Software Review: Adobe Technical Communication Suite - Adobe RoboHelp 7 From Adobe Systems - Page 2

• Customizable user interface – RoboHelp 7 now lets you create your own unique workspace with personalized toolbars, menus, keyboard shortcuts, and dockable pods that work the way that you want.

• Engaging user experiences – are now capable with the addition of links to text and graphics that allow the user to go to other topics. You can now insert rollover messages, customized pop-up windows, hyperlinks, and image maps. You also have the ability to add breadcrumbs. Within WebHelp and FlashHelp system you can highlight search terms.

• Snippets – allow you to create blocks of reusable HTML content that can be referenced in topics. You can then edit a snippet and all of the changes will be echoed across an entire project.

• User Defined Variables – allow you to define global variables to output custom content that is tailored for specific formats or purposes from the same source project.

• Support for Microsoft Word 2007 and Windows Vista – will allow you to import and export Word 2007 and generate press-ready Adobe PDF files using Word 2007 on Microsoft Vista.

Enhancements include:

• Enhanced support for Adobe FrameMaker 8 – now allows you to import multiple FrameMaker file format types including .fm, .book, .mif, .bk, and .frm at one time. Conditional build tags (CBT) or user defined variables (UDV) can be converted from FrameMaker to RoboHelp format saving a lot of time and effort.

• True code HTML editor with no Kadov tags - finally gets rid of the proprietary tags and allows you to work with HTML directly. While this has little to do with what the user will see, it has everything to do with the ease of use that the author will have. When projects created in prior version of RoboHelp are opened, they will automatically be converted to HTML.

• Improved integration with Adobe Captivate and Robo Screen Capture – will let you insert and edit Adobe Captivate simulations, capture and edit screens, and export images to common file formats from within the authoring environment.

Adobe RoboHelp 7 is definitely a major release over version 6. You now have the ability to open multiple topics at one time. With files open side-by-side you can copy and paste using drag and drop. The Snippets will, over time, save you time by letting you reuse code and shortening development time. They are even exportable for use in different projects.

Article Author: T. Michael Testi

T. Michael Testi is software developer, a writer, and a photographer. He also blogs at PhotographyTodayNet and at All This and Everything Else.

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