Downloaded and installed Help & Manual today. I was stunned by how quickly it downloaded, and how painlessly it was installed. I was very impressed by the interface. I had to review a few other Help software programs back in October, for another company.

The only Help software that I looked at that came close to being as simple as this, was Flare V9… but truth be told (and I really liked Flare), I am stunned by how quickly I was able to get up and running with Help & Manual.

I took a Help file that I am working currently developing and imported it into Help & Manual. I was stunned. It imported quickly, correctly, and all in less than five minutes! Of course the down side, the import was from a rather rudimentary program that does not use a .CSS, internal styles, or provide for quick use of basic HTML code. Everything is done by hand. So to actually setup in Help & Manual will be a lot of work. However, it’s a great way to learn the program. In addition, the other help file program (HelpScribble) allows one to do things that are not usually possible in HTML, well, not easily, and all without CSS, such as setting internal margins for different levels of bullets.

My initial grade to Help & Manual, based on a first glance is A, for speed, intuitive functions, ease of finding commands, and clear writing in the online Help.

Over the next few days I will begin trying to recreate the Help file. For now, I am initially impressed.