ePub Creation in RoboHelp

jdcyclone — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:39:46 +0000

I tried my hand at creating an ePub using RoboHelp 9 this morning. Wow, was that exhausting. You would think they would try to make the process straight forward and user friendly. I’d have to say this is definitely not the case.
I started off by importing a PDF file into RoboHelp, added in some page breaks, and decided it was time to flip the switch. Well, I would have flipped the switch if I could have found it. I had to go to the help to figure out how to generate an ePub file. I read through the help, and discovered that the ePub option is nested in the File menu. Easy enough, right…
NO!!
While generating the ePub, RoboHelp told me that the TOC file was missing. Ummm, it exists, but I can’t tell RoboHelp where to find the file. The file finally generated, and I went to open it, only to discover that the page breaks I inserted in RoboHelp were not even recognized.
I’m frustrated and done trying to figure this out. As far as I’m concerned, this feature of RoboHelp 9 is a FAIL!!

Innovation in Tech Comm

jdcyclone — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:13:19 +0000

As a technical writer, I often times wonder what the future of our profession looks like. Will we FINALLY be showing up to work in those flying cars that we read about 30 years ago? What type of education will give an aspiring technical writer the tools that he/she will need to be successful? What will a computer look like in the future?

When I sit back and think about long-term topics like these, the biggest question marks appear when I attempt to envision what deliverables might be considered cutting edge and tech savvy 10 years from now.

In its current form, online help is becoming antiquated, and printed documentation is no better than a paper weight. These are the 2 most commonly requested types of documentation that clients crave, mostly because they’ve always had them as part of their training solution. Although it gives me warm fuzzy feelings when I create a nice looking online help system, or user guide, I always know in the back of my head that 90% of my target audience STILL WILL NOT EVEN LOOK AT IT. Or, if they do, they’ll forget that it ever existed after a 2 week trial period where they are required to read through the material.

We are desperately in need of fresh and innovative ideas. Dare I say it’s time to go back to the drawing board!?

I am a big fan of Adobe, and feel that the amount of innovation coming out of that place is huge! They are the masters of the universe when it comes to all things design related. I can’t help but think that they are really on to something with Adobe AIR. AIR based help is still in an infant stage of sorts…but I can see many practical applications for it in the future. I’d like to think that tablet computers like the iPad are what we’ll see a LOT more of in the future, and AIR based apps could go from great to amazing on a platform such as this.

It’s all speculation, but I’m excited for the future and look forward to what’s yet to come!

Tech Writer Nation

ePub Creation in RoboHelp

Innovation in Tech Comm