweaver, Flex, or Cold Fusion.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> MadCap used to do much the same thing but they seem to have removed
>> >> >> the older versions from their site.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> http://webhelp.madcapsoftware.com/flare10/Default.htm#Output/Determining_the_Output_Type.htm
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 8:13 AM, Hannah Drake
>> >> >> <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com>
>> >> >> wrote:
>> >> >> > Hi all,
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday. I'm wondering what you
>> >> >> > do
>> >> >> > for
>> >> >> > products that have online help and different software versions. We
>> >> >> > are
>> >> >> > thinking we need versions, as in website.com/3.1, and so on, but I
>> >> >> > don't
>> >> >> > think I've ever seen a release in a URL? How is this done at other
>> >> >> > companies?
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > The concern is that the users with older products will go find
>> >> >> > online
>> >> >> > help
>> >> >> > and it will be unhelpful since it's not related to their version,
>> >> >> > if
>> >> >> > we
>> >> >> > only put the latest up.

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