RoboHelp 2017 Launch
It’s our pleasure to announce the availability of the new version of RoboHelp (2017 release). Adobe RoboHelp is designed for developing Help systems, e-learning content, policies and procedures, and knowledge bases. Its enhanced editing and layout capabilities enable you to create professional looking content.
With this new release of RoboHelp, we are pushing the bar higher. Technical writers can simply be more productive with new features and delight their end users with best in class content consumption experience.
Let’s have a closer look at what’s new …
New HTML5 Layouts
Evolution is the key here. We started with tri-pane layouts which were inspired by CHM or WebHelp. They looked similar and had similar usage but with added benefits of being responsive that would enable rendering of content seamlessly on mobile devices. With this release, we are coming up with two new frameless layouts with best in class browsing and navigation experience. They are called “Indigo” and “Ocean”. “Search” is given prime importance in these layouts as we feel content consumption will be driven through Search. Not just that, we’ve worked on Accessibility and ensured 508 compliance and will continue working on Accessibility on our existing layouts.You can even save topics as favorites in Indigo layout and later access them using the bookmarks tab.
Search Auto Complete
This is a BIG one. Now your end-users get “Search autocomplete” in Responsive HTML5 output generated using RoboHelp. This is a segment first offering which redefines the way people consume content. With earlier “Search” experience, searching a keyword would throw you in an ocean of results with little or no context. With the new modern “Search”, results are more contextual. The more users type, the better it gets. Spelling mistakes are taken care of automatically. This offering impacts end users in a big way. Ability to get relevant results faster and consistently can really work wonders.
Ability to add folders to Baggage
Save time and work efficiently with the ability to import folders to baggage files. If you have multiple baggage files stored in a folder, you can add all of those files in a single click by adding that folder to the project. This makes importing relevant folders containing support information a lot easier. The hierarchal structure of the added folder is maintained in your project’s baggage file folder.
Toggle Variable views
Get greater content accessibility and save time by easily toggling between the variable name and the value it represents in multiple ways – using keyboard shortcut or the context menu. This helps you to view content as the end users would see it. You now have the option to either toggle a single variable or all the variables used in your project with a single click. When you toggle all fields, by default the current state of the selected variable or the first variable of the topic is replicated across all the variables in the currently active document.
Thumbnail Support for images
With the new thumbnail support for images, you can now publish and show images as thumbnails. This reduces your page load time, potentially saving bandwidth, making it easier to render and view content on mobile devices. The thumbnail images are clickable, causing the larger image to load at user’s discretion. This makes the content user-friendly, saving the user from having to download large image files that they don’t need to see. With the image thumbnails in place, users can click on only those images that are of their interest. The users would have greater flexibility in setting a standard thumbnail size which will provide consistent look-and-feel of thumbnails across published output.
In a nutshell
With the new RoboHelp (2017 release), Authors can be more productive while writing and they can achieve stunning results for a wider audience in lesser time. The new layouts look like well designed websites and enhance the end user’s content consumption experience. A state of the art “Search” experience enables end users to get to relevant content faster. No doubt, you are eager to explore the product beyond what we share in this post.
Important resources for further exploration
We have placed a host of useful resources online to help you further explore new RoboHelp (2017 Release). You will find a more complete list in our new Productopedia (2017 Release).