Configuring Adobe RoboHelp Server to generate separate reports for each of the hosted Help Systems

Adobe,RoboHelp Server,Reports,Configure RHS

In this post, I would be discussing a question that has been asked a number of times in the recent conferences. A number of customers I meet, are interested in knowing if it is possible to configure Adobe RoboHelp Server to show separate Usability Reports (Most Frequently Asked Questions, Unanswered Questions etc) for multiple Help Systems hosted on a single RoboHelp Server. The answer is YES. However, to enable the same you need to do the following three things:

  1. Add as many Web sites to the IIS as the number of Help Systems that you want to host.
  2. Configure Adobe RoboHelp Server for those many number of Web Sites using the Configuration Manager
  3. Publish each Help system to a separate Web Site

Once you do all these three steps, you will be all set to get separate reports for each of the hosted Help Systems / Knowledge Bases on a single Adobe RoboHelp Server.

Let us now discuss each of these three steps in detail.

Assumption: You already have a working system with Adobe RoboHelp HTML 6 and Adobe RoboHelp Server 6. Also you have a Help system hosted on the default Web site of IIS and are able to see reports for that particular Help System using Adobe RoboHelp Server 6 Configuration Manager.

Now, I shall describe how to host another Help system on the same Adobe RoboHelp Server 6 and still get separate usability reports.

Step1: To set up a new Web site in IIS (the following steps are applicable to Microsoft Windows 2003 Server with IIS 6.0)

To create a new Web site in IIS, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to the Web server computer as an administrator.
  2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  3. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Services Manager.
  4. Click Action, point to New, and then click Web Site.
  5. After the Web Site Creation Wizard starts, click Next.
  6. Type a description for the Web site.
    Note: This description is used internally to identify the Web site in Internet Services Manager only.
  7. Select the IP address to use for the site.
    Note: If you select All (unassigned), the Web site is accessible on all interfaces and all configured IP addresses.
  8. Type the TCP port number to publish the site on.
  9. Type the Host Header name (the real name that is used to access this site).
  10. Click Next.
  11. Either type the path to the folder that is holding the Web site documents or click Browse to select the folder, and then click Next.
  12. Select the access permissions for the Web site, and then click Next.
  13. Click Finish.

Step2: To configure Adobe RoboHelp Server for the newly added Web site.

To configure Adobe RoboHelp Server, follow these steps:

  1. Launch Configuration Manager. There should be a shortcut on the desktop if you have installed Adobe RoboHelp Server with default settings.
  2. Click File, and then click New Server. Configuration Wizard will open up. Click Next.
    Note: It will list all the available websites for which the Adobe RoboHelp Server has not been configured****
  3. Choose the new Web site (added in Step1) and then click Next.
  4. Click Next one more time.
    Note: In this step, the Wizard will configure database.
  5. Once the server has competed configuring the database, click Next and then Finish.
    **Note: The wizard will end and you will see that the Adobe RoboHelp Server is now configured for **the newly added Web site.
  6. Click View Project to check for the Congratulation message.

Adobe RoboHelp Server is now configured for two Web sites (the Default Web site and the newly added Web site). Subsequent launches of Configuration Wizard will ask for a Web site at the time of initialization.

Step3: To publish help to the newly added Web site.

To publish help to the newly added Web site, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Source of the Help System that you want to publish on the newly created Web site in Step 1 in Adobe RoboHelp for HTML.
  2. Now to publish this Help system on the Adobe RoboHelp Server, In the Project tab, expand the Single Source Layouts folder, Double-click WebHelp Pro.
  3. The **WebHelp Pro Publish **wizard will open up, then Click Next.
  4. Under the **Server **group, click New.
  5. Fill in the New Destination dialog.
    **Note: **Make sure that you specify the port along with the Server Name. Since you are publishing to the same Server, port must be specified. The Port should the same as the one that has been specified while adding the new Web site in Step1. For example – Server Name – servername:81, if 81 was the port.
  6. Click OK to commit the input in the New Destination dialog.
  7. Click Finish on the main WebHelp Pro Publish wizard.

You have now completed all the required steps for setting up the Adobe RoboHelp Server for managing and generating separate reports for two Help Systems that have been hosted on a single Server, but on to two different Web sites. You can use the Configuration Manager to view reports of each of the hosted Help System.

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